# How-to: Recognize and Counter Police Harassment in Your Community

{excerpt from the security.tao.ca News Bulletin ([#5, August 2002](https://web.archive.org/web/20020903193239/http://resist.ca/pipermail/security-news/2002/000006.html)) Subsection 5}

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Security-news <[e-mail]>
A security bulletin for autonomous resistance movements
Produced by the folks who bring you http://security.tao.ca
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August 21, 2002

You know, it's been a bad couple of weeks for crypto - first the SSL problem, followed by the PGP flaw uncovered by the counterpane folks (link to that below).... fantastic reminders really that good sense rather than good technology is indeed the foundation of all activist security. We're a bit late with the bulletin this week - and apologies for that - hope you find these collected articles relevant to your struggles and campaigns.

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Security-news: Issue #5 - Contents
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* Security tip of the week: Peer to Peer Networks
* News & Analysis: War on Terror Being Used as a Fig Leaf
* News & Analysis: Camps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision
* News & Analysis: PGP Flaw Leaves E-mails Vulnerable
* How-to: Recognize and Counter Police Harassment in your Community

[[... 1-4 above ...]]

#### How-to: Recognize and Counter Police Harassment in the Community
by [e-mail]
*****

## INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT

Police harassment and intimidation of activist communities is on the increase and has been marked with a demonstrated rise in the level of aggression that law enforcement agencies have been enacting on protesters. Recent examples of harassment and intimidation include:

* raids on activist houses and shared spaces with little pretense (bogus drug warrants and fire inspections being the two favorite reasons to search/shut down a space)
* neighbours being notified that "terrorists" live in the neighbourhood police showing up unannounced at the homes of activists and threatening them with physical or legal repercussions
* (if the activist is under the age of majority) police showing up to warn parents that their child is involved with dangerous groups
* police spreading lies, rumours and mistrust in the community (telling activists lies about other activists - in some cases very extreme lies)
* mass arrests of organizers prior to actions

There is a much longer list than this - and all of these situations must be dealt with very differently, but below are a few general tips on how to deal with police harassment and situations of intimidation.

## General Police Hassles

### In your home:
If the police, csis or the fbi come to your door - unless they have a warrant to search your home, or a warrant for your arrest, they have no reason to be there (in normal circumstances). You are not even legally obligated to give a police officer your name. Do not act suspiciously or aggressively (these things may give an officer a legal right to enter your home under grounds of "suspicion"), but do act firmly and let them know that you are not interested in talking to them (see the rest of the section on Interrogation for more info).

If for some reason, you do talk to them for a moment - DO NOT let them in your house. Once you have invited them in it is next to impossible to get them to leave - and they are looking for anything that may give them insight into you or your housemates (to use against you later).
### In your vehicle:
If the police pull you over in your vehicle you do have to give them your name, address, licence and registration. Again, being polite and efficient is the key here to keep yourself from being searched. You do not have to tell the police where you are coming from or where you are going to, or any other information that does not pertain to your vehicle and its safety on the road. DO answer any and all questions about your vehicle that the officer might ask.

### On the street:
If you are under arrest - a police officer must tell you so. Otherwise, you do not have to give the officer your name or address and you have the right to walk away at any time. The only exception to this is if you have committed a non-arrestable offence and they want to serve a summons on you or give you a ticket. They must tell you this is the case.

### In a public activist space:
Spaces such as warehouses or offices are in a different category than private residences and thus are open to inspections by the city or the fire department. In many cases the police request that the fire dept. do a safety inspection or that the city go in to ensure that the building is safe etc. There is very little that you can do in this case other than deal with the inspector(s) politely and show them what they want to look at. A group should designate one or two people to speak with the inspector and limit it to that. The people speaking for the group should be very familiar with the space itself and any renovations or work that have been done there since taking occupancy. Necessary permits should be stored in one easy-to-reach location in case they are required. Keep drugs and weapons out of activist spaces as a general rule as they are prone to search.

Generally, to stop and search you, or your vehicle, a police officer must give their grounds for having reasonable suspicion that drugs, offensive weapons or stolen goods are on your person, or in your vehicle, or that a Breach of the Peace is going to occur. You cannot be searched on private land unless you are a trespasser. In public places they can only search outer clothing, more thorough searches must be made out of sight, in a police van or station. Reasonable minimum force may be used to effect a search. In practise it can be hard to stop the police searching you when there are few witnesses about but stay calm and confident and they may back down.

## Community Response

Overall community harassment, which includes the spreading of lies by police officers and covert agents, the sowing of mistrust among neighbours, threats and intimidation etc. can be fought by strengthening our political communities considerably. Activists must learn that law enforcement and the media are generally not telling the truth and that unless they know information first-hand, it is not to be believed coming out of a police officer's mouth. Practising good security culture is an essential part of this.

Activists must resist the temptation to spread rumours or to speculate on the actions or crimes of other activists no matter what the situation as it only feeds mistrust in the community allowing police agents to exploit these weaknesses and divide us from each other.

Inside our physical communities, it is important to interact with neighbours when it makes sense to do so. Your next door neighbour is a lot less likely to believe the police who say you're a terrorist if they are coming to your monthly vegan potlucks (for example)! Activists must work to be fully integrated in their communities so that if something does happen, they are not isolated from where they live. Living in areas that have good community support networks is essential to not only building activism but protecting it from outside intervention.

Most of all, it is important for the political community to discuss harassment when it is happening. Make sure that incidents of police harassment are discussed in the wider community and that there are strategies in place for verifying information and strengthening trusted
networks.

## COPWATCH

**COPWATCH** organizations can be an excellent vehicle for having community discussions and organizing neighbourhoods to stand up to police harassment - esp. in areas where police bullying affects large numbers of people. Following and documenting (with cameras and other witnesses) officers conducting their "rounds" (such as community sweeps, and routine harassment of street people) can be an extremely effective strategy as it lets to police know that you are watching them as much as they are watching you. In more than one case, **COPWATCH** campaigns and spontaneous incidents have lead to police backing off of a targetted neighbourhood (at least for a short period of time). Remember, if you confront officers in these situations (or are acting as a witness to harassment), make sure that you do not get in their way physically, or touch them in any way - as this can lead to charges of obstruction and assault. As well, you shouldn't go out and do **COPWATCH** activities on your own, but with a group, to protect your own personal safety. For more information on **COPWATCH** organizations, check out http://www.copwatch.com/

Above all, be empowered and intentional in your actions and you will find it much easier to stand-up against police harassment - Be conscious about your resons for being an activist and use that consciousness to stay strong in bad situations....

that's it for this week... as always, send how-to suggestions and other relevant info for inclusion in this bulletin to [e-mail].

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