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Police satisfied with handling of TPP protest

Author
Hannah Bartlett ,
Publish Date
Fri, 5 Feb 2016, 5:32AM

Police satisfied with handling of TPP protest

Author
Hannah Bartlett ,
Publish Date
Fri, 5 Feb 2016, 5:32AM

Video: Police at Sky City are met by a large group of protesters who had marched from Aotea Square in the morning. (Alex Braae)

Several hundred police officers came out in force in Auckland's CBD to deal with the thousands of people protesting against the TPPA.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was signed at Sky City in Auckland yesterday by trade ministers from 12 countries.

MORE: Protesters force Auckland standstill as TPP signed

Superintendent Richard Chambers says no arrests were made as thousands of protestors hit the streets of Auckland city yesterday to make their views on the trade agreement known.

Richard Chambers said no unnecessary force was used by police, despite photos depicting a woman being dragged by her hair, and a man being pushed back by his throat.

He said some protestors endangered themselves by attempting to run onto the motorway and actions taken by police were in the interest of public safety.

MORE: Protesters looking to make point, not cause trouble

"We obviously take a lot of factors into consideration before we make the step to arrest.

"As I said, we were working with people in those groups, we were communicating with them, we were well aware of our processes and our escalation processes."

However, he did not rule out that arrests may still be processed, as footage of protestors behaviour - particularly around motorway on-ramps - is examined.

"I can't obviously anticipate what the future looks like, but as part of the debrief we will look at information.

"Members of the public may come forward and talk to us. Obviously we're going to act on information as is presented to us."

MORE: Delegates "extremely confident" TPP will be ratified

 

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