Middle East protests: Auckland police prepared to call in reinforcements

Auckland police are ready to call in officers from outside the region to manage any escalation in Middle East protests in the city.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, police have attended five protests in Auckland, where there have been allegations of threats and violence from both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel supporters.

Auckland City District operations and support manager Inspector Grae Anderson said although the protests were mainly peaceful, there were agitators in both sides.

“The organisers on both sides have done their best to control that and encourage people to be respectful and abide by New Zealand law.

“But you will sometimes get people whose emotions take hold of their frontal lobe.”

Anderson said police were ready to deal with escalations.

“The team that I have surrounding me is well equipped to lead this. We are up to [protest] number five already, [and] we anticipate having another protest this coming Sunday.

“So, we have some agility around that in terms of our staffing, we’re well-resourced to manage this and if necessary, we have escalation that we can draw on.”

He said so far, no extra officers had been brought in from outside the district to help contain the protests, but police were not ruling out that option.

“We are absolutely confident in our ability within Auckland City District, but (are) also leveraging off our neighbouring districts – Waitematā and Counties Manukau – especially when it comes to these types of protests or activities.

“It’s something that we are very familiar with … but if there was ever a need for us to call upon additional assistance, we have that on hand.

On Tuesday, pro-Palestinian protesters splashed red paint on the outside of the US Consulate and Ministry of Foreign Affairs buildings in Auckland.

Anderson said acts of vandalism or breaches of the peace were treated as any other crime.

“[In terms of any] graffiti or damage caused, we want people to report those in a timely fashion.

“We will assist them as we would with any other offence and, if necessary, hold people accountable when we identify them.”

He said the necessity of increased police presence around Muslim and Jewish buildings, such as mosques or synagogues, was being assessed on a case-by-case basis.

“This is something that is consistently and constantly assessed, but it is not something that we are currently policing proactively.”

Senior protest organisers were in consultation with police, he said.

“We ask protesters to please listen to the more senior organisers, [to] take on board the advice that they are giving you, because that is coming through consultation with us.

“We are encouraging again a sense of calm, [as] we encourage people’s right to freedom of speech, freedom to protest, as long as it is peaceful.”

Anderson said police were taking swift action to address breaches of peace, including pressing charges.

“Where it goes beyond being peaceful and where it gets into that area of offending, be it breach of the peace or disorderly behaviour or acts of violence perpetrated or threatened, we will take swift and decisive action to avoid that escalating, and we will take action where accountable.”

Police did not encourage hostile behaviour towards officers, he said.

“[Police] have a job to do – that is to keep everybody safe – and I don’t expect to see my staff being exposed to violence either when they’re going about their duties, trying to keep people safe on all sides.”