Protest policing and the reality of freedom: Evidence from Hong Kong, Portland, and Santiago in 2019 and 2020

ABSTRACT

Protests erupted in many nations around the world in 2019 and 2020, some peaceful and some violent. The police response to these protests varied widely, from calm and restrained in some places to violent and repressive in others. Variations in the police response to these events are reminiscent of David Bayley’s groundbreaking comparative research on the links between policing and democracy and the fundamental role of police in shaping “the reality of freedom.” Drawing on Bayley’s scholarship, this paper examines the police response to protests in Hong Kong, Portland, and Santiago in 2019 and 2020. In all three settings, people have constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Yet when people took to the streets to challenge their governments and exercise these rights, the police response provided a useful gauge of the reality of freedom.

KEYWORDS:

• Police
• protest
• democracy
• freedom
• politics

Notes

1. Data on number of protests events are from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project (https://acleddata.com). The ACLED data lists all known U.S. protest events starting on 1 April 2020. By the end of 2020, New York City had experienced 526 protests and Portland had experienced 278.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edward R. Maguire

Edward R. Maguire is a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, where he also serves as director of the Public Safety Innovation Lab. His research focuses primarily on policing and violence. He currently serves as the chair of the Research Advisory Board for the Police Executive Research Forum.