Arcnews would like to thank Kent Police for the wonderful contribution they made to the Animal Rights 2007 gathering. Morale was boosted throughout the camp as the police attempted to intimidate the peaceful campaigners by demanding entrance to the animal sanctuary hosting the event. The owner of the site quite understandably didn't want the police marching through her fields and the police, in a huff, went off to get a arrant to search the premises. As a result an impromptu workshop was organised, attended by everyone on site, in which we discussed the best strategies for dealing with police raids and our legal rights as protestors.

It is fair to say that this inspiring and very useful workshop would not have been thought of, or so well attended, if the Kent police hadn't kindly given us two hours notice of their intent to raid the sanctuary. In the event the strategies and tactics discussed worked a treat... the police involved in the raid were clearly very embarassed by the whole situation, the AR folk were obviously enjoying the practical hands on approach to learning how to deal with the police. The fact that the raid dissolved into an embarassing fizzle from the police point of view is entirely down to the fact that the happy campers had decided how to deal with them. As video footage of the event shows, the police were very well managed and neutralised... and it's pleasing to note that nothing untoward was found by them (did they really expect it?) and nobody was arrested.

There are now two hundred plus people with first hand experience of how to manage the police out there... all courtesy of Kent coppers. Again, we extend our thanks for this most inspiring workshop.