Public order policing (again)

I think public order policing is one area which you can identify in which the many police forces are getting things badly badly wrong. Another example, via the Guardian - essentially banning festivals that have been going on for years because, well, why, exactly? Even the local council seems surprised at what's transpired.

At the very least this is bad PR on the behalf of the police. No-one likes a killjoy. But I'm inclined to agree with George Monbiot and others and say that actions like this are fundamentally undemocratic. People should have a right to freely gather, even if the end is simply (gasp!) to enjoy themselves. It's the job of the police to facilitate this, not stop it happening. The fact that 73 people out of c.20,000 were arrested last year is neither here nor there. In any large gathering you're going to get people misbehaving - look at football matches, for example - but that doesn't mean the gathering should be prevented from occurring.