Michael DeSilva admitted yesterday that the police’s plan for dealing with the December 2 protest “didn’t work” with regard to ensuring Parliament was able to sit.

The Commissioner of Police told a press conference the “right contingency” was “perhaps” not in place that day to prevent the House of Assembly from being shut down by protestors, even though it was previously shut down in the same way on March 14 last year.

But he said his officers were prepared for any protest that might happen tomorrow when the House of Assembly will sit for the first time since December 2, though he said there were “not many” indications one was planned.

He said the police did not want to be drawn into avoidable confrontations and warned that anyone interfering with the “free exercise” of a parliamentarian or with the lawful activities of the House would be committing a criminal offence.

“The police wish to remind the public, once again, that protests must be peaceful and lawful,” said Mr DeSilva. “Peaceful means the absence of violence. Lawful means that protesters do not engage in activities that might constitute a criminal offence.”

He added: “I hope that this briefing today has assisted in providing absolute clarity in that respect.”

Mr DeSilva said there would be no access for members of the public to the grounds of the House of Assembly tomorrow, to ensure MPs cannot be blocked from entering and to safeguard against any injury to the public. No members of the public will be permitted through any of the House gates.

Parliament Street will be restricted to one lane for traffic on the western side, between the junctions of Reid Street and Church Street. The eastern side of Parliament Street — the side closest to Sessions House — will be reserved for pedestrians.

The commissioner said if more space was required, Reid Street could be closed to vehicles after the 9am rush hour, between the junctions of Court Street and Parliament Street.

That would create two designated “protest areas” on Parliament Street and Reid Street. Mr DeSilva said the public gallery of the House – with its maximum capacity for 37 people — would be open and anyone wanting to enter should speak to police at the Parliament Street gate.

On December 2, police officers were criticised for using pepper spray on the crowd and several inquiries are being conducted into the events of the day: by the BPS itself; by a senior officer from the United Kingdom; and by the Police Complaints Authority.

Asked if officers would carry pepper spray tomorrow, Mr DeSilva responded: “Officers carry pepper spray as part of their daily protective gear, every day of the week. I don’t want to cause alarm in the public and drag the events of December 2 into the third of February,

“Officers carry batons and handcuffs and pepper spray and Taser and some officers are armed seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so I don’t want to confuse the public with that.

“If your question is, are we going to deploy pepper spray, that isn’t what this is about. We are about trying to manage large crowds in a peaceful and lawful way.”

He was quizzed about how the police prepared for the December 2 protest, bearing in mind the events of March 14, when Parliament was first shut down

An operational police plan for December 2, released in redacted form under public access to information, flagged up the potential for protestors to breach the Parliament Act and interfere with the House.

Mr DeSilva said yesterday: “The plan was not to have it shut down. Certainly the intentions and the objectives came from the angle that the idea was to police it in a way that being shut down was not an outcome.”

He added: “We perhaps didn’t have the right contingency in there for what happens if we can’t get into the Parliament, because that wasn’t the plan. The plan was to keep it open.”

The commissioner said the shutting down of Parliament by protesters “wasn’t the outcome that we were policing towards”.

Asked if the police plan was geared towards preventing demonstrators from doing that, he replied: “So the plan didn’t work.”

The controversial airport deal which prompted the December 2 protest is not up for debate in tomorrow’s House session, according to Speaker of the House Randy Horton.

And Senator Jeff Baron, Minister of National Security, told The Royal Gazette that while he expected protesters to gather tomorrow morning, he did not envisage a repeat of December’s confrontations.

• To see police plans for public gatherings in the vicinity of the House of Assembly, click on the PDF link under “Related Media”