Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP) The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom have always been available to assist the civil authorities where necessary. For much of the nineteenth century the army often had to act as a police force, as the customs and excise enforcer and in the maintenance of law and order at times of civil unrest. Later it frequently had to bolster the internal security of colonies, in putting down riots when the civilian police were overwhelmed. Then (and indeed now) a magistrate was required to read the Riot Act to the crowd and then sign a pice of paper handing authority over to the army. A platoon of thirty or so men – and it was usually a platoon – would march in, halt 100 yards or so from the crowd, throw out a coil of barbed wire across the road, display a banner saying ‘disperse or we fire’ or similar in the local language. The next step was to throw couple of CS gas containers (‘tear gas’), which usually persuaded the miscreants to flee. If, unusually, that did not work then the front rank of soldiers would be ordered to kneel and one man would be ordered to fire one round at a rioter considered by the platoon commander to be the ringleader, or at least an enthusiastic rioter. The process would be continued until the crowd dispersed. Authority would then be returned to the civil power and the platoon withdrawn. Few people would argue that such assistance is not an acceptable role for the armed forces. Similarly the forces have often been required to assist in times of natural disaster, whether it be flood relief in the UK or providing help and support after earthquakes abroad. The services have the equipment, the training and, crucially, the discipline to carry out such work.
Military Aid to the Civil Power
Military Aid to the Civil Power
Military Aid to the Civil Power
Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP) The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom have always been available to assist the civil authorities where necessary. For much of the nineteenth century the army often had to act as a police force, as the customs and excise enforcer and in the maintenance of law and order at times of civil unrest. Later it frequently had to bolster the internal security of colonies, in putting down riots when the civilian police were overwhelmed. Then (and indeed now) a magistrate was required to read the Riot Act to the crowd and then sign a pice of paper handing authority over to the army. A platoon of thirty or so men – and it was usually a platoon – would march in, halt 100 yards or so from the crowd, throw out a coil of barbed wire across the road, display a banner saying ‘disperse or we fire’ or similar in the local language. The next step was to throw couple of CS gas containers (‘tear gas’), which usually persuaded the miscreants to flee. If, unusually, that did not work then the front rank of soldiers would be ordered to kneel and one man would be ordered to fire one round at a rioter considered by the platoon commander to be the ringleader, or at least an enthusiastic rioter. The process would be continued until the crowd dispersed. Authority would then be returned to the civil power and the platoon withdrawn. Few people would argue that such assistance is not an acceptable role for the armed forces. Similarly the forces have often been required to assist in times of natural disaster, whether it be flood relief in the UK or providing help and support after earthquakes abroad. The services have the equipment, the training and, crucially, the discipline to carry out such work.