ABSTRACT
Our rendezvous point was the Prince Regent stop on the Docklands Light Railway line. While we were standing around and waiting for something to happen, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) had begun circulating among the crowd, saying hello and trying to make casual friendly conversation with the assembled activists. As two approached us, however, the protestor I was talking to warned me not to speak to them: ‘you know these Smurfs are forward intelligence officers, don’t you?’ Mockingly known as Smurfs for their baby-blue vests, these outwardly affable PCSOs were immediately treated with suspicion for fear that they might be harbouring hidden intentions. ‘They’ were not on ‘our’ side.
