Police Liaison Officers

Just say no!

Police Liaison Officers (PLOs) are police officers sent to gather intelligence and spread unhelpful messages on protests. They are sometimes tasked with telling protesters information that can later be used to prosecute them. PLOs usually wear baby-blue, and are chatty and smiley. A senior PLO has stated in court that their role is to gather information on protestors, and to encourage “self-policing” – that is, to get you to undermine your own protest. There is no legal requirement to listen to them. We recommend people ignore them, walk away if approached and never take pieces of paper from PLOs.

PLOs are still normal police officers, who have powers of arrest and who will testify against you in court.