From: THORNLEY, John
Sent: Monday, 7 June 2021 9:36 pm
To: HASSAN, Naila <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Bike Auckland Protest
Hi Naila,
I have added the following debrief notes to the TM debrief form but copied them here for better
ease of reference.
Debrief notes
Initial planning for this event began when I received information at the end of April about a
tweet by Bike Auckland about a rally on 30 May 2021.
We worked closely with the ATOC Planning Specialist team to develop a plan.
S/Sgt Bill Russell took over preparation on his return from
in the first week of May.
The key tasking for S/Sgt Russell was to engage with the event organisers. This engagement was
positive as per attached meeting summary. Bike Auckland assured Police they did not plan for
their event attendees to access the Harbour Bridge.
S/Sgt Russell worked with TM Ops Planning to plan the operation
Insp Mike Rickards took over communications with Bike Auckland leading up to the event and
then several times as the event started on the day. Bike Auckland continued to assure us that
their attendees knew the bridge was not open to cyclists and they were not to use it.
Staff were briefed in person at Harbour Bridge base on the morning of the event.
Escalation staff were briefed by phone and told to have their teams ready to deploy as quickly as
possible.
Tactics were for Venue group to engage with attendees at Pt Erin Reserve. Forward Commander
maintained communication with the Bike Auckland liaison.
Road Policing Group were to deter cyclists from entering the Harbour Bridge at Curren Street.
Motorways staff were ready for any escalation and covered other potential points of entry onto
the motorway.
Organisers planned for the Pt Erin event to run from 1000hrs to 1200hrs following which they
would disperse.
At 1045hrs a small group of cyclists arrived at Curren Street intent on getting on to the Harbour
Bridge. Staff stationed at the on ramp blocked the cyclists from entering the live motorway.
This group were then joined by several more cyclists intent on using the motorway. One male
was determined to get on and despite being deterred initially he went to a side fence area and
gained entry.
Motorways staff further up the on-ramp managed to stop this cyclist before he reached the
bridge lanes and he was arrested.
Within a few minutes the entire crowd of cyclists from the Pt Erin rally, estimated to number
between 1500-2000 descended on the Curren St on-ramp and pushed against the Police cordon.
While initially able to deter the crowd from entering the motorway the large number of cyclists
pushing against Police and willing to be physical meant that our cordon line became stretched as
individual officers became engaged. Even bolstering the line with the Venue Group was not
enough given the intent of this large crowd.
In the interests of safety I directed staff to move to our contingency - a traffic management plan.
. The two
outside north-bound lanes of the bridge were closed to vehicles leaving the two inside lanes
operating.
The plan from here was to move the cyclists and pedestrians off the Harbour Bridge as safely and
quickly as possible.
I called in escalation staff to manage any potential issues in removing people from the bridge
should they attempt to remain for a sustained period of time.
Given the span of the bridge it took just over an hour to clear all cyclists and pedestrians off the
bridge at which point the lanes were re-opened.
Thanks
JT
Inspector John Thornley
Relieving - Tāmāki Mākāurāu Roād Policing Mānāger
Wāitemātā
E [email address]
