Police Southampton on Facebook 2/4/26: “Further update on the ongoing protests in Portswood from Superintendent Alex Charge”

As the evenings become lighter once again and with protests continuing outside Highfield House Hotel, I wanted to take some time reassure people of our commitments and talk about some of the powers we continue to use so people can freely express their opinions.

As police officers, we are not in attendance at protests to debate the issues or to take any stance; decisions on policy or the hotel’s use are not ones made by the police. It is our role to facilitate such gatherings while keeping in mind the safety of the wider general public.

But we have also been quite clear that should this begin to become anti-social behaviour, or should you act outside of the law, then we will deal with this in the most appropriate way. This could be through the use of a dispersal order, which allows us to order someone to leave a designated area, it could require our officers in attendance to make an arrest, or our investigation teams may review footage following any protest to ensure proportionate action is taken.

I know there has been concern from some that our use of the powers available to us has been an attempt to restrict or prevent you from gathering to protest, and I want to categorically say that this is not the truth of the matter. We are committed to maintaining and upholding the right of each of you to gather and have your voice heard.

It is pleasing that since the protests began last summer, we have only had a small number of incidents which have required further investigation, and I hope you would all agree that we want this to remain the position as we move forward.

Superintendent Alex Charge

District Commander for Southampton’