G20 protest footage: police v demonstrators

Police surveillance at this week's G20 demonstrations was all-encompassing. Officers with long lenses and video cameras were perched on buildings and behind lines of riot police, and evidence they captured of criminal activity will – quite rightly – help find and prosecute the small number of troublemakers. Of course, we also now know that information gleaned about protesters – even those who were peaceful and law-abiding – will find its way on to a police database.

But what about all those other cameras? Just as the media and police make use of new technology, so too do demonstrators using camera phones and camcorders to capture what, in their view, was heavy-handed policing tactics. Much of that footage is trickling on to YouTube.

But before you click: a health warning: footage can, sometimes, mislead. Citizen journalism on YouTube provides new insight, but at the same time can be chopped, changed and even skewed to make a political point. (I'm not saying police don't have their own public relations slant. They do.)

1. Riot police surge into climate campers

This video is getting a great deal of attention. It was shot from a bridge between two buildings overlooking the Climate Camp, on Bishopsgate. It captures one of the most controversial incidents of the policing operation, when lines of riot police attempted to clear the camp from the south side. There are two things to say here. First, these guys are the fluffiest of protesters and strictly non-violent. They met with senior officers in command of the operation before Wednesday to tell them they planned to camp overnight. The opening images show the good-natured camp. Second point: protesters are, as you can see, mainly not fighting back – and raising their arms to gesture as much. The chant, if you can make it out, is: "This is not a riot".

2. Climate camp clash close-up

Here is another view, from the ground, of the same incident. It shows the same thing – protesters' arms in the air. And chants of "This is not a riot". I may get lampooned for saying this, but I don't think these images show the worst kind of brutality. It is not Genoa 2001 – there is neither CS-gas nor police officers out of control. At the same time, the question for the police is: why go in like that?

3. Up close and personal

Having spent much of the last two days stuck between lines of protesters and baton-wielding riot police (with the bruises to prove it), this video shows exactly how tempers fray when crowds are stuck in a contained pen with nowhere to go. I think (though can't be sure) that it happened on Queen Victoria Street at around 4pm. The audio says more than the pictures. Shouts from protesters, such as: "There's someone on the floor", can be heard. You can also hear what must be a police officer shouting: "Move". A female replies: "I can't – where?" The crowd's anger quickly turns towards the police who are, protesters conclude, "pricks". There is a horrible inevitability about how it all ends.

4. A birds-eye view of what police have to contend with

There were demonstrators out to cause damage to buildings – and police officers – and this video proves it. I was standing near these guys when they smashed the windows of the RBS building and, later, when they threw missiles at officers. They were out for trouble and itching for the thrill of a confrontation. Here, near the Bank of England, one man picks up a metal barrier and hurls it at police. For officers, it must be scary to face a mob like that. It looks as though the police retaliated with a "grab", surging into the crowd to apprehend a troublemaker.

5. Move over Kate Adie

One voice among many. But worth hearing.