00:00A substantial police presence.
00:02That's what Kemp Police, a promised residents in Dover, will see this weekend,
00:07after the town will be home to its first anti-immigration protest
00:10since balaclavas campaigners ambushed the town earlier this month.
00:15On the 5th of September, a group of civil but intimidating anti-asylum seeker protesters
00:21descended on Dover, wearing balaclavas, taking the police by surprise
00:25and closing the port behind me for half a day.
00:28Now, Kemp Police are aware of another one of these anti-asylum seeker matches
00:33taking place this Saturday, but this one will be arranged by a different group of people.
00:38But the question still remains, how can residents and campaigners both stay safe?
00:43We do recognise that the impact that the protests did have on the 5th of September,
00:48but I would absolutely reassure what I can say that we'll have a high number,
00:54substantial numbers of officers out in force on Saturday to reassure and minimise any risk to them.
01:01So I would absolutely reassure them that they can approach the police.
01:05The force revealed that the march would start at 3pm at the train station
01:09before moving to the Golden Lion pub and along York Street, then to the A20 for speeches.
01:15Posts are circulating on Facebook.
01:17In-Site residents to reclaim their homeland and birthright and is not dissimilar from many other
01:23anti-asylum seeker protests the county has seen within the past year.
01:28But under new legislation, police now have powers to ban face coverings should they pose a risk of offences
01:34being committed.
01:36But while police in Portsmouth have utilised these powers following similar massed protests,
01:41these bans will still remain options rather than known certainties.
01:46My message here is if you're coming to protest peacefully in Dover,
01:50you don't need to be wearing a face covering.
01:51If your intent is to commit crime, then we will put removal conditions in place
01:58and we will enforce them because that's not an acceptable position.
02:01We know from feedback from our local communities that many, many people found it intimidating
02:06and highly unsettling seeing protesters in balaclavas.
02:11So we know there's an impact there and we won't hesitate to use that new power
02:15if the circumstances require it at the weekend.
02:19Kent Police's response to the previous protests came under fire
02:23after the force failed to consider tip-offs given to them the night before
02:26and then described the protest as spontaneous.
02:30But the force has had four weeks to sufficiently plan a response to this protest
02:34and a potential counter-protest which would take action should protesters commit offences
02:39but otherwise leave them alone.
02:42But whether or not the force will have to contend with any surprises is yet to be known.
02:48Megan Shaw at Folkestone Police Station.
