Shields and Authority: The Visual Language of Militarized Policing

Exercise Title: Shields and Authority: The Visual Language of Militarized Policing

For students aged: 16-18

Time required: 60 minutes

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Image Context: This photograph from 1986 shows West German police in riot gear during a training exercise or formation. The 1980s in West Germany saw significant social movements, including anti-nuclear protests, squatter movements, and demonstrations against NATO missile deployments, leading to increased investment in riot control capabilities by police forces.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the visual rhetoric of militarized policing
• Understand the historical context of police militarization in 1980s Germany
• Critically examine the relationship between state power, protest, and social control
• Connect historical patterns to contemporary debates about policing tactics

Materials Needed:

• The 1986 German police photograph
• Paper/notebooks
• Optional: images of contemporary riot police for comparison
• 60 minutes – 1 hour

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Part 1: Visual Analysis (10 minutes)

Examine the photograph silently for 90 seconds.

Individual written response:

• Describe what you see in detail: formation, equipment, body language, setting
• What words come to mind when you look at this image?
• If you were a protestor in 1986 and saw this formation approaching, how would you feel?
• If you were a police officer in this formation, how might you feel?

Note the contradictions: Militarized equipment on a peaceful grass field. Riot shields, but no riot. What does practicing for confrontation communicate about expectations?

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Part 2: Historical Context – West Germany in the 1980s (10 minutes)

Teacher-led information with discussion:

Political Climate of 1980s West Germany:

• Cold War tensions at their height—divided Germany, Berlin Wall, NATO vs Warsaw Pact
• Mass anti-nuclear movement (protests against nuclear power and weapons reached millions)
• Squatter movements in cities like Berlin and Hamburg challenging local housing policies
• Environmental activism (Green Party founded 1980)
• Autonome movement—radical leftist protestors who sometimes engaged in property destruction
• Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorism still active, creating security anxieties
• Memory of 1960s-70s student movements and violent state responses

Police Response:

• Increased investment in riot control equipment and tactics
• Development of specialized units (Bereitschaftspolizei)
• Adoption of military-style formations and equipment
• Controversial tactics including kettling, water cannons, and aggressive dispersal

Key Incidents:

• 1981: Brokdorf nuclear plant protests (massive police operation)
• 1986: Chernobyl disaster intensifies anti-nuclear sentiment
• 1987: Death of protestors at Wackersdorf nuclear facility heightens tensions

Class Discussion:

• Why might democratic governments feel they need militarized police?
• How does the presence of military-style equipment change the nature of protest?
• What’s the difference between “keeping the peace” and “controlling dissent”?

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Part 3: Reading the Image – Visual Rhetoric of Force (20 minutes)

Small group analysis (3-4 students):

Examine how this image communicates state power:

Equipment and Uniformity:

• Riot shields
• Helmets with visors: What does hiding faces do? (dehumanization, anonymity, intimidation)
• Batons visible at sides
• Matching uniforms: creating a unified “force” rather than individual officers
• How does this differ from a traditional police officer’s appearance?

Formation and Tactics:

• Officers arranged in lines and clusters: military formation
• Shields creating literal barriers between police and citizens

The Setting:

• Peaceful grass, suburban background, ordinary setting
• The normalcy of the surroundings contrasts with the military preparation
• This could be any public space. What does that communicate?

Critical Questions:

• Does the equipment create the threat, or respond to it?
• When does “being prepared” become “being provocative”?
• What changes when police look like soldiers?

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Part 4: Closing Discussion (20 minutes)

Individual reflection – choose prompts to write on:

Rights and Power:

• Do you think that the presence of riot police makes protests safer or more dangerous? Why?
• How does the visual threat of force affect willingness to exercise democratic rights?
• What’s the relationship between freedom of assembly and state power?

Systemic Questions:

• Who benefits from militarized policing? Who is harmed?
• What alternatives exist to confrontational policing of protests?
• Do you think it’s possible to have both effective security AND full democratic freedoms?

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