49 Erik Dorph Sørensen Head of OPCAT Unit BAPTISM BY FIRE FOR NEW UNIT DURING CLIMATE SUMMIT On 7-18 December 2009, the UN held a climate summit (COP15) in Copenhagen. The police had been notified of and approved many demonstrations. Some organisations had announced that they might resort to illegal methods during the demonstrations. In turn, the police said that it was well prepared, and the police had, among other things, established temporary waiting rooms – the so-called climate cages – at Retortvej in Valby. In addition, before the summit Parliament had changed the provisions of the Police Act concerning preventive arrests, allowing demonstrators to be detained for up to 12 hours as against 6 hours previously. The largest demonstration, with almost 100,000 participants, took place on Saturday 12 December 2009. It was a cold day with temperatures around ­f‌reezing. A group of possibly up to 300 people began to commit vandalism, smashing shop windows and setting off fireworks. In their attempts to escape from the police, they mingled with the tail end of the large demonstration. At 3.26 p.m., the police detained just over 900 people at Amagerbrogade. The detainees were handcuffed with plastic handcuffs with their arms behind their back and made to sit in long rows on the asphalt. From Amagerbrogade, the detainees were to be taken by bus to the climate cages at Retortvej. However, there were insufficient buses to transport so many to Valby. The final detainees were not taken away until 8 p.m., after almost 4½ hours at Amagerbrogade. During the 4½ hours, many had no access to a toilet, but had to remain seated on the asphalt. The detainees were not given food or water or anything to sit on, even though it was so cold. However, some people were given water by policemen at Amagerbrogade and a few were able to go to the toilet at nearby pizzerias etc.