I'm a public order trained former police officer who has been involved in riots, street disorder (like this appears to be) and policed football matches, etc.
I am always circumspect about judging police behaviour based on a snapshot of footage that doesn't provide the context. Over the years I saw many make it into the public domain which made the police look truly awful (and I felt the same on viewing it) but when shown what happened in the lead up I changed my mind.
However, two things really stood out to me:
- She did seem panicked. There was a lot of running around to different locations where there were already police officers stood. Why isn't clear.
- No one really seemed to be in charge. There were a LOT of police officers there but no real coordination. There was no sterile area being created and no proper attempt at dispersal, whether through talking (which may have already happened off camera and failed, I don't know) or tactics.
It must have been a serious shout out on the radio though to get that many officers there. In my old force you'd have struggled to get that many officers present, even in the city centre, unless all hell was breaking loose or an officer had pressed their emergency button.