Students protest in London.November 2011 The police were out in force as thousands of students marched through central London. Some 4,000 officers were on duty, as demonstrators marched peacefully in a protest against higher tuition fees and "privatisation" in universities. After the violence of last year's major fees protest, the police had warned they might use plastic bullets in "extreme circumstances". Police said 24 people were arrested, mostly for breaches of the peace. Police estimate there were about 2,000 protesters, but organisers put the number attending at 15,000. Scotland Yard said three arrests were for public order offences, one was for possession of an offensive weapon, three were for going equipped and 12 breaches of the peace.