balance between public safety and free speech. susan candiotti reports on it now. reporter: marching around manhattan s financial district, protesters are baiting the drama against corporate greed, now in its fourth week, occupy wall street is creating a delicate balancing act for police between free speech and public safety. as long as these demonstrations go forward, we re going to do everything we can to see to it that they are done peacefully and in an orderly fashion. reporter: but unlike most new york protests, 600 each year in lower manhattan alone, occupy wall street isn t applying for permits. police say it s created a communication gap. we have nobody identified as a leader who we can communicate to. in a normal process, we talk to the leadership, sit down. there s a permit that s issued. we know the route of the march that people are going to tyke. reporter: the majority of marches are peaceful but there has been trouble, use of pepper spray, swinging bat