Thank you for your request for information regarding Officers deployed to the London Olympics which has now been considered.

Transcription

1 c/o PO BOX 481 Fareham Hampshire PO14 9FS Tel: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NUMBER: /12 Thank you for your request for information regarding Officers deployed to the London Olympics which has now been considered. Applicant Question: ACPO Response: 1. Please provide information surrounding the policing strategy of the Olympic Games in London with regards to how many officers from each force across the UK will be used in policing the event, so how many will be used from City of London, Met Police and then how many from every other force across the UK. Please provide this information in the form of a breakdown which shows how many from each force across the UK will be used and will be deployed in London during the Olympic Games in total throughout the entirety of the event. 2. Please provide further information surrounding the policing strategy in terms of how many special constables and community officers will be used and how many fully-warranted officers. Please provide this in breakdown form of how many fully-warranted officers will be used and how many non fully-warranted officers will be used and deployed across London during the entirety of the Olympic Games. This also applies to all forces across the UK. 1. ACPO do not hold the information captured by your request. This is because there is no complete and finalised central record of how many Officers will be supplied on Mutual Aid and deployed in London during the Olympic Games from each force to include the host force as this information may change. 2. ACPO do not hold the information captured by your request. This is because there is no complete/finite central record of how many Special Constables and Community Officers will be deployed across London during the entirety of the Olympic Games. PCSOs are a vital part of local community policing teams and will not be provided to support the Games policing operation. In order to assist you however, I have been able to locate information that may be of interest to you and detail below, and also provide you with web-links: I wish to stress also, that much of this information is already in the public domain. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have been planning how to make sure that enough Officers and staff are available to deliver what is needed to keep the Games safe and secure. This has included introducing a new shift pattern that Officers in London Boroughs will work. 1st Floor, 10 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0NN T F Registered in England and Wales as a private company limited by guarantee. Registered number Registered office 10 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0NN Company Secretary: Tom Flaherty

2 The Games require a 105-day long policing operation from 4 June until 16 September. On peak, around 12,500 officers will police the Games nationally, with around 9,500 in London alone. 12 police forces will deliver an operation in support of a sporting venue; from Dorset Police in the south, to Strathclyde Police in the north. In addition, British Transport Police will police the railways. Gold Commanders have been developing local operational plans, working closely with their partners and LOCOG, the event organisers. For some, the sheer scale and duration of the Games requires the assistance of officers from outside of their force. The majority of the aid will be to the Metropolitan Police and Dorset Police. More limited numbers of officers, predominantly those with specialist skills and for specific periods of time, will be provided to Surrey Police, Thames Valley Police, British Transport Police and others. A key contribution to the bid to host the Games was that policing would be provided, in the main, by the famous unarmed British Bobby. As such, the majority of officers required on mutual aid are general beat officers, providing their usual professional service to the public. With such a complex operation, there is a high requirement for specialist skilled officers. Over 70 specific skills, from those trained in search techniques, marine, public order, mounted section, dog units, motorcycle escort, firearms officers, protection officers and other specialisms will be required. Building on tried and tested processes, ACPO s Police National Information and Coordination Centre (PNICC), and the Scottish equivalent, S-PICC, are coordinating the sourcing of officers from nearly every force across the UK, including specialist forces such as the Ministry of Defence Police and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. Every Chief Constable has committed to contributing mutual aid and a proportionate approach has been taken, ensuring that each force is providing aid based upon an assessment of the force total size, its specific capabilities and with consideration to local events. While daily deployments will fluctuate, each force will provide a proportionately fair contribution across the duration of the Games, wherever possible. Critical to the planning is the need to ensure that core policing continues to be delivered. All forces have adopted a range of measures to maximise the number of officers available. Annual leave has been restricted across the service, non-essential training has been postponed, working arrangements reviewed and where appropriate the Special Constabulary and volunteers may play a role. Modern day policing is intelligence led and information of this nature needs to be treated with extreme sensitivity as it could have a detrimental effect on the operational effectiveness of the Police Service. Any disclosure of information that would allow extremists to gauge the level of protection would provide anyone intent on committing acts of terrorism with vital intelligence as to the level of police and security resistance that they may encounter. This would hinder the ability of the law enforcement bodies to perform their public protection role and would clearly not be in the public interest. The tables below detail the approximate contribution to the Games operation made by each force. These figures are approximate and likely to change. They are based upon planning and intelligence at this time, which continually evolves in response to the situation we face. England: Number of Maximum Minimum daily daily 1 Avon & Somerset Constabulary Cambridgeshire Police Cheshire Constabulary City of London Police Cleveland Police

3 6 Cumbria Constabulary Derbyshire Constabulary Devon & Cornwall Constabulary Durham Constabulary Essex Police Gloucestershire Constabulary Greater Manchester Police Hampshire Constabulary /15 Hertfordshire/Beds collaborated Humberside Police Kent Police Lancashire Constabulary Leicestershire Constabulary Lincolnshire Police Merseyside Police Norfolk Constabulary North Yorkshire Police Northamptonshire Police Northumbria Police Nottinghamshire Police South Yorkshire Police Staffordshire Police Suffolk Constabulary Surrey Police Sussex Police Thames Valley Police Warwickshire Police West Mercia Police West Midlands Police West Yorkshire Police Wiltshire Constabulary Number of Wales: 38 Dyfed-Powys Gwent North Wales Police South Wales Police Scotland: * Discussions ongoing with Scottish forces, detail to be finalised Number of 42 Central Scotland Police 43 Dumfries and Galloway

4 44 Fife Constabulary 45 Grampian Police 46 Lothian and Borders Police 47 Northern Constabulary 48 Strathclyde Police 49 Tayside Police Northern Ireland: Number of 50 Police Service of Northern Ireland Specialist forces: ** This only details MDPs contribution to the policing operation. MDPs contribution to Games security is wider. Number of 51 Civil Nuclear Police Ministry of Defence Police ** Non-donor forces: MPS Dorset BTP Further information in relation to policing London during the Olympics can be found via the web link I have provided for you below: The policing presence is proportionate given the size and scale of the Park. We will have resources inside the competition venues, as we may need to respond to crime disorder or threat to life issues inside the venue. The Police will provide a proportionate response to such incidents where crime or disorder occurs but it will be for the court to decide on punishment depending on the impact and intent. I also provide you with a web-link below to the ACPO internet media page which details a recent ACPO Publication titled Police Service delivers resources for the largest ever pre-planned operation; the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Yours sincerely Sherry Traquair Freedom of Information Officer & Decision Maker COMPLAINT RIGHTS

5 Internal Review If you are dissatisfied with the response you have been provided with, in compliance with the Freedom of Information legislation, you can lodge a complaint with ACPO to have the decision reviewed within 2 months of the date of this response. The handling of your request will be looked at by someone independent of the original decision, and a fresh response provided. It would be helpful, if requesting a review, for you to articulate in detail the reasons you are not satisfied with this reply. If you would like to request a review, please write or send an to ACPO Freedom of Information, c/o PO Box 481, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 9FS. If, after lodging a complaint with ACPO, you are still unhappy with the outcome, you may make an application to the Information Commissioner at the Information Commissioner s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.