Massive police operation planned with US vice president to visit Scotland
Federation says 1000 officers to be deployed with huge knock-on effect on others if JD Vance holidays in Ayrshire
Last updated 10th Aug 2025
Officers in Scotland are facing another major operation next week as the US vice president comes on holiday.
It’s understood 1000 will be deployed as security for JD Vance and his family who are understood to be spending some time in Ayrshire.
And there will be a massive impact across the force with those not deployed forced to work 12 hour shifts to cover for the losses of colleagues dealing with the trip,
That means they could miss huge events like the Oasis gigs at Murrayfield and planned family events as they are compelled to work.
Mr Vance has been meeting with the Foreign Secretary in Kent discussing key issues like Ukraine and Gaza.
It comes just two weeks after a massive operation was put in place to deal with the visit of Donald Trump, with 5000 involved in the security of the US president.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland by the Vice President of the United States.
"Details of any visit would be for the White House to comment on, however it is important that we prepare in advance for what would be a significant policing operation”
David Kennedy from the Scottish Police Federation says it will have a huge knock-on effect because there are not enough officers in Scotland.
He said: “When you don’t have enough officers to be able to police properly it’s going to have a knock-on effect on other officers who will be working 12-hour shifts, long days, long nights and extended periods without rest.
“Police officers are not covered by employment law. They can be ordered to work on a rest day so any family events and any ticketed events – like Oasis – will have to be scrapped.
“Many officers will have bought tickets and they now won’t be able to go and work instead.
“We’re about a thousand officers short of where we were but we believe we are about 3000 below what we need to deal with the demand this kind of event puts on the police service.”