Police boats from across the UK to patrol Cornwall's coast day and night during G7
Marine policing units will have the power to stop and search vessels if they spot anything suspicious
Last updated 14th May 2021
Specialist marine policing units from around 10 forces in England will join Devon and Cornwall Police to patrol our coast during the G7 Summit.
Their boats will have the power to stop and search vessels if they spot anything suspicious.
Patrols will be carried out day and night when world leaders descend on Carbis Bay in June.
Reporters have joined the teams, training in Plymouth in advance of the event, including Sergeant Andrew Joyner from the Diving and Marine Unit.
"24 hours a day, there will be vessels on the water with a certain amount of officers with various skills.
"Some of the equipment means we're able to stop vessels if we need to.
"We're also able to protect a venue and keep people away from that as best we can.
"We'll hopefully be able to pick up on any problem long before it gets anywhere near where someone could cause a problem - and we'll be able to investigate and see if it's suspicious or if it's anything we should be concerned about and if so we'll be able to react and deal with that".
Sergeant Andrew Joyner
Divers practised searching for suspicious items underwater and are already carrying out searches in and around the St Ives area.
PC Clarke Orchard is in charge of Devon and Cornwall Police's Project Kraken - the operation which targets marine crime and terrorist threats.
He told reporters the local marine community in Cornwall will play a big part in ensuring the G7 is safe: "The public are our eyes and ears obviously - so any information they have to any suspicious activity in and around coastal areas and suspicious activity in and around maritime vessels - anything untoward, would be appreciated.
"Big concerns for us are any maritime vessels that are not normally in the location, if we've got any people directing people into vulnerable routes within the coast line that are not normally apparent within that area then that would be the information we are looking for".
PC Clarke Orchard
Devon and Cornwall Police have described the security operation for the G7 as the biggest in the force's history.
Around 6,500 officers and staff will be on duty during the three-day summit and around 5,000 of those will be from outside the force area.
The force said it will use drone, firearm and ANPR technology as part of its policing - but insisted it will continue to focus on a community-led approach to protecting the summit and locals.
Sergeant Joyner added: "We don't want to get in people's way.
"Yes, there's an incredibly important meeting going on with the leaders of the world, but people have still got to make a living so we'll try to minimise that impact as best as we can".
Sergeant Andrew Joyner
You can read all about the G7 security operation on the dedicated policing website.
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