Glasgow COP26 conference is UK's 'biggest policing operation ever’

More than 10,000 officers will be drafted to Glasgow for the COP26 policing operation in November. Every force in the UK will be sending officers North to support Police Scotland as President Biden, Pope Francis, senior members of the Royal family and more than 100 world leaders gather in Glasgow to tackle the world’s climate change problem.

Senior officers say it’s the most ‘complex and complicated’ policing operation they have ever seen. It is also the single biggest mobilisation of police officers ever seen in the UK.

‘UK’s biggest ever policing operation’

Police Scotland is preparing for ‘inevitable’ disruption across the country, but particularly in Glasgow. Tens of thousands of delegates will stay in the city for the two-week conference.

Today senior police officers told reporters that it’s the biggest ever police operation ever seen on UK soil, even bigger than the Olympic or Commonwealth games or the G7, which was held in Cornwall earlier this month.

Nearly 120 heads of state are expected to attend along with around 20,000 accredited delegates, meaning officers from forces across the UK will gather to help police the area.

Of the roughly 10,000 officers expected to be on duty every day, around 45% of them are expected to be Police Scotland officers.

The ‘Blue Zone’

Police Scotland officers and those sent from other forces will be responsible for the wider policing operation across Glasgow and the wider country, however the Scottish Exhibition Centre campus where the event will take place will be under the control of the UN.

The UN Blue Zone established over the even campus will be policed entirely by United Nations personnel and no Police Scotland officers will enter that area. They will still be guided by Scots Law.

Respect for everyone

The policing operation has been names Urram, which is the Gaelic word for respect.

Police Scotland says it fully intends to facilitate any peaceful protest during the time of COP26 and that they are already engaging with groups like Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and the Scottish Human Rights Commission as part of a working group to fully understand their needs and how officers can support their rights to demonstrate in a safe and peaceful manner.

It’s expected that around 100,000 people will attend a climate rally on the middle weekend of the conference.

"Significant demands across policing"

Gill Imery, Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, said: “This will be the biggest and most complex event staged in Scotland.

“It will place significant demands across policing and necessitate the largest mass mobilisation of police officers that has taken place in the UK in many years.

“As climate change is a high profile issue and as world leaders are due to attend, it will attract global political, public and media interest.

“Following our review, I am confident the leadership of Police Scotland, its officers and staff are committed to the effective and efficient policing of the event whilst maintaining delivery of business as usual and monitoring and supporting staff wellbeing.

“Covid-19 proved to be an unexpected challenge for those involved in policing and preparing for Cop26.

“Although the conference was delayed for a year, it did not necessarily mean there was more preparation time as many resources and personnel were diverted to support policing of the pandemic.

“An important observation from this review is the professional commitment by officers and staff who continued to deliver policing of the pandemic and planning for Cop26 against a backdrop of compliance with public health guidelines and lockdown restrictions.

“We also witnessed some examples of good practice which can be shared with other forces throughout the UK.''

The review offered only one recommendation: “Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) should put in place measures to monitor progress against the areas for development outlined in this assurance review ensuring regular reporting of progress at SPA meetings.''

Accountability

Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said: “The report was in the main very, very positive.

“It said that in terms of the welfare of the officers, in terms of operational planning, in terms of a range of other things you would expect, in terms of police in preparation for an event at a scale, I see that as really positive.

“It gives that assurance to our formal accountability that the things that they've identified are things that you would expect a number of months out from a massive operation of the scale that we're still working our way through.

“So we welcome the report - it's really helpful to have an external body come and look at what we're doing and give us that sense of we're in the right place at the right time in terms of our planning assumptions and planning preparations.

“But overall the report was incredibly positive and said that we're in the right place and our planning is spot on.''

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