Police Scotland train officers to keep protests peaceful at Cop26 in Glasgow
120 world leaders are coming to Glasgow in November
Thousands of Police Scotland officers are going to receive special public order training in the run-up to the Cop26 summit in Glasgow in November to help insure protests remain peaceful.
About 10,000 officers from around the UK will be deployed each day of the summit, making it one of the largest policing operations ever undertaken in Britain.
During August and September, roughly 2,500 public order officers in Police Scotland will come forward for training.
As part of this, an exercise was held at Cragiehall barracks near Edinburgh on Monday.
Police wearing riot gear were tasked with dealing with a mock protest, with other officers playing the role of demonstrators from a group called "Destruction Uprising''.
The "protesters'' took part in a sit-down demonstration outside a bank which began peacefully before becoming more confrontational, with objects being thrown at the line of officers.
Mounted police were also used in the exercise, while the officers moved to disperse the group and use riot shields to defend against attackers with baseball bats.
A group of politicians and campaigners were invited to the training day, with some taking part in the role of police or protesters.
Police Scotland says it will take a human rights-based approach to policing any demonstrations during Cop26.
Leaders from around the world will gather in Glasgow to discuss tackling climate change.
READ MORE: What is Cop26? ****
READ MORE: Scotland's plans for Cop26
Human rights at the heart of Police plans
A senior officer said the force was already engaging with protest groups to allow peaceful demonstrations.
Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said: "Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation that puts our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights at the heart of everything we do.
"This means that we will protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest at Cop26, balanced against the rights of the wider community.
He said the police would focus on de-escalation in a demonstration like the one being simulated at Cragiehall.
"Protest is vital"
Quan Nguyen, Scotland coordinator of the Cop26 Coalition, which is organising protests in Glasgow, across the UK and worldwide this November, said: "Protest and dissent are vital to a healthy democracy, and are how human rights and justice have always been won the world over.
"Without protest, the political will to act is just not there. The rights to protest, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are protected rights which the police have a legal duty to defend.
"People must be able to challenge the most exclusionary and least transparent COP ever held, otherwise we stand no chance in tackling the deadly climate catastrophe currently wreaking havoc across the planet.''
He urged people to join the protests for climate justice on November 6.