Police Warn Over Olympics Staffing

[Oldbillplod]

The massive demands of the 2012 Olympics will leave forces struggling to cope with everyday policing, it has been claimed.

Some 15,000 officers, about 10% of the police workforce in England and Wales, are expected to be involved in the operation.

Police said the event will be the biggest security and policing operation ever seen in Britain, but they fear the Games will be a high-profile target for not only terrorists but organised and petty criminals.

But grassroots police leaders fear preparations for the 60-day sporting extravaganza have already fallen behind.

Alan Gordon, Police Federation vice chairman, said the event could leave forces struggling to cope with ordinary duties. Speaking at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth, he said overstretched resources must be "urgently addressed".

Mr Gordon said the decision of some forces to scale down specialist units such as dogs teams could leave gaps in 2012. He said: "I am genuinely concerned that despite our knowing this event will happen we are still only in the early stages of planning and some forces are still unaware of their own commitments. New Year catches them out every year but this really is far too important an event to make the same mistakes."

Federation representatives were told how thousands of athletes and spectators will travel to the UK in 2012. They heard how criminals used the Sydney and Athens Olympics as cover for drug and people smuggling, fraud and other crimes.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, of the Metropolitan Police, said every force in the country will be affected by the Games. He said the national threat level is likely to rise from severe to critical as the Games approach.

Mr Ghaffur, the most senior officer responsible for Olympic policing, said: "The assessment is it will remain severe or go critical in the very near future right up to the Games themselves."

The conference was told the bill for policing the Games may be as much as £600 million.

[charlydevo]

Will they be looking to bring in LEO's from the U.S. to help out? I'm sure the Brits can do some type of magic wand deputization for us.

[Ispbear]

Yeah, but they wouldn't let you carry your gun. Think how they would freak out when you showed up with an AR-15 slung over your shoulder.
I think that they probably do have much to worry about. Terrorist don't want a fight, they want victims. What better than a place where the vast majority of officers aren't allowed to carry.
I'm sure our English friends will chime in on this. Let me know if you think I'm wrong. ;)

[WellAdvised]

Yeah, but they wouldn't let you carry your gun. Think how they would freak out when you showed up with an AR-15 slung over your shoulder.
I think that they probably do have much to worry about. Terrorist don't want a fight, they want victims. What better than a place where the vast majority of officers aren't allowed to carry.
I'm sure our English friends will chime in on this. Let me know if you think I'm wrong. ;)

+1

There have been headlines in London intended to create panic about Police Officers from other countries being deployed at the Olympics and the requirement for them to be armed. Unless there is a big change here, I cannot see it happening publicly.

It is quite likely that most UK officers will have Tasers available by 2012, and it would be likely that lots of AFO's (Authorised Firearms Officers) from all over the UK would be drafted in. The dilemma with that, is that it could leave other areas (and officers) vulnerable if there is not enough armed support available.

One obvious solution would be to bring in the Armed Forces, but they are a bit busy at the moment, and are likely to remain so. I cannot see an easy solution which does not include radically increasing the number of armed officers in the UK.

[Oldbillplod]

We won't be employing LEO's from outside the UK it would be logistically impossible.
With regards to the firearms side of things I would guess that the tactics employed in the US are completely different to those in the UK.

[greenlead]

I KNEW I'd seen this discussion before :D :
Anyone want to volunteer?
9,000 Officers to Police Olympics

[Group9]

Any police agency wanting to find out how much the Olympics can shut down law enforcement in your area should contact the Georgia State Police, and ask them about the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Ten percent of my federal agency got drafted (including me) as well, for that.