Police Scotland reveals plans for one of UK’s biggest policing operations to support COP26

Officers will be drafted from all divisions across Scotland, supported by a substantial number of colleagues from other UK police services as part of mutual aid arrangements.

The huge security operation involves local policing officers from each of Police Scotland’s 13 divisions and specialist resources, including firearms officers, dog handlers, mounted branch, search teams and the marine unit.

An assurance review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) published today (June 24) said policing plans were “progressing well” and it was confident that Police Scotland would deliver “effective and efficient policing of the event”.

The conference follows this month’s high-security G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, in which more than 5,000 mutual aid officers from forces across the UK – including 400 from Police Scotland – joined 1,500 officers and staff from Devon and Cornwall Police in the largest policing operation ever undertaken by the force.

COP26, the United Nations 26th Conference of the Parties, is an annual summit organised by the UN where world leaders and thousands of delegates come together to tackle climate change issues.

This year’s event takes place from October 31 to November 12 at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said detailed planning has been under way for more than a year and the force was well prepared for the unique challenges presented by COP26.

He said: “COP26 will see world leaders, delegates, businesses, civil society groups and activists from all over the world come to Glasgow to discuss the future of our planet and take action on climate change.

“This is a significant operation for any police service and will involve one of the biggest mobilisation of police assets the UK has ever seen.

“Police Scotland has a long history of policing major events from the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships, to G8 and state visits. COP26 is no exception and we look forward to playing our part in this historic event.

Mr Kerr added: “Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation and has a duty under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.

“We will provide a proportionate policing response to any protests and will seek to engage with known protest groups to ensure their rights to peaceful assembly and protest are met.

“Those wishing to protest have a responsibility to do so within the law and I would remind the small minority of people who may be intent on violent disorder or causing damage that we will deal with them swiftly and robustly.”

Mr Kerr said as part of the operation they will implement a variety of security measures to “ensure that people living in, working in, or visiting Glasgow feel safe”.

“Police counter terrorist security advisers are already assessing venues and other locations associated with the event to consider any risks, he said.

“A range of specialist police units will be deployed as part of the security operation, including armed officers, mounted police, the marine unit, road policing and air support.

“We will have visible security measures in place such as CCTV, hostile vehicle barriers, and specialist search officers and dogs will be searching key locations.

“While there is no specific threat relating to the event, we will be prepared for any eventuality.”

Police Scotland said it had been planning for COP26 for more than a year, with officers and staff working closely with partners from the UN, the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, other emergency services and local resilience partners across Scotland.

Mr Kerr said: “With an event of this scale, disruption is inevitable but we are working with partners to keep this to a minimum.

“Our policing operation is focused on the delivery of a safe and secure event but a considerable part of our planning is to ensure that the communities of Scotland continue to receive the same high standard of service to which they are accustomed.

“Our response to incidents and day-to-day demand will not be compromised by the policing of COP26.”

He added: “While the policing of an event of this size puts incredible demand on our resources. The strength of our national police service allows us the flexibility to ensure that our communities will receive the same very high standards of service during this fortnight.

“Local policing officers will continue to police local communities and I would encourage members of the public to speak to those officers to raise any concerns.”

The policing operation for COP26 will be active and on the streets long before the opening of the conference and Police Scotland is encouraging the public to play their part by reminding them to be vigilant and report anything that seems out of place or unusual.

Mr Kerr said: “There will be a significantly enhanced police and security presence in and around the city in advance of and during COP26.

“Officers will be engaging with members of our communities to help them plan ahead and stay safe, and reminding them of how they can help.”

The HMICS assurance review said policing plans for maintaining business as usual, the wellbeing of staff and resourcing during the major climate change conference in Glasgow were “progressing well”.

However, it also highlighted areas where further work is needed and progress towards them will be checked closer to COP26.

Gill Imery QPM, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, 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 while maintaining delivery of business as usual and monitoring and supporting staff wellbeing.”

The assurance review by HMICS looked specifically at arrangements for resource planning and mutual aid, capacity for day to day policing and staff wellbeing pre, during and post the event.

“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,” added Mrs Imery.

“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.”

Given the complexity and challenge of policing COP26, the size and scale of the event which will put exceptional demand on resources, HMICS believed it to be inevitable there will be an element of disruption in day-to-day policing. However policing the pandemic had provided useful learning points for maintaining business as usual.

Among the areas in which Police Scotland has been encouraged to make progress are the briefing of mutual aid officers on the differences in public order legislation between Scotland and the rest of the UK; testing of plans and protocols; arrangements for multiple arrests and custodies; communication of policies across the service, and management of time off which will be due to officers and staff who were at COP26 and those across the country who provided a service to their communities.

One recommendation about oversight is made in the report in addition to a number of areas for development. Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority will be asked to set up measures to monitor progress.

In preparation for COP26, Police Scotland asked the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to carry out an external evaluation of its operational planning for the event. HMICS was asked subsequently to consider Police Scotland’s co-operation with and response to the MPS review and its recommendations. HMICS found the MPS assessment had been useful and that Police Scotland was progressing its recommendations.