Riot police on standby for ‘foreseeable future’ – police chief
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said officers will continue to be deployed until ‘the end of the disgusting scenes that we’re seeing’.
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Your support makes all the difference.Riot police are expected to stay on standby for the “foreseeable future” including through the weekend “and beyond”, according to a police chief.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said officers will continue to be deployed until “the end of the disgusting scenes that we’re seeing across the country”.
Around 6,000 officers have been mobilised to respond to incidents of violence and disorder around the country – about 30% of the total national reserve of some 18,000 who are trained to respond to public order incidents and routinely stand ready to be called in when required.
The number deployed so far includes 3,750 who are tasked with responding to incidents in their force area, with an additional 2,000 who can provide backup or be sent to their neighbouring regions or other parts of the country.
Police sources said the numbers would rise if needed.
The National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC), which is tasked with organising the support provided to forces, was set up in the wake of the 2011 riots so police could better share resources as they respond to similar incidents in the future.
It means thousands of officers trained in responding to public order incidents can be deployed in as little as 24 hours when required.
The body’s other work includes gathering intelligence on protests, drafting in teams of analysts and police officers to look at information and share among forces as incidents emerge.
We are ready for the days ahead, and will continue to be ready, and we'll act swiftly to bring the offenders to justice
Mr Williams, the national mobilisation co-ordinator at NPoCC, told the PA news agency officers will “remain on standby for the foreseeable future, and certainly through to this weekend and beyond”, adding: “We are ready for the days ahead and will continue to be ready, and we’ll act swiftly to bring the offenders to justice.”
“We’ve got a busy night tonight, that’s our expectation, certainly the intelligence and the list of potential disorder locations and events and the targeting of certain locations is quite significant.
“So there is a huge policing presence out to manage that, to prevent it, to be visible and to bring a capacity at a local level to deal with it robustly.
“But we will continue to monitor going forward through those intelligence structures and other such things to ensure that we do mobilise and work with the local forces to deploy a sufficient set of resources to be ready for anything that may prevail”, he said.
Money is not a factor in our response. We will put whatever resources at whatever cost to dealing with this until we have brought all those responsible to justice
He insisted officers have the equipment needed to be deployed but said there will still be other competing needs for resources as well – ahead of the start of the football season and other protests which have been taking place.
The costs of the operation so far have not been disclosed but Mr Williams said: “Money is not a factor in our response. We will put whatever resources at whatever cost to dealing with this until we have brought all those responsible to justice.”
The welfare of officers was also “incredibly important” and there was a “responsibility to take care of our officers” while working to keep the public safe.
“They require rest and refreshment and the break that these are really challenging incidents and environments for police officers to work in.
“We have sadly seen a number of our officers being injured and some of our horses and dogs. It is truly awful”, he added.