Crimewave warning as police cover falls during conference

CRIMINALS could ‘run riot’ during Cop26 as police staffing levels plummet to ‘dangerously low’ levels, it was warned yesterday.

The Mail has been told that the massive security operation for the international climate summit will have a major impact on everyday policing.

Across Scotland, the number of personnel on routine duties not connected to Cop26 could fall as far as 60 per cent below the recommended safe minimum. It means the public could be left waiting longer for police to respond to non-emergency calls, while foot patrols may be scaled back or dropped entirely in some areas.

One police source told the Mail: ‘Operational Baseline Level [OBL] is the minimum threshold – the absolute bare minimum of cops that you need for any particular area.

‘Operation Urram [the Cop26 operation] is hoovering people up right, left and centre and the demands are getting stronger every day.

‘On average it’s looking like across the country police will be between 50 and 60 per cent below the OBL which will obviously have a big impact on everyday policing, a dangerously low level. It will be bare minimum policsize ing, even with officers being drafted in from elsewhere in the UK – police have never faced anything on this scale before.

‘Criminals may not always be the most intelligent but they will pick up on the fact there aren’t police around and there are concerns they could run riot while Cop26 is going on.’

Former Strathclyde Police chief superintendent Tom Buchan said: ‘[Police] will be stripped down to a minimal level in terms of staffing and they will really struggle.’

An inspectors’ report this year said some routine police calls are likely to go unanswered during Cop26.

Almost 120 heads of state with more than 30,000 accredited delegates are expected to attend, meaning officers will be drawn to Glasgow from forces across the UK.

Around 10,000 officers will be deployed each day, one of the largest policing operations undertaken in Britain. A review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) this year said it was ‘inevitable’ that the event would disrupt day-to-day policing.

Policing plans were said to be ‘progressing well’ for the summit, but HMICS said: ‘Given the complexity and challenge of policing Cop26, the and scale of the event will put exceptional demand on resources.’

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.’

The Mail revealed this week that a shortage of police cells could lead to protesters walking free with warnings. Other police sources have said the prospect of mass protests with up to 300 arrests a day could turn into a ‘messy’ situation.

Yesterday we reported that police are planning to ‘facilitate’ protest during the Cop26 summit – even when it is ‘unlawful’. Assistant chief constable Bernie Higgins said the police approach would be ‘fair, friendly and accommodating’.

Demonstrators are expected to cause disruption including possible road blockages. But police chiefs insist they want to accommodate peaceful protest as part of Operation Urram – the Gaelic word for respect.

The Scottish Tories said ‘law-abiding Scots will be concerned to hear that law-breaking will be potentially facilitated by the police during Cop26’. Meanwhile lawyers in Glasgow and Edinburgh have vowed to boycott weekend custody courts during Cop26 in a row over legal aid which could plunge the justice system into chaos.

Police Scotland said it did not disclose staffing levels. Deputy chief constable Will Kerr said: ‘A considerable part of our planning for Cop26 has been to ensure the communities of Scotland continue to receive the same high standard of service from policing they have come to expect.

‘Policing, so often the service of first and last resort, will never step away from those who are in crisis.

‘There are pressures which exist across many other services, agencies and sectors. When the health service, local authorities and other key partners come under significant strain, demand is diverted to policing.’

Scottish Tory community safety spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘People in Glasgow and across Scotland cannot become an afterthought. We deserve to be told by the SNP what level of community policing can be expected during this event.

‘These claims are deeply worrying and must be explained. Public safety cannot be compromised.’

‘It will be bare minimum’