Twelfth 2020: Chief Constable hails organisers saying day has been free of any major policing incidents

The Chief Constable has hailed the organisers of the Twelfth 2020, saying the day has “passed without major incident”.
By Adam Kula
Published 13th Jul 2020, 20:05 BST
Updated 14th Jul 2020, 10:28 BST
Twelfth celebrations in Beechfield Street Belfast, where people were advised to celebrate where they lived due to the coronavirus outbreak, and to watch parades from home. Photo: Niall Carson/PA WireTwelfth celebrations in Beechfield Street Belfast, where people were advised to celebrate where they lived due to the coronavirus outbreak, and to watch parades from home. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Twelfth celebrations in Beechfield Street Belfast, where people were advised to celebrate where they lived due to the coronavirus outbreak, and to watch parades from home. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd made the statement at 8pm this evening, following a very subdued day of much-slimmed down parades.

“I would like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of the organisers of many of today’s events and those within local communities who contributed to this largely successful day,” he said.

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“I would also like to thank my officers and staff who have worked tirelessly and will continue to do so throughout the night to keep our communities safe.

“I would ask everyone, particularly those with influence, to continue to work with us to ensure that the rest of this holiday period can be enjoyed in peace and safety.”

According to the Parades Commission, there were 248 parades set to take place today.

That is little over a third of the number of the Twelfth 2019.

However, this is a somewhat misleading comparison.

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A random sample of 50 of the 2020 parades was looked at by the News Letter, and every one of them involved just a single band alone – whereas many of the 606 ones from 2019 involved multiple bands parading at once.

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