PSNI lending officers for Donald Trump Scotland visit leaves Northern Ireland in 'really difficult position' says former senior officer Jim Gamble
The PSNI lending officers to police the visit of US President Donald Trump to Scotland leaves Northern Ireland in a "really difficult position" due to already stretched resources, a former senior officer has said.
Mr Trump is expected to touch down in Scotland tomorrow ahead of a four-day stay at his golf clubs in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.
The president – whose mother was born on the Isle of Lewis before emigrating to America – will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during the visit, as well as Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
The policing operation required to handle both the visit and any protests that may spring up as a result of it will be huge, with Police Scotland seeking officers from other areas of the UK for support.
Former senior PSNI officer Jim Gamble said that it was already normal for the PSNI to be “stretched beyond the limit at every level” when dealing with day-to-day policing.
“Well, provided everything goes fine and no one needs a policing resource, it's safe,” he told the BBC.
“But if things go as they normally do, where police are stretched beyond the limit at every level, whether it's roads policing, whether it's your general policing, if we have a public order incident – the PSNI are already stretched before they begin lending resources elsewhere.
“So we are in a really difficult position and I think it's only going to be when a crisis emerges and something goes horribly wrong that we are then going to address it in the way that we should.”
He suggested the track record of increasing the number of police officers in Manchester is an example Northern Ireland could follow.
“How can it be that Greater Manchester Police in 2020 only had 6,500 officers but then a combination of local politics and national politics mean that today they've got 8,300?” he asked. “Why can't we do that?”
The PSNI currently has 6,300 officers – the lowest number in its history.
The Patton Report on the New Beginning of Policing in Northern Ireland recommended 7,500 full-time officers, supported by some 2,500 reserves – but in the context of no paramilitary groups existing.
Former senior PSNI officer Jon Burrows said the fact that the PSNI needs to use mutual assistance with other forces to deal with street violence shows how stretched the Northern Ireland force really is.
“The PSNI has asked for mutual aid in recent years and has always received support when requested, there is no doubt that despite the very real resource crisis facing the PSNI they will feel a moral obligation to provide some assistance to Police Scotland,” he said.
“But one important point to make is, this is the sort of instance that mutual aid was intended for – pre-planned large events. This is in contrast to what PSNI had to use it for recently – which is urgent support in the midst of a flare up of violence.
“Police Scotland needs mutual aid for a presidential visit – the PSNI needs it if there is a couple of days of localised disorder, a sobering difference.”
A PSNI spokeswoman said: “A number of officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland will travel to Scotland in the coming days to support Police Scotland colleagues in the planning and safe delivery of policing around the US presidential visit.
“The deployment follows a request for mutual aid via the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC). The full cost of the deployment will be recovered from Police Scotland.”
A spokesperson for the Police Federation of Northern Ireland said: "The deployment is on the clear understanding that should the situation require it, our officers can quickly be recalled back to Northern Ireland."