10,000 mutual aid officers for NATO summit in Wales

THE 65th NATO Summit will be held in September in Newport, South Wales and there will be a mutual aid deployment of around 10,000 officers to the event.

This will be the largest policing operation ever held in Wales and the largest joint operation since the policing of the 2012 London Olympics. The Summit is being held on the 4th and 5th September at the Celtic Manor Hotel and will host approximately 60 delegates from the 28 member states.

Approximately 14,000 people are expected to descend on Newport over the two days.

To ensure the safety and secure passage of the event a mutual aid authority has been agreed to secure the deployment of nearly 10,000 officers. The core dates for the deployment are the 26th August to the 6th September, 2014.

According to the Police Federation of England and Wales: “This will provide the policing resilience for the event and ensure continuity and day to day effectiveness of the host force(s).”

PFEW added: “The federations in Gwent, South Wales and nationally are working to ensure the terms and conditions of service, accommodation and welfare provision are in place for the mutual aid deployments.”

Gwent and South Wales Feds say they are “hard at work negotiating on a number of key issues for officers. These include personal safety, security, welfare, meals, accommodation, vehicles and healthcare.”

There are no training requirements identified for the deployment of officers to South Wales.

However, each officer will be required to do an online safety and familiarisation simulation via the National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT) website and are encouraged to regularly check this for updates.

According to PFEW: “As it stands the intention is for officers to take a rest day pre and post deployment. Shift patterns and rest periods are still work in progress.”

Officers have been reminded not to discuss their deployments on social media. Accommodation sites have been scoped to ensure that officers on down time have access to appropriate leisure and rest facilities.

PFEW will be running a 24-hour helpline for the duration of the deployment. The number will be published in due course.

For more information, see here

Officers with any questions are being asked to email [email protected]