Officers advised against volunteering for Northern Ireland

SOUTH Yorkshire Police officers have been advised against volunteering for mutual aid tours of duty in Northern Ireland this summer for the G8 summit.

Neil Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, (pictured) said three public order units from the force will be asked to travel to the province this summer.

But he told CopperConnection: “As things stand, our advice to officers is definitely not to volunteer.”

Around 4,000 police officers from forces in England and Wales are expected to be drafted into Northern Ireland for mutual aid as leaders from eight of the world’s wealthiest countries come together for the G8 Summit in June.

The summit is often marred by protests.

Mr Bowles said: “It is a totally different policing environment which mainland officers just are not trained for. We have different uniforms, we have different personal protection.

“They are all armed. Our officers are not. We have assurances that when our officers are deployed, they will be under armed escort. How good is that? Is our insurance valid?

“Police pensions may be because we are following orders, but what about our own private life insurance. Will it be covered over there?

“Our advice is until we get all these concerns sorted to our satisfaction – and training sorted – our advice is definitely not to volunteer.”

Mr Bowles added: “We have had discussions over the last three or four years about mutual aid to Northern Ireland. Mainly due to the fact they have cut their numbers.

“We have raised our concerns about this summer’s G8 with the force – annual leave has been cancelled and curtailed for the week beginning 17 June – and the conference will be during that week, sometime in Northern Ireland.

“It is a waiting game at the moment but it is only four months away. If officers have concerns, give the office a ring and we will have a chat.”

Steve Williams, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “We want to ensure we support our PSNI colleagues but there are a number of issues we need to raise – including the safety of our officers while posted in Northern Ireland, their anonymity and welfare.”

Mr Williams said he understood the plan for the operation was to “rely solely upon volunteers”.

However he added: “The bottom line is that trained officers can be lawfully ordered to be deployed to PSNI.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales said it will be raising “serious” concerns officially with government representatives.

ACPO lead for Public Order and Public Safety and ACPO lead for Great Britain for G8 mutual aid deployment Chief Constable Ian Learmonth said: “I want to reassure officers who have the required skill sets for deployment to Northern Ireland for the G8 summit that every effort is being taken to maximise their security and safety.

“We are still in early preparations and are actively engaging with members of the four home federations in this process.”