15 Ensuring the welfare of officers


THE welfare of the 350 Scottish officers policing the Olympic Games wasn’t left to chance. Two representatives from the Scottish Police Federation joined their colleagues in London for the four-week period. “Our role was to visit the officers at their accommodation, places of briefing and


where they were deployed too,” said Jackie Muller, Lothian and Borders Joint Branch Board Secretary. “The staff at the universities were welcoming and ensured our officers had as


many home comforts as possible. The Metropolitan Police Service also did an excellent job at feeding and transporting officers,” added Jackie. “I saw many tired officers heading North at the end of their deployment – but every single officer was proud to have been involved.”9


Keeping the rail


network safe BRITISH Transport Police Chief Inspector Jane Townsley started working on the Olympic Security Strategy in 2010. It aimed to keep venues safe by disrupting


threats and looking for potential threats from e-crime, fraud, terrorism and public order. Jane, who lived in London Monday to Friday, headed up the Olympics Co-ordination Unit looking after logistics. With 9.6 million ticket holders and plenty more tourists welcomed to London in the first two weeks, it was quite a task says Jane: “We planned for 100 per cent of ticket holders to use public transport and 80 per cent of those to use the rail system. Three railway stations and 13 train lines served the Olympic Park and at peak times there were trains arriving every 13.8 seconds.” “The BTP weren’t responsible for crowd


West


Midlands Police Detective Kate


Tomkins was one of the many officers who


returned to uniform to play a part in policing the Olympics


control, but were responsible for securing every one of these passengers as they navigated their way to and from games venues via the public transport system,” she added. Jane says while hard work it was a “privilege”


to be involved in the Olympics planning and policing of the UK rail network. 9


success of the policing operation. Many took on different jobs and worked full shifts for the first time. Strategic business manager Wendy Eveleigh became a Operational


Bronze Commander and really enjoyed the sheer variety of the work. “The nature of the role meant I was problem solving for the organisation and making things happen. Essentially, anyone that needed something doing came to us – whether that was to do with food accommodation or Henry the cockerel, an uninvited guest at one of our staff accommodation sites.” Said Wendy.


PNC/CIB Supervisor Katie Ford learnt


Members of Dorset Special Constabulary joined the policing operation: Special Constable Karen O'Donnell on patrol with PC Jon Wasey


how to operate CCTV cameras during the Olympics. However while she enjoyed the shifts, she said it did get tiring. “As I like to be alert at work I found that all I did was sleep, work and rest, my home life was put on hold,” she said, “although exhausted from the length of the participation, I found the whole experience enjoyable and rewarding.”9


GRAPEVINE Autumn 2012


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20