Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland this weekend will ‘undoubtedly stretch’ police resources, a senior officer has warned.
Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS), said the President’s stay would require a ‘significant operation across the country over many days’.
His comments come in the wake of similar concerns from the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – the body which represents rank-and-file officers – which said the visit was a ‘recipe for disaster’ as we ‘don’t have enough cops’.
Mr Trump is due to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a five-day private visit to his golf resorts in both Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, and plans to meet both Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and First Minister John Swinney.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘This is just the latest siren warning to SNP ministers about the impact of their brutal cuts on Police Scotland’s ability to cover the Presidential visit.
‘We’ve already had threats of legal action from the SPF over the demands on rank-and-file officers, as well as a plea from bosses for reinforcements from Northern Ireland – and now we have the representative of senior officers sounding the alarm bell too.
‘The buck stops with SNP ministers, who have squeezed police funding to the point where those at the sharp end feel compelled to speak out about the dangerous lack of resources.’
There are expected to be major protests, including from the Stop Trump Coalition, which is organising a ‘festival of resistance’.
Mr Trump, pictured during a previous visit to Turnberry, will arrive in Scotland on Friday
Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said Mr Trump’s stay require a ‘significant operation’ over ‘many days’
A ‘ring of steel’ has been thrown up around Trump Turnberry, above, as preparations continue for the arrival of US President Donald Trump there this week
Mr Trump’s last visit as a serving President, in July 2018, prompted large-scale protests in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, which cost Police Scotland more than £3million and required mutual aid – officers sent to Scotland from other UK forces.
Mr Hay said: ‘The private visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland will require the Police service of Scotland to plan for and deliver a significant operation across the country over many days.
‘This will undoubtedly stretch all our resources from local policing divisions to specialist and support functions such as contact, command and control.’
He said police superintendents and chief superintendents will have ‘key leadership roles’ for the visit, saying they would be taking responsibility for areas such as planning and resourcing, intelligence gathering, command and control communications, armed operations and public order.
Mr Hay urged the public to be aware of the ‘significant demands that will be placed on policing services during this period’ – adding these result from not only the Presidential visit but the ‘many popular events that Scotland hosts in the summer months, which bring thousands of tourists to our country and rely upon partnerships with policing to support their safe delivery’.
He said ASPS is ‘concerned about the capacity and resilience of its members, particularly in times of high demand such as this summer, when leave has been cancelled’.
His comments came as SPF general secretary David Kennedy warned the police response to the visit could impact on the service it provides to the public.
Asked about the visit, Mr Kennedy told BBC Radio Scotland: ‘Anyone who says it won’t affect it [policing in Scotland], I can’t believe that’s the case.
Large security fences have been erected around the Turnberry resort ahead of the visit
Police on buggies patrol near the Trump Turnberry golf course as golfers play
‘It will affect it. You may be waiting in the past for so many hours for a police officer to arrive, that could double now, you may be waiting for more time for them to arrive.
‘Emergency calls will take priority, but it will affect communities in Scotland.
‘We’ve been asking long and weary to have more police officers in our communities in Scotland and all this does is take them away from that.’
Asked if the quality of policing will be impacted by the visit, Mr Kennedy added: ‘It will be seriously affected.
‘There’s not enough police officers for it not to be affected.’
Concerns have also been raised about the cost of the policing operation, with officers likely to cancel rest days to ensure adequate staffing.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said: ‘The visit will require a significant police operation using local, national and specialist resources from across Police Scotland, supported by colleagues from other UK police forces as part of mutual aid arrangements.’
Today, Mr Swinney said it was important that Mr Trump’s visit is ‘handled with care’.
Police could also be seen patrolling the beach near the resort as security was ramped up
Part of the Presidential motorcade was delivered to Prestwick Airport in huge C17 Globemaster US Air Force jets
Several top secret vehicles usually seen in the motorcade were unloaded from planes with some seen filing up at the local petrol station near HMS Gannet
While the First Minister accepted the need for ‘security around the President’ he has also said there ‘has to be the legitimate right for individuals in our country to make their voices heard, to protest’.
Meanwhile, the scale of the security operation required for the visit became ever clearer.
Several black SUVs were seen being unloaded from two huge C17 Globemaster Air Force jets at Prestwick Airport yesterday morning with another three planes landing in the afternoon.
Some of the vehicles in the presidential motorcade were immediately driven to the nearest garage, a BP in Monkton, for refuelling with serious-looking security detail fully concentrating on the task at hand.
It is believed the motorcade then continued its journey to Mr Trump’s resort in Turnberry.
One onlooker said: ‘They did not crack as much as a smile. Obviously they’ve a job to do but there was nothing that encouraged anyone to approach them let alone speak to them.’
Despite stringent security measures, including a number of no-fly zones, planespotters were able to gather near to the Ayrshire airport to zoom in on the action on the runway.
