Number of parades 'unsustainable', say Strathclyde Police

Published on Thursday 1 October 2009 14:54

THE number of parades and marches which Scotland's largest force has to police is unsustainable, a senior police authority figure said today.

A total of 1,061 marches took place in the year to March 31 which cost Strathclyde Police 1.7 million, according to a report presented to the force authority today.

Dealing with the events took 49,859 hours of police time and 96 people were arrested.

One event alone, the County Grand Orange Lodge parade in Glasgow on July 4, cost 582,039 to police and used up about 23,000 hours of officers' time.

A separate second report noted that violence, disorder and antisocial behaviour increased on march days.

At its meeting in Hamilton today, Strathclyde Police Authority (SPA) agreed to work with local authorities and other stakeholders to discuss ways of reducing the joint costs of policing marches and parades.

Paul Rooney, SPA convener, said: "The burden that the 1,000 or more marches has on the force resources is unsustainable.

"We are keen to ensure that we uphold people's freedom of expression, however we have to ensure that every single parade and march is proportionate and reasonable."

The first report showed that the number of marches, which include Army parades and Stop The War Coalition demonstrations, has risen in recent years from 979 in 2003 to 1,061 in the 12 months to March 31 this year.

Between March 2008 and April 2009, Glasgow had more parades involving Protestant Loyal Order and Republican organisations than Belfast, with 247 compared with Belfast's 217.

Chief Constable Stephen House said the events are stretching police resources, with officers deployed to cover marches instead of dealing with other duties.

He told today's SPA meeting: "It's not our role as the police to tell communities how many parades they are to hold.

"That's not our role and it's not this body's role but I think it is our job to flag up to you where we feel there's disproportionate use of police time and your budget and that's what we believe is happening at the moment.

"We believe the hundreds that exist are too many. It's out of balance.

"By discussion we believe that we could reach a more reasonable number and a more reasonable settlement for everybody."

He said the police will only object to a parade or march on safety grounds.

The report said: "As the numbers of events continues to rise, Strathclyde Police are required to deploy a disproportionate number of officers on a regular basis with no means of cost recovery."

The second report looked at disorder and violence in Glasgow, Cumnock and Lanarkshire during Loyal Orange Lodge processions on Saturday July 4 and 11.

It noted increases in some crimes such as drinking in the street, breaches of the peace and assaults on march days, compared with an average Saturday.

The high police presence may have prevented more crime from occurring and may mean that more crimes than usual were detected because there more officers were about.