Olympic and Paralympic Games Blog: Met and Marines exercise
02 February 2012
National Olympic Security Coordinator, Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison
Police boats zooming up the river alongside military marine craft and a Lynx Navy helicopter isn’t something you expect to see every day, particularly on the Thames in London. But this was exactly what happened last month, as officers from the Metropolitan Police joined forces with the Royal Marines to take part in a series of exercises ahead of the Olympics.
"Keeping the Olympic and Paralympic Games safe and secure is a police-led operation."
As we get ready for the Games, the police are taking part in lots of different tests and exercises to make sure that we have the right plans and structures in place. The aim of these exercises on the river was to make sure that our police officers and the Marines are familiar with the way the river works. This is really important because the Met and the Marines will be working with each other on the Thames to keep it safe during the Games. It was also a chance to test how our tactics work together.
Whilst the exercise was on, I went to see it first hand and chat to my colleagues about what we could learn for Games time. I was really pleased with what I saw. We had officers from both the Met’s Marine Policing Unit and Force Firearms Unit working really well with military colleagues. If you want to see what the kind of manoeuvres they were doing, click on the video tab on the right-hand side of this page.
Keeping the Olympic and Paralympic Games safe and secure is a police-led operation. However it can’t be delivered by any one agency alone. We need the support of the military, and all our other partners - especially for their specialist skills and capabilities.
We’ve got plenty more exercises coming up between now and Games time, to make sure we’ve got our planning right and that we’re ready. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are a fantastic world class sporting event, and we want them, and London, to be safe and secure for everyone.
- Police and Royal Marines boats on the river
- Exercise on the River Thames Boats and helciopter taking part in exercise.