COP26- ACC Ritchie reiterates commitment to facilitating peaceful protest

As COP26 enters its second week, Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie provides an update on what to expect.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said:

“We have continued to engage with protest groups as we move into the final week of the conference and we are pleased with the positive engagement we have had.

“Further events are planned for this week, particularly on Wednesday which may result in some localised disruption for a short period as we look to facilitate a procession in the Govan area.

“We have taken a facilitative and “no surprises” approach to ensuring people’s rights to protest peacefully are upheld and we will continue to provide a proportionate response. Today saw police officers facilitate eight protests, which all passed without incident.

“Our policing operation takes into account the safety of everybody taking part and everyone who lives in Glasgow. Overall we’ve had very few arrests, our officers are reporting very good rapport with the groups and there has been very few occasions where we’ve had to intervene.

"I think that’s a testament to the positive engagement between the protestors and police officers as well as the fact we’ve got a really well planned policing operation in place.”