Event Industry News

2012 events organised at last minute a worry for police

Last-minute events in 2012 to celebrate the London Olympics could be “dangerous”, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison has warned.

Small-scale events springing up is “our major worry” as detailed plans are being drawn up of everything from deployment of officers through to the number and allocation of safety barriers.

These sorts of events could pose more of a problem than big set-piece cultural celebrations, according to Mr Allison who is heading the Met’s 2012 security planning and preparations.

“People have got to understand that 2012 will be a very different year,” he told the London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee.

“This is why it is important for the Greater London Authority to get people to sign up to say they are not going to do something last-minute because that could be dangerous.

“They (event organisers) need to see that there will be a challenge for us in 2012 and to self-regulate.”

Anyone who gets swept away with the party spirit and wants to set up a celebration should think again, as the emergency services will be stretched.

Plans for a cultural diary of events during 2012, which is also the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, were announced by the London Mayor’s office last week. It will be used to create a monthly listing of cultural events but importantly also highlight potential clashes.