Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of Aviation Safety & Security Unit Update.
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Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 11 October 2022
Date : 11 October 2022
Location : online
Benchmarking
Police Scotland is currently seen as a UK leader in the policing of aviation incidents. This is in part due to the work undertaken by PI Graeme Rankin over a number of years. PI Rankin, who has now retired from policing, carried out a significant amount of work in the lead up to the COP26 climate conference in November 2021, to ensure Police Scotland was in a positive position to respond to any aviation threat to the conference. This included the significant investment to acquire specialist equipment and additional training of a non dedicated cadre of specialist officers in Airspace management and counter UAV tactics.
There are a total of 56 officers across Police Scotland trained in either airspace management, counter UAV tactics or both.
The Police Scotland Aviation Unit, through its positive reputation, was not only at the forefront in providing airspace security at COP26 and other Scottish events but was actively sought after as part of mutual aid requests to help other UK forces deliver safe and secure events. This includes the 2021 G7 conference in Devon and Cornwell and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The command structures and officer deployments are now seen as best practice when planning for an event or operation seeking to mitigate against an aviation threat. The structures are scalable to consider such things as the intelligence picture, size, scale and type of event or operation.
