Operation Unicorn - Background

On 8 September 2022, Operation Unicorn was activated following the death of Her Majesty The Queen at Balmoral Castle. What followed was the largest ‘no notification’ mass mobilisation policing operation in the history of Police Scotland. The significance of the event was beyond the scale of anything Police Scotland had dealt with before and it was planned, over many years, in the knowledge that the operational response would be under intense scrutiny from the world’s media.

The delivery of the Operation met significant challenges, including the requirement to co-ordinate over 15,000 officer deployments, whilst providing safe and secure public viewing spaces. This was set against an uncertainty over public attendance numbers making the planning more complex still. The Operation was a success and protected the safety of Her Majesty, the Royal Family, VIP’s and Officers and the public alike. In light of the world wide scrutiny on Police Scotland, Officers and Staff were required to maintain an intense focus on professional standards and the style and tone of their interactions with the public and partners. Despite the very real reputational risks that existed, the professionalism, skill and conduct of our Officers and Staff was exemplary and widely acknowledged by the public, partners and international media outlets alike.

The debrief element of the operation encompassed three distinctly separate approaches, with the feedback from each stage being used to draw information to maximise the overall learning for Police Scotland. This comprised of hot debrief forms which were circulated to all commanders, a force wide questionnaire to collate feedback from all officers and staff impacted by the operation and two formal SMARTEU led debrief sessions.

The SMARTEU led debrief sessions focused on the following themes, Planning Stage, Activation, Mobilisation, Information flows and Wind down / Return to Business As Usual.

From these themes feedback was drawn out covering - What went well? What did not go well?

Op Unicorn Formal Debrief Highlights/Recommendations
Overall, the operation was considered by those involved in debrief, as being a success with the following elements identified: Why was it a success? National planning team structure, knowledge and function; Plans developed to a high standard; Professional commitment and relationships; Resource numbers identified in advance; Representation from most partner and police departments within one building.

What were the challenges? Roles and responsibilities for all partners and agencies; Multi-agency information sharing and action management; National partner and agency meeting structures; Development level of partners plans on activation; Amendments to plans without wider consultation.

Key highlights identified for Police Scotland: The national planning team structure and function provided continuity, confidence, knowledge and support to police commanders and partners across Scotland.The operation has allowed for the development of massmobilisation structures that can be utilised for a variety of major events/operations in Scotland. The ability to collate both specialist and local policing resource from across Scotland into areas of operational demand was fundamental to the successful delivery of the policing operation.