Police chief defends protests response
The senior officer in overall charge of policing the G8 summit today defended the handling of street protests in Edinburgh.
Peter Wilson denied police had been unnecessarily intimidating or present in too large numbers in the streets of the Scottish capital yesterday.
The presence of hundreds of officers, many clad in riot gear, sparked criticism over police tactics for handling the running street protests, some of which involved black-clad anarchists.
But Mr Wilson, chief constable of Fife Constabulary and president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, defended the tactics of the Lothian and Borders force.
He told a press briefing in Glenrothes, Fife, that police throughout Scotland had repeatedly appealed for those planning protests to discuss their plans with police beforehand.
“I don’t think anybody would doubt that Monday was going to be a challenging day,” said the officer.
“We have consistently said we will respond robustly, and that’s what we have done.
“If the worst images of the week are those that we saw yesterday then I think the summit will go off peacefully.”
He said “about a score” of people had been injured, including seven police officers.
Two Metropolitan Police horses had also been injured.
Mr Wilson also disclosed that three arrests had been made near Perth after police were tipped off about the possible gathering of material for a road blockade.
He revealed that another 500 officers were to be brought north from England to help Scots forces police the summit and related events.
This takes to 6,500 the number of police drafted in from south of the border.
Mr Wilson said the request was made before the events in Edinburgh.
The need for the extra police stemmed from the agreement reached last week between demonstrators and Perth and Kinross Council which meant that a planned protest could go ahead near Gleneagles Hotel, he said.
