Community | March 27, 2009 | 15 comments

London Gearing Up for G-20 Protests

source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/26/g20.protests.police.london/index.html?eref=rss_world

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London police said Thursday they are planning one of the largest and most complex operations in their history as the city gears up to host the G-20 summit next week.

London's three police forces are being brought under a single umbrella for the G-20 security plan, dubbed Operation Glencoe, said Cmdr. Simon O'Brien of London's Metropolitan Police.

Police forces from surrounding counties like Essex and Sussex are also assisting with security, he said.

Officers will be protecting the summit venue, delegates, their hotels, their official engagements, as well as monitoring protests around the capital, O'Brien said.

"This is one of the largest, one of the most challenging, and one of the most complicated operations that we've ever delivered," he told reporters Thursday.

The Met Police has canceled all staff leave for April 1 and 2. The summit takes place April 2. Video Watch security preparations for the G-20 meeting »

O'Brien would not say how many police officers would be on duty, but he said there were 10,500 police shifts being scheduled between March 24 and April 2.

The total cost of the security operation is £7.2 million ($10.4 million), he said.

The G-20 summit brings together heads of state and financial leaders from the top 20 industrialized and emerging economies. Leaders from non-G-20 nations will also be represented, along with hundreds of other officials including the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The one-day summit is already attracting a "significant amount of interest" from protest groups, O'Brien said. "Old faces on the protest circuit" have started to reappear ahead of the event, he said, although he gave no names.
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15 comments // London Gearing Up for G-20 Protests

  • sybaritical
    • 0
      sybaritical  

    • London has three Police forces now?

      One is enough when they seem to be quite content to spend their time and money spreading messages of fear that only increase the climate of tension, paranoia and misunderstanding and that just go to make life heavy going and sometimes unpleasant.

    • 3 years ago
  • soberwood95
    • 0
      soberwood95  

    • fools on the inside, fools without, both think they know what is right. facts are construed, to bring damaging moods, and get believers to ready and fight. The prison is inside, the prison is out, The prison is seen the same way. With us against them, and no thought or amen, neither can win the next day.

    • 3 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • The powers that be
      They like a tough game
      No rules
      Some you win, some you lose
      Competition's good for you
      They're dying to be free
      They're the powers that be
      They like a bomb proof cadillac
      Air conditioned, gold taps,
      Back seat gun rack, platinum hub caps
      They pick horses for courses
      They're the market forces
      Nice car Jack
      They like order, make-up, lime light power
      Game shows, rodeos, star wars, TV
      They're the powers that be
      If you see them come,
      You better run - run
      You better run on home

      Sisters of mercy better join your brothers
      Put a stop to the soap opera right now
      They say the toothless get ruthless
      You better run on home

      You better run - run
      You better run on home

      The powers that be
      They like treats, tricks, carrots and sticks
      They like fear and loathing, they like sheep's clothing
      And blacked-out vans

      Blacked-out vans, contingency plans
      They like death or glory, they love a good story
      They love a good story

      Sisters of mercy better join with your brothers
      Put a stop to the soap opera state
      They say the toothless get ruthless
      Run home before its too late
      You better run - run
      You better run on home

    • 3 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • We were 200 million citizens in the streets of all the world's capitals screaming NOT TO ATTACK IRAK to no avail... Since when the will of WE THE PEOPLE is of ANY significance to the Power & Authority ?

      http://www.battleinseattlemovie.com/

      "It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition to stand up for it:" - A. A. Hodge

    • 3 years ago
  • Mikeysfake1
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  

    • I remember when the G7 or G8 came to Seattle for a meeting. The challenge of dealing with all of the protesters drove the local police completely around the bend. It seemed at the time, however, like the protesters were splintered into a sizable number of groups whose agendas often either competed with each other or were actually entirely inconsistent with each other. I don't know if that is still true, but at that time I know a fair number of people were reacting to the protesters in variations of the following: Yeah, OK, so we get that you think these are bad people doing bad things, but could the bulk of you agree among yourselves on some sort of top ten lists of 1) What, exactly, they are doing that needs to be stopped, and 2) What, exactly, we should be doing instead?

      Unfortunately, as often happens, a small group of thugs infiltrated the protesters and made them all look bad as a result of the assaults and vandalism caused by a couple dozen losers (who may even have been "plants" for all I know).

    • 3 years ago
  • cheezynuts
  • dreamsenvoy
  • neocongo
    • 0
      neocongo  

    • OMG That's hilarious. You two are enraged about the excesses of the attendees of this summit, when Wall Street just walked off with half the US in its pocket?

    • 3 years ago
  • Juas
    • 0
      Juas  

    • Damn.
      Thats a capitalism thats slowly becoming some sort of sick-monarchy, where the people protest while they all eat caviar.

      Funnily enough this has happened before. We only need to find our Bastille.

    • 3 years ago
  • arenegade
    • 0
      arenegade  

    • I'm sure the taxpayers of London are thrilled to to be financing this, their money trapping them in a police state while the G20 plots the New World Order drinking vodka and eating caviar...

    • 3 years ago
  • smaper
  • DreSandoval
  • Biscuit09
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