Hampshire Police officer’s Annual Leave and Rest Day’s cancelled to Cover Operation Manifold: Trump’s Visit
A cash-strapped Hampshire Constabulary is expected to dispatch a number frontline officers to the nation’s capital for the US President’s trip to the UK, which is expected to last three days starting on July 12. The move has been slammed to lose so many officers for the duration of Mr Trump’s visit. Hampshire Police on a daily basis are struggling to cope with cuts to officer numbers, having lost around 2,000 over the last eight years, while at the same time the county is in the midst of a crimewave. The mass departure to London will see resources stretched to their limits, and means officers remaining in the Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight will be asked to work overtime to cover for absent workmates. Rest days and annual leave have been cancelled as a result with less than 48 hours notice. Officers from the Isle of Wight will be expected to travel to the mainland and back fill absent officers duties Donald Trump is an unwelcome visitor to Britain. Hampshire will have to send police officers to guard him, just when the public here in Hampshire and the Isle of wight need those police officers to ensure their safety and security.””” During Mr Trump’s trip he is scheduled to meet with Theresa May at Chequers and the Queen at Windsor Castle. The Home Office will pay for the extra officers from other forces that it says are required to help London’s Metropolitan Police deal with security. A ‘Stop Trump’ demonstration has been organised for July 13, with protesters set to march down Oxford Circus and Regent Street before holding a rally in Trafalgar Square. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said: “As with any large scale police operation there is likely to be a requirement for forces to support each other by providing officers on mutual aid to deliver the operations. “With all operations of this nature, it is possible that some rest days and annual leave will be cancelled.” Speaking about the police who will be working Hants fed chairman John Apter said: “These are officers who’ve had their rest days cancelled, they’re working extended hours, they’re working double shifts on some occasions, and they’re being pulled in from different areas.” “This is not about having extra police officers on the street, we simply are spreading the thin blue line even thinner.”
