Strathclyde Police step in to provide Hampden security after G4S Olympic shambles

Jul 25 2012

GLASGOW police officers are stepping in to provide security for the Olympic Games football matches at Hampden.

The Strathclyde force said they decided to take primary responsibility for security from G4S but that this would not impact on their regular duties.

G4S – the security firm who failed to provide enough staff at venues around the country, forcing
organisers to ask the Army for help – had been responsible for security at Hampden.

But Chief Constable Stephen House announced the change on Friday. News also emerged that a
duty security manager at G4S resigned as he “felt the situation was becoming intolerable”.

A police spokesman said: “Following recent developments surrounding security arrangements for the Olympic 2012 events in Glasgow, Stephen House has decided that Strathclyde Police  will assume primary responsibility for security at Olympic venues.

“We continue to work closely with Locog (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) and are absolutely committed to delivering a safe and secure games for competitors, spectators and everyone living in the force area.

“Extra officers will be deployed to these operations. However, this will have no impact on the level of service in our communities.

“At this time, we do not anticipate that there will be any need for military involvement.”

Cops had already said they would need to deploy extra officers to cover the gap in provision by G4S.

Labour MP for Glasgow East, Margaret Curran, said: “Given G4S’s significant failures, this is a sensible decision.

“The priority must be the safety of athletes and audiences, but it is critical that this does not impact on the police’s ability to deal with other emergencies and ongoing operations. The costs should be
recouped from the Home Office or, preferably, G4S.

“It’s essential that no more contracts are awarded to G4S until a full review of this fiasco is carried out.”

Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith said this week he expected G4S would apply for security contracts for the Commonwealth Games.

He added: “Once they apply, and I’m sure they will, we’ll have to consider their ability to deliver on the day, along with other competitors. We’ll have to consider their track record and we know about that in recent times.”

Eight matches will be held at Hampden, starting today.

Tonight is the women's preliminaries, with the USA playing France at 5pm and Colombia playing Korea DPR at 7.45pm.

Match-goers will be able to pay cash on the door.