When the Commonwealth Games return to Glasgow this summer, around 7,700 officers, police staff, volunteers and members of specialist teams will help deliver one of Scotland’s highest-profile policing operations.
The success of Operation Lannair, as the policing response is known, reflects months of careful planning, collaboration and a determination to match resources to risk while protecting business-as-usual policing across the country, according to Silver Commander Chief Superintendent Gerry Corrigan.
“We’ve taken a proportionate, well thought-through, risk-based approach to resourcing and planned for what I believe is the credible, reasonable worst-case scenario, rather than simply throwing a whole load of resources at it because it’s the Commonwealth Games,” Ch Supt Corrigan said, who for the past year has been leading the planning of Operation Lannair.
He has coordinated frontline policing, firearms, public order and specialist functions including cyber, counter-drone, intelligence, crime investigation and corporate support in preparation for the 23rd Commonwealth Games, which will welcome around 3,000 athletes from 74 Commonwealth Games Associations.
The event was originally awarded to the Australian state of Victoria in 2022, but the following year, the government withdrew after projected hosting costs escalated dramatically. For more than a year, the future of the Games was uncertain. Several potential hosts declined to bid, raising fears the event could be cancelled altogether.
Glasgow, who last hosted the Games in 2014, eventually stepped in with a scaled-down, lower-cost model that uses existing venues, houses athletes in hotels instead of building an athletes’ village, and reduces the number of sports and athletes.
And unlike previous major sporting events, Police Scotland will rely almost entirely on its own officers and staff rather than large-scale mutual aid from other UK forces.
“The Commonwealth Games are being delivered by an organising company with its own private funding and no government underwriting. We’ve worked really closely with them to make sure they have sufficient stewards, that they’re properly vetted and that their safety and security plans are in really good shape,” Ch Supt Corrigan said.
The measured approach has allowed Police Scotland to maintain business-as-usual policing while preparing for the Games, which get underway on 23 July.
Since May, Operation Servator officers have been working across Glasgow and Edinburgh, engaging with residents, businesses and the hotels hosting athletes to raise awareness of suspicious behaviour and provide a visible counter-terrorism presence.
“Our deployments will really start ramping up from 20 July, with dedicated patrols across the city ahead of the opening ceremony,” he said.
Planning has also been subject to external scrutiny. Senior officers from the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, Thames Valley Police, and Devon & Cornwall Police reviewed key elements of the operation through the National Police Operations Coordination Centre (NPOCC), examining areas including protest, firearms, crime, logistics and counter-terrorism.
And the work won’t be over once the athletes have packed up their medals and gone home.
“The most important part afterwards will be capturing the learning and good practice,” said Ch Supt Corrigan.
“We’ve done quite a few things differently this time and we want to carry those lessons forward into future events.”
Those lessons will help shape policing plans for the Tour de France Grand Départ, which will be held in Scotland next year.
For Ch Supt Corrigan, success will ultimately be measured by the experience of both the public and Police Scotland’s people.
“We want our officers, staff and volunteers to have a really positive experience, to engage with members of the public, athletes and visitors from across the Commonwealth, and help create a fantastic atmosphere.
“But we also want them to remain vigilant, looking out for people who may want to do harm or those who simply need our help.
“This has been my most challenging role, but certainly my favourite and the most rewarding. It has required real creativity and deep thinking, and it’s been a fantastic experience preparing for an event that will be watched across the world.”