Police are preparing for a potential high-threat incident in Windsor as the town gears up for Donald Trump’s state visit. Officers will be on high alert for the arrival of the US president.
The King is set to host Mr Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, at Windsor Castle from September 17 to 19. The itinerary includes a ceremonial welcome and a state banquet.
A 24-hour policing operation will be implemented across the Berkshire town throughout the event. Additionally, a temporary airspace restriction will be in force from September 16, when the state visit rehearsal is scheduled, until September 18. Thames Valley Police confirmed last week that armed officers, supported by Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs), will patrol the streets, ready to respond to any increased threat. This detail emerged during a media briefing at the force’s training centre in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
“We have considered anything from a low to a hight-threat incident, and it’s a very comprehensive security operation as a result,” police sergeant and operational firearms commander Daniel Hatfield said.
“Every single state visit or policing operation of this nature comes with its own merits, and every operation or plan is constructed individually.”
Sergeant Hatfield added: “It’s not the first time a president of the United States has visited Windsor and relationships with our American colleagues are well forged, well practised, so it makes planning a security operation like this a lot easier.”
Officers will have access to a wide range of equipment and weapons, including Tasers, baton guns which propel rubber bullets, Glock 17 sidearms, Lewis Machine & Tool rifles, and shotguns, which are used on dangerous animals.
Additionally, police officers will have access to overalls, gloves, respirators and ballistic helmets “for anything that is CBRN-related – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear,” Sergeant Hatfield said.
“That is something which hopefully is very unlikely to happen, but if there was ever to be a firearms threat as well as CBRN, this is what we would deploy with our weapons system,” Sergeant Hatfield added.
The equipment will be kept in ARV vans, alongside a first-aid kit and ballistic protection shields, police said.
The trip next week will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture towards a US president. He was previously feted with a state visit in 2019.
His first state visit to the UK saw thousands of people turn out on the streets in London in opposition, and protests are also expected to take place next week.
The Stop Trump Coalition are to stage a mass demonstration in central London on the first day of the trip, with a further protest planned near Windsor Castle.
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