England will have just three UK police officers working with fans at the World Cup in the United States, a significant drop from the forty officers deployed at the Euros in Germany two years ago. The United States has refused to fund the experienced police spotters, leaving the British authorities to pay for only three officers to fly over and assist in policing the expected 20,000 England fans inside stadiums.
Limited Policing Resources
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for football, said: “It is what it is. We want our people out there. We would have liked more of our people out there – it’s not a scare story but we’d have liked more. We will do the best we can.” At recent tournaments in Qatar, Russia, France, and Germany, host nations paid for experienced British officers to travel. The US has opted for a different approach, handling all security themselves.
Role of Spotters
Spotters play a crucial role in identifying potential hooligans for local police and preventing trouble from escalating. Roberts explained: “This one is a different system. The States aren’t funding mobile units. There will be our lead officer and two others. It’s a significant change. That’s the basic arrangement. It’s limiting the number of officers we can get out there. England will be one of the few countries who have a mobile delegation. In Germany we had 40 officers – working with federal and state police.”
Supt Gareth Parkin, Head of the UK delegation, added: “We haven’t got an official invite or funding. Clearly we’d like to send a larger delegation. We will have to deploy to where we will feel is best. We will work closely with the local police forces.”
England Fans’ Behaviour
Roberts praised England fans for their behaviour at recent tournaments, noting: “Our primary aim is to keep British nationals safe. Our fans at World Cups are well behaved.” He cited success rates: in Qatar, 7,000 England fans travelled with no arrests or incidents; in Russia, 5,000 fans had three minor offences; in Brazil, 9,000 fans saw 24 arrests for minor offences, including 13 for ticket touting; and in South Africa, 14,000 fans resulted in 24 arrests for minor offences. He stated: “Our fans did us proud. We are expecting the same at this World Cup. We are anticipating more issues domestically than in the States.”
Fan Support
Thomas Concannon of the Football Supporters Association commented: “It’s going to be different – we are used to working in a certain way. We have just got to make the best of it. We will look at all the pinch points that might occur. We will have a 24 hour a day service for our fans. We’ve been to the venues.”
