Police ‘must not pay price’ for Olympics security fiasco

Speaking as it emerged that hundreds of officers from nine police forces are now being deployed, Humberside Police’s Chief Constable Tim Hollis said he expected his own force to be fully compensated for any additional policing costs.

Mr Hollis, who oversees the national unit which coordinates requests for mutual aid for the Olympics, said: “If there is an additional cost as a consequence of a failure of someone else, my view as a chief constable is that the cost should be met by those who are responsible for that failure. It can’t be right for the public sector to carry the additional burden.

“If we do send officers from Humberside above what we have already planned, we will cost it and make sure we are duly compensated.”

He was speaking as Theresa May said that more than 20,000 G4S guards have been accredited to provide security for the Olympics, but the firm is unable to get them to turn up at venues.

Mr Hollis claimed the G4S failure would have long-term implications as it had made people realise that privatising aspects of policing was not a panacea.

He said: “On this particular occasion they have been weighed, measured and found wanting and the military and police have stepped up to recover the situation – but at a cost.”

He added: “We are both surprised and disappointed at the failure of the private sector to deliver on their commitments. We all sense it can’t be right for the military and police at very short notice to come in and compensate for their failure. We are not going to allow the Games not to succeed – but it comes at a cost.”