The RGP wishes to reassure the community that, as at all previous Three Kings Cavalcades, they will have a considerable presence of both visible and covert police officers at today’s event. Throughout the day, RGP officers have concentrated on all aspects of policing, in order to ensure public safety and to deter any criminal activity. What the RGP will not do is assume the risks and responsibilities of others and therefore, through the Safety Advisory Group, the RGP has worked closely with other partner agencies to achieve this.

On Thursday morning, officers from the Roads Policing Unit were confirming that the Traffic Plan was ready for action and that all special road signs were ready to be deployed at 1800. Officers also inspected all the Cavalcade’s floats to ensure that none were too tall or too wide and that none had anything that might cause injury to the participants or people in the crowd.  Today, these same officers expect to be working until all the traffic is flowing normally after the Cavalcade ends and so it will be a 14 hour day for them.

Elsewhere, other officers will continue to search Casemates and Main Street, especially the bins, manholes and drains, to ensure that nothing potentially dangerous has been hidden along the route.  This work will carry on throughout the afternoon.

Also in the afternoon, our specially-trained Project Servator officers deployed around the Main Street area to keep our community safe and to look out for anyone involved in criminal activity.

At the Cavalcade itself there will be a considerable number of officers, some in uniform and some in plain clothes, who will be ready to deal with any issues of public safety or criminality. There will be others held in reserve should they be needed at any particular location.

Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger said:

‘The recent HMICFRS report highlighted that our police officers are a valuable and sometimes expensive resource, and one that should be used for genuine policing and security tasks.  Unfortunately, in the past, they have sometimes been used for general marshalling and stewarding duties, which do not require officers who have the powers of arrest.  I trust that the community will understand that, in the future, the RGP will focus on public safety and security, so we will be looking to the organisers of an event to find the resources to carry out those non-policing tasks which could be done by people without the constabulary’s powers. I want to reassure the people of Gibraltar that public safety in its many forms is my priority and we will be working with partners to achieve this.

‘I think the Cavalcade organisers do a tremendous job and the community should be grateful to them.  Like everyone else, I really missed this event during the pandemic and I’m sure that tonight’s event will be a huge success.’