Question reference: S4W-06039
- Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 6 March 2012
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Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 March 2012
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have completed formal training and briefing in relation to the new powers contained in the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.
Answer
Formal training has been made available to every police officer and member of police staff in Scotland through a combination of presentations by officers from the National Football Coordination Unit for Scotland (FOCUS), circulation of a training DVD and publication of self-brief materials. ACPOS stipulated that prior to deployment all officers on duty at a “regulated football match” must receive briefing in relation to the new powers contained in the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.
Officers from FOCUS also attended matches across the country on 3 March 2012 to provide guidance and support to all Match Commanders and operational officers prior to, during and post-match, on what was the first match-day following commencement of the legislation.
The new legislation will be embedded into police recruit training at the Scottish Police College and the “ACPOS National Strategy for Policing Football in Scotland” and the “ACPOS National Toolkit for Policing Football in Scotland” documents have also been developed as resources to provide guidance at both strategic and operational level.