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Officers from Guernsey have been sworn in as UK constables, before heading to London to join the national police operation around Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral.
Inspector Dave Ecuyer, Sergeant Ben Rowe, and PCs Matt Le Page, Jessica Clarke and Nick Brown, pictured top, have responded to a call for assistance before, during and after the state funeral - the first in the UK since Sir Winston Churchill died in 1965.
Ruari Hardy, Head of Law Enforcement, said his officers were delighted to support colleagues in the UK and be involved in policing such an historic event.
"The opportunity for these officers to directly act on their police oath and to serve the Royal Family during this time is a great privilege for Guernsey Police and the individual officers. I am sure they will represent our community with pride," said Mr Hardy.
"Her Majesty’s state funeral will see heads of state coming from around the world and unprecedented crowds gathering across London to witness historic events. The security of all those involved and public safety will be an equally unprecedented policing operation for which comprehensive plans are in place.
"Guernsey Police is pleased to be able to send officers to support Operation London Bridge in this way on behalf of the Bailiwick."
Pictured: Officers from around the nations and islands are supporting the Metropolitan Police in the huge police operation required for the lying-in-state and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
At 14:22 tomorrow (Wednesday), a ceremonial procession will transport Her Majesty's coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, where she will lie in state in Westminster Hall until the State Funeral on Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects at the lying-in-state. It is estimated that the police operation could take around 10,000 officers a day.
Bob Broadhurst, a former Head of Public Order at the Metropolitan Police, told The Guardian that The Queen's funeral and lying-in-state present the greatest security challenge of its kind the UK has ever faced.
"It’s what the Met [and] London is good at it. But they won’t have seen it on this scale," said Mr Broadhurst, who was gold commander for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine and the 2012 Olympics in London.
"Security and ceremony are not happy bedfellows. The trick we pulled off with the Olympics is you need to manage the security in a way that's commensurate with the dignity of the occasion, but without leaving anybody at any greater risk than they need to be."
He said The Queen’s funeral was complicated because the "Royal Family wants to be seen and wants to be close to their public", which was an "absolutely frightening" prospect for those in charge of security.
Pictured: The Queen will lie in state in Westminster Hall ahead of her state funeral on Monday.
Another challenge facing police in London and other parts of the UK over the next few days is balancing risks to public order with rights to free speech.
The arrest of a small number of anti-monarchy protesters has already provoked controversy. And there has been widespread reporting of an incident In London in which a barrister who held up a blank piece of paper in Parliament Square said he had been threatened with arrest by a police officer under the Public Order Act if he wrote 'Not My King' on the piece of paper. The officer is heard telling the man that such a sign "may offend people".
The Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Stuart Cundy, said: "The public absolutely have a right to protest and we have been making this clear to all officers involved in the extraordinary policing operation currently in place."
'This is frankly pathetic.'
— LBC (@LBC) September 12, 2022
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