Agencies join forces for public order training

Police and partner agencies join forces for public order training

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Police and partner agencies joined forces for a public order training session on Thursday to ensure an effective and unified response to major incidents.

The training is held at Manchester Central Fire Station, Thompson Street, and is a joint initiative with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and North West Ambulance Service.

The routine sessions are constantly reviewed to ensure the highest quality training and equip officers with the necessary skills to tackle public order disturbances.

Firefighters and ambulance crews are asked to deal with a staged road traffic collision before police officers in tactical aid gear, helmets and shields are called to the scene.

When they arrive, they are confronted by rioters who throw petrol bombs and bricks at the officers as they attempt to bring the situation under control while somebody remains trapped in the vehicle.

Assistant Chief Constable John O'Hare said: "It is essential that our officers are trained to the highest standards to prepare them for the incredible challenge of policing serious disorder.

"Training must reflect reality and we are using this programme of events to really test our tactics, equipment and capability.

"As with any major incident response, it is important that all emergency services work closely together to provide the most appropriate and swift response to support our communities."

GMFRS’ Head of Operational Training, Area Manager Mark O’Brien said: “Our firefighters train every day to ensure they are fully prepared to deal with any incident they may face and over recent years we have done more and more collaborative training with our partners including GMP and NWAS.

“It’s important that we make the training as realistic as possible and during these events we often use volunteers to role play and add that sense of realism to really test the firefighters and officers.

“Our new operational training and community centre that’s currently being built in Bury will allow us to do even more of this kind of realistic training to maintain and develop the skills of our frontline staff.”