No to Swedish COP15 help

Danish police rejects Sweden’s offer of up to 600 police officers to help at the climate conference

Although thousands of Danish police officers will have to work around the clock during the COP15 climate summit starting next week, National Police Commissioner Jens Henrik Højbjerg has given a polite ‘no thanks’ to the Swedish police’s offer of sending extra manpower to Copenhagen to assist with the event.

According to Politiken newspaper, the Swedish National Police have offered to send up to 600 officers across the Øresund Strait to help provide security at the conference.

Most of the 6500 or so Danish officers scheduled for COP15 duties will reportedly work up to 16-hour shifts for two weeks straight to provide security for the summit, which will be attended by hundreds of political leaders and, additionally, thousands of demonstrators.
But Højberg said he believed the Danish police could handle the situation without the help of their Scandinavian colleagues.
In January, the National Federation of Police Officers had suggested getting help from adjoining countries’ police forces, including Sweden’s. But Højberg said at the time that he did not want ‘Swedish officers working on Danish soil’.

Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen issued a statement that said he had full confidence in the National Police’s administration and that the police would handle the situation.

But several parties in parliament expressed surprise that the Swedish offer was brushed aside.

‘Considering the very long shifts the police will have to work, I’m amazed that we’ve rejected a good offer from Sweden,’ said Peter Skaarup, justice spokesperson for the Danish People's Party.

Karen Hækkerup, legal spokeswoman for the Social Democrats, pointed out that the climate conference is going on during the Christmas party season, and that officers would have their hands full even without the summit.

‘It can end up being 10 turbulent days of protests, break-ins, drink driving and assaults,’ she said.

A number of local police unions also criticized the decision yesterday, saying officers would become physically and mentally exhausted dealing with the conference and that security would therefore be undermined during the summit.

Steffen Daugaard of the Funen Police Association called it a 'disaster' that the National Police refused help from Sweden.
‘It might have meant we could have got more tolerable working conditions for our officers,’ said Daugaard.

According to Björn Holck Clausen, division manager with the Swedish National Police, a dialogue did take place between the Danish and Swedish police leadership about whether the Swedes could assist during the summit.

‘We determined we could send between 400 and 600 Swedish policemen to Denmark who could handle surveillance functions,’ said Clausen.

‘But two to three weeks ago we were told by the Danish police it wasn’t necessary to send the officers.’
But according to Højbjerg, the Danish police have always assumed they could manage the summit themselves.

‘Our planning is sound and well-thought out,’ said Højberg. ‘And the officers won’t be working 16 hours straight. They’ll get rest periods and be able to eat their meals.

But he acknowledged there may be periods where officers were tired after long shifts.

‘We have thought about the situation, but I’m not about to say what we’ll do if things go worse than expected.’

Source:cphpost.dk/