MOD Police respond to Faslane 365 - a year of protest

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One hundred and ninety-two days of protest, 131 different protest groups, in excess of 1,200 arrests, and more than 600 lock-ons. Altogether this represented the most determined protest that the MOD Police (MDP) have encountered for many years.

Faslane 365 (F365) was billed as "one continuous year of protest against Trident"
[Picture: Paul Kemp]

Faslane 365 (F365) was billed as "one continuous year of protest against Trident". In the end, F365 became F366 with the protests beginning on 1 October 2006, and ending with "The Big Blockade" on 1 October 2007.

Chief Inspector Jim Gillen, the Deputy Senior Police Officer at Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde said:

"It was a real baptism of fire for me, having transferred to Clyde last October. There had been an enormous amount of planning done before my arrival, but I quickly realised that my early hopes that F365 would fade away after a couple of weeks were not going to be realised.

"The policing of this series of events was a text book multi-agency interaction. We had the MDP, Strathclyde Police, Uniform, CID and civilian staff, the Royal Navy, the Army, the Defence Housing Executive, the Procurator Fiscal (Scotland's Public Prosecutor) and the Crown Office, and a substantial part of the local community all working together to support the operation."

It was soon realised that the policing of F365 would have to be a joint operation between the MDP and Strathclyde Police. There has always been a well established and effective working partnership between the two Forces, particularly at a tactical and strategic level, and that relationship was used to establish a joint planning team many months before the first demonstration, a crucial member of which was the local Procurator Fiscal.


Chief Inspr Gillen said:

"MDP Officers at Clyde made around four hundred arrests during F365 – it was thanks to the Procurator Fiscal's early intervention that many more hours of officers' time were not wasted sitting around in court waiting for trials," he said.

"The prosecution policy adopted from the outset by the Fiscal, supported by both the MDP and Strathclyde Police at a strategic level, is now being considered as 'best practice' throughout Scotland for similar events."

The prisoner removal teams are known locally as "cutting teams"
[Picture: Paul Kemp]

The day-to-day planning centred on the Operational Support Department at Clyde, led by T/Chief Inspr Findlay Macdonald and Inspr Jim Grierson. They quickly forged a strong partnership with their counterparts in Strathclyde Police to provide the planning for up to 200 police officers to be in attendance at Clyde on a regular basis. Inspector Grierson said:

"We were talking to Strathclyde Police on almost a daily basis. As the intelligence picture changed, we were continually reviewing our tasking bids for support from the OSU [Operational Support Unit] and from the DSG [Divisional Support Group]. Strathclyde Police provided the majority of the officers required, but we ensured that the specialist support such as prisoner removal teams were in place when they were required."

Cutting teams

The prisoner removal teams – or "cutting teams" as they are known locally – came from three sources: OSU North, DSG Scotland, and HMNB Clyde's own 'in-house' cutting teams, led and trained by Sergeant Ian Laird. He said:

"Whilst the OSU and the DSG remained the first option for planned demonstrations, it became evident early on in the year that it would be impossible to have those resources available 24/7. As the protesters became more frustrated at our ability to stop them causing disruption to both the local population and the lawful business of the Base, they began to change their tactics.

"They moved away from only having demonstrations on the days that they had advertised to carrying out spontaneous actions during the night and in the early morning. It was on these occasions that our own cutting teams really came into their own. At the start of the year, they were trained to deal with only the most basic of lock-on devices, but as the year went on their experience increased, and I would now rate their capability against anyone from UK Policing in dealing with lock-ons."

The Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise attempted to enter the protected water around the Base
[Picture: Paul Kemp]

Chief Inspr Gillen said:

"Our customers here, primarily the Royal Navy, very quickly realised the potential of our in-house cutting teams, and provided significant financial support to train and equip them. HMNB Clyde is not only the largest military base in Scotland, it is also currently the largest building site in Scotland, and the financial penalties that the MOD must pay to contractors when their work is disrupted by protest activity are substantial. It was therefore in everyone's interest to keep the traffic in and out of the Base moving."

Two hundred police officers arriving at HMNB Clyde on a daily basis from all parts of the country had to be transported, briefed, fed and generally looked after. T/Chief Inspr McDonald said:

"This was another aspect of our partnership approach. The Army stepped in and allowed the use of Greenfield Camp for this purpose. A police control room, prisoner holding facility and refreshment facilities were all established at that location, again, allowing as far as possible, for the normal day-to-day activities of the base to carry on."

Protests against the protesters

The disruption to the local population was significant. The protesters realised that they would not be able to achieve their objectives by blockading the Base entrances because, in reality, the police cutting teams were too good for them. This, added to the vigilance of the Section officers on duty who were able to identify potential lock-ons before they were deployed, meant that the protesters had to move further afield, and start blocking the roads leading to HMNB Clyde.

In spite of the protests the Continuous at Sea Deterrent, the reason HMNB Clyde exists, was never for a moment threatened
[Picture: Paul Kemp]

This in turn meant that school children missed school and crucial exams, ambulances were delayed taking people to hospital, public transport services were severely disrupted, and residents of the Roseneath peninsula were continually turning up late for their work. This led to the residents forming their own protest group, and to the police having to deal with additional "Protests against the Protesters!"

The Clyde Marine Unit (CMU) was also involved, not only providing its continuous security presence on the water but also helping to maintain business continuity at the Base. Inspr Christine Cameron, of the CMU said:

"Whilst we were constantly aware of the potential for protesters to attack the Base from the water, and the need therefore for our marine officers to remain fully resourced and vigilant, we were happy to provide support when resources allowed to the overall policing effort.

"For example, we were able on a number of occasions to transport specialist officers, such as cutting teams and CID officers, in and out of the Base when the roads had been blocked. Indeed on one of these trips we picked up an additional passenger, the Naval Base Commander, Commodore Hockley, who was having difficulty getting to his office because of protesters on the main road into the Base."

Greenpeace vessel kept 'in custody'

During one of the biggest days of the protest, in which the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise attempted to enter the protected water around the Base, not only did the MDP have more than 50 prisoners to process and lock up for the weekend, they also ended up with having to secure one of the biggest court productions ever seized by the MDP in Scotland – a 150 ft (45.7m) former whaling ship!

Chief Inspr Gillen said:

"We looked after this ship for over a week before the Procurator Fiscal agreed that it could be returned to its owners.

"On the ship's first night with us, its emergency generator failed, which meant the deep freezers containing supplies for up to three months passage were all switched off. The Royal Navy engineering department stepped in and provided an emergency shore supply for the boat, and I then negotiated the ship's engineer's release from custody to return to the ship to carry out emergency maintenance.

"It was gratifying that, when the ship was returned to its captain, on his subsequent release from custody, he personally thanked me for how well our officers had treated him and his vessel – in stark contrast to the tirade that he delivered to us when we first boarded his ship!"

Section officers on duty were able to identify potential lock-ons before they were deployed
[Picture: Paul Kemp]

No threat to Base's primary role at any time

The anti nuclear agenda brings together some strange bed fellows. Throughout the year the groups varied from Clergy to Nudists, Politicians to Clowns, Journalists to Teachers. There were groups from 16 different countries, including the US, Japan, Germany, France and the Benelux countries. Despite this, business at the Base continued. Chief Inspr Gillen said:

"I consider it extremely gratifying that, in the middle of the Big Blockade – the biggest demonstration seen on the Clyde for many years – an American battleship was able to slip her berth at HMNB Clyde and head out to sea as if nothing was happening.

"It was expensive for the British tax payer – the last conservative estimate for policing alone was in excess of £6M – but throughout this period the Continuous At Sea Deterrent, and therefore the main reason for HMNB Clyde to exist, was never threatened for a moment.

"This is in no small part thanks to the tremendous efforts of everyone who contributed to the policing operation during F365, and I am immensely proud of the way our MDP officers, from station, DSG and OSU, and our civilian staff at both Station and Division, rose to this challenge. I would like to place on record my personal thanks for their efforts."

This article is first appeared in the December 2007 edition of Talk Through, The Magazine of the Ministry of Defence Police.

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