A major policing operation is set to get underway for Donald Trump’s state visit as officers prepare to respond to a potential high-threat incident in Windsor.
The King is to host the US president and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, at Windsor Castle from Wednesday to Friday, where they will be feted with a ceremonial welcome and state banquet.
Armed response vehicles (ARVs), baton guns and ballistic helmets are among the resources being deployed for the 24-hour-a-day policing operation set to be in place in the Berkshire town during the event, with a temporary order restricting the airspace from Tuesday – when the rehearsal is to take place – until Thursday.
Armed officers will be patrolling the streets with the vehicles ready to respond in case of increased threat, Thames Valley Police said last week during a media briefing at the force’s training centre in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
“We have considered anything from a low to a hight-threat incident, and it’s a very comprehensive security operation as a result,” police sergeant and operational firearms commander Daniel Hatfield said.
“Every single state visit or policing operation of this nature comes with its own merits, and every operation or plan is constructed individually.”
Sergeant Hatfield added: “It’s not the first time a president of the United States has visited Windsor and relationships with our American colleagues are well forged, well practised, so it makes planning a security operation like this a lot easier.”
Officers will have access to a wide range of equipment and weapons, including Tasers, baton guns which propel rubber bullets, Glock 17 sidearms, Lewis Machine & Tool rifles, and shotguns, which are used on dangerous animals.
Additionally, police officers will have access to overalls, gloves, respirators and ballistic helmets “for anything that is CBRN-related – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear,” Sergeant Hatfield said.
“That is something which hopefully is very unlikely to happen, but if there was ever to be a firearms threat as well as CBRN, this is what we would deploy with our weapons system,” Sergeant Hatfield added.
The equipment will be kept in ARV vans, alongside a first-aid kit and ballistic protection shields, police said.
The trip next week will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture towards a US president. He was previously feted with a state visit in 2019.
His first state visit to the UK saw thousands of people turn out on the streets in London in opposition, and protests are also expected to take place next week.
The Stop Trump Coalition are to stage a mass demonstration in central London on the first day of the trip, with a further protest planned near Windsor Castle.
