Ollie ConstableManchester and
Jonny HumphriesNorth West
Hundreds of extra police officers are on the streets of Manchester to offer “reassurance” following Thursday’s deadly synagogue attack.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes said Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had been working 12-hour shifts and had rest days cancelled since the attack, while other forces had also contributed officers.
The Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, due to start on Sunday, had also been factored into police planning and operations, said ACC Sykes, who stressed that his force had the “resources” needed to reassure the city’s Jewish population and other communities.
“We’ve got lots of officers and staff out there – very, very visible,” he said.
“We have got extra patrols,” he explained. “So we have our normal policing [and put] an awful lot of extra staff into certain communities and here into the city centre.”
Echoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Greater Manchester’s chief constable Sir Stephen Watson, ACC Sykes questioned whether it was “appropriate” for a pro-Palestine march to take place in the city centre on Saturday.
He told the : “We should be thinking about those people that lost their lives there on Thursday and I think people need to consider what is appropriate if people do use their right to protest.”
ACC Sykes said the force would attempt to “keep disruption” to a minimum during the protests.
He acknowledged the long hours being put in by his GMP colleagues.
“Our officers are working really, really hard on 12-hour shifts,” he said. “We’ve cancelled people’s rest days, we’ve brought lots of officers in from across the region and national assets as well.
“We have a lot of officers across the whole of Greater Manchester, not just for what’s happening here in the city centre but to reassure other communities – particularly the Jewish communities – at this time.”
The pro-Palestinian protest initially attracted about 100 supporters outside Manchester Cathedral.
GMP officers intervened when a small counter-protest approached the pro-Palestinian protestors.
Meanwhile six people remain in custody after being arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in the Crumpsall area of north Manchester.
Two Jewish men, 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed while three other people remain in hospital.
GMP confirmed on Friday that Mr Daulby had been shot by armed police as they targeted the synagogue attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, 35.
A police bullet also injured Yoni Finlay, who is being treated in hospital.
Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian heritage, was not known to Counter Terrorism Police but had been recently bailed after being arrested on suspicion of rape.
Raids have been carried out in at least three locations across Manchester and Bolton in connection with the attack.
