British police "will have fewer officers at this summer’s European Championship than they did at the World Cup in Germany 10 years ago," despite the exodus of a record 500,000 people from the U.K. to the continent in June, according to Ian Herbert of the London INDEPENDENT.
The presence of three U.K. nations -- England, Wales and Northern Ireland -- means at least 150,000 more fans will travel this summer than to Germany when England "were the sole representatives in 2006." But the U.K. Football Policing Unit "can only send as many of its own officers as the host country requests and despite the heightened terror threat, France has asked for fewer than Germany did for its tournament."
Senior officers believe that England’s match on June 11 against Russia in Marseille "poses a greater threat of violence at Euro 2016 than the Group B match with Wales." Russian supporters are potentially the most challenging of any nation in the competition and the match "also falls within Ramadan." British police have no jurisdiction in France and can only operate as "cultural interpreters" on the ground -- looking to head off British anti-social behavior or criminality before local police, who will be less familiar with U.K. fans, get involved. Liaison with French police in host cities "is already under way." The risk of clashes "is always greater with overseas forces" who are less familiar with the behavior of the small percentage of problem British fans. British police "are ready to use banning orders to prevent troublemakers travelling to the continent, with the process of requesting 2,000 fans currently on banning orders to surrender their passports is already under way" (INDEPENDENT, 4/18).
