The cost of policing Liverpool’s massive Eurovision celebrations has been confirmed.
Around half a million people descended on the city during the two weeks of music and events coinciding with the hosting of the continental music show. Liverpool Council said it had surpassed its initial targets of 100,000 visitors and now is turning its focus on how it can maximise the legacy of having the eyes of the world on the city.
Now the cost of ensuring thousands of people were kept safe around Liverpool’s iconic Pier Head has been confirmed by senior officers from Merseyside Police.
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During a scrutiny panel session held by Emily Spurrell, Merseyside police and crime commissioner, Assistant Chief Constable Paul White confirmed what went into the massive operation. He said it had been a “fantastic, safe and secure” event for the whole city the force were pleased to be part of.
ACC White confirmed how during the nine day period events were staged, only 40 additional crimes were reported. Of these, 58% were related to drug possession, while no issues were recorded regarding knife, gun or violent crime.
A total of 10 arrests were made during the entire Eurovision calendar. ACC White said: “I would say that’s a real positive, the fact we had no significant crime and disorder issues whatsoever.”
The senior officer said a debrief was now taking place to allow the force to learn from policing such a major event like Eurovision moving forward. ACC White added there had been positive developments to how Merseyside Police responded to new challenges such as cyber crime and drones and senior officials were happy overall with the management of the event.
Regarding the cost of such a large policing operation, ACC White said £3m had been spent by Merseyside Police in total, £2.2m of which could be recouped through a Home Office special grant bid. He said: “We will be able to reclaim the vast majority of the money in terms of expense from the public purse.”
Ms Spurrell said: “I would echo that the feedback from the public has been very positive around how the police approached the whole nine days of activity.”
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