Policing Just Stop Oil protests has cost the Met more than £7.7m in the past 13 weeks, with 150 officers a day having to respond, a senior Scotland Yard officer said on Tuesday.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the equivalent of around 23,500 officer shifts had been taken up in responding to the environmental group’s actions, all of which could have been investigating and solving crimes instead.
Speaking on LBC Radio, Mr Twist said that the Met would always uphold the right to protest but added: “But this isn’t protest, this is crime. And there’s a difference.”
“So the right to protest is very strongly protected,” he told the broadcaster.
“But when you get into deliberately causing serious disruption to the public of London, stopping people from going about their daily business, disrupting people from going to work or hospital or taking their children to school then that tips over into crime.”
He said part of the challenge was that Just Stop Oil ‘slow marches’ on busy London roads come without warning.
“One of the challenges we have with Just Stop Oil is they don’t tell us where they’re going to protest, they don’t tell us when they’re going to take action,” he said.
“They don’t engage, which means we have to put more officers on it than we otherwise would do.”
Previous estimates by the force last month were that after six weeks Just Stop Oil’s targeted action had cost them £4.5m in six weeks.
Activists have been staging demonstrations every day since April 24, mainly marching slowly on major roads in London. Just Stop Oil argues its action is necessary because of the overwhelming importance of tackling the climate crisis.
However, activists have also disrupted high profile events like the Chelsea Flower Show, Gallagher Premiership rugby final at Twickenham and World Snooker Championship.
In the latest 13-week round of concerted disruption, some 271 activists have been arrested by police.
However, the Met has urged Londoners not to take matters into their own hands when dealing with protesters, saying police would swiftly respond to mitigate disruption.
Last week, an angry motorist was filmed appearing to assault Just Stop Oil protester Daniel Knorr, 21, at a roadblock in Earl’s Court.
Mr Knorr, who gained notoriety after being carried off the pitch at Lords by cricketer Jonny Bairstow, was kicked by an angry driver in an altercation on July 19.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “There you have it, the result of the Policing Act in black and white: legitimate protest is now classed as crime.
“This oil funded regime has us locked on for annihilation and will lock up anyone who dissents. But we will not die quietly. We will continue to resist until the government agrees to end new oil and gas.”
