Special Police Services

event organisers

Special Police Services (SPS) is the provision by the police of an additional special service i.e. beyond that which the police would consider necessary to meet their public duty obligations, and which is provided at the request of organising bodies of certain events and for which the organising body must pay.

We will assess events where police officers and police staff are to be deployed to determine if a charge for Special Police Services should be made to the organiser.

Each event will be assessed on its own merits and event organisers will be treated fairly and consistently.

The event organiser must:

  • Give reasonable notice of the event date;
  • Make a formal written request for any Special Police Services; and
  • Agree the terms and conditions.

The Chief Constable reserves the right to:

  • Not deploy any police officers or police staff to an event irrespective of the notice given or charges made or proposed; and
  • Object to an event taking place.
     

We will charge, at the Special Police Services rate applicable at the time, for all police officers and police staff deployed, the cost of vehicles, horses and any associated travel time:

  • inside a venue/stadium or on the private property/site of the event organiser; or
  • Where we are requested to provide Special Police Services, e.g. at road closures and phased road closures for events such as cycle races, road races, parades and processions.
     

For the following events we will reduce the charge by 50%:

  • Charitable events (where all proceeds are to be donated to charity or an event where there may be some financial gain, but the surplus is donated to charity); and
  • Community events (where there is no personal or corporate gain and the event is for community or local interest purposes or to raise funds for local community institutions).
     

We will not charge for statutory events, e.g. where there is no financial gain to the organiser and which reflect constitutional rights or a cause of royal, national or defined public interest.

Similarly, nor will we charge for small-scale community or charity events taking place on an irregular or infrequent basis which are assessed as requiring the equivalent of 24 hours or less of police officer/police staff hours in total. However, we reserve the right to not deploy staff at such events. Any event which is deemed as chargeable will not benefit of any cost reduction equitable to 24hrs of police time.

 

Page last reviewed January 2020