West Ham may have to wait until December before police can patrol London Stadium

EXCLUSIVE
Giuseppe Muro13 September 2016

West Ham may have to wait until December for police to patrol inside the London Stadium on match days despite the club demanding the presence of officers at their new home.

The Hammers met stadium owners E20 yesterday after fans clashed during Saturday’s 4-2 home defeat by Watford and called for a police presence in the ground during matches.

But Standard Sport understands it could be more than two and a half months before that happens because parts of the former Olympic Stadium do not have the technology officers need to communicate with each other.

E20 employ stadium operators LS 185, who are responsible for security on match days. The decision to install Airwave radio across the ground has only recently been taken by LS 185 and may not be fully operational until the match with Arsenal on December 3 — the first game that is considered a high‑risk fixture. The Metropolitan Police will not routinely deploy officers until there is comprehensive Airwave radio coverage throughout the ground.

In a statement released to Standard Sport this morning, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Terry, Specialist Crime and Operations, said: “The stadium operators are responsible for the safety and comfort of their customers and staff. This includes disorderly behaviour that has not reached the level of criminality.

“The Metropolitan Police Service will fulfil its legal responsibilities in relation to dealing with matters of criminality. The MPS is not able to provide Special Policing Services at this time as it would normally, as there is no satisfactory radio system across the ground.

“This issue was highlighted to the stadium operators in October 2014 and the MPS has been in negotiation with stadium operators regarding the provision of Airwave radio inside the stadium. During this time, the MPS had spoken to the stadium operators several times to highlight the consequences of not installing such a system.

“Until there is comprehensive Airwave radio coverage throughout the ground officers will not be routinely deployed within it under a Special Services agreement. The stadium operators have only very recently agreed to install a satisfactory radio system.”

It is understood that fully installing Airwave could not take place until work to convert the Olympic Stadium into West Ham’s new ground had finished.

Police can be deployed inside the stadium in the event of a serious incident, as they were when fans clashed on Saturday.

Police do have a presence outside the stadium and monitor the whole of the Olympic Park from a control room outside the ground. Under Premier League rules, clubs are not obliged to have police inside the stadium.

West Ham are also pushing for a radical reform of the stewarding which has been heavily criticised by supporters.

A club statement read: “Whilst West Ham United do not hold the safety certificate or control the security at the stadium, the club is doing everything possible within its jurisdiction to help provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all supporters.”

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