Climate change protests across the capital cost police an extra £7 million and put a “huge strain” on the force, Britain’s most senior officer has said.
Over 10 days in April, activists brought parts of London to a standstill, blocking Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus, staging a “die-in” at the Natural History Museum, and gluing themselves to objects.
At a Scotland Yard briefing, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed that the extra costs of policing the event ran to more than £7 million, the Press Association reports.
But the cost of not taking action to curb climate change would dwarf that spent on policing protests.
Failing to cap global warming to two degrees or less could cost the world economy trillions of pounds and cut global GDP by 30 percent by 2100, according to researchers.
The Met figures released today included paying for overtime and kit, such as a cherry picker and barriers, she said.
The police figure did not include the impact of taking officers away from other work fighting crime in the capital, she said.
Dick said: “It put a huge strain on my officers and I cannot speak highly enough of what they gave.
“The guys and girls on the street, many of them were working 12-hour shifts.
“Many of them, they literally did not see their children for days and days. They just got on with it and I am extremely grateful to all of them for what they did, the professionalism and restraint they showed throughout that set of operations.”
Some 1,130 people were arrested during the protests which started on April 15, while some 10,000 police officers were deployed.
The Metropolitan Police have said 69 people were charged, while British Transport Police charged three.