Op Skylark: Surrey Police's response to national disorder
We have set up this area to keep our communities up to date with our response to the national disorder. Our communities' safety is our priority.
Below, you will find a video statement on our response to the national disorder from Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Sarah Grahame, along with our written statement.
We will keep this page updated with all the latest news on any disorder locally across Surrey.
Tuesday, 3 September
While we may not have seen the levels of disorder, protests, or reports of hate crime that have been seen across other parts of the country, we want to reassure our communities that we will continue to support you and ensure you feel safe.
Our priority is ensuring our communities feel safe and supported by us. This priority continues in the weeks, months, and years ahead, and we will continue to work closely with our communities to address your concerns and reassure you that we are here for you.
In the last few weeks, there have been a small number of incidents either in our county or close to our borders. We know these can be concerning for our local communities and we’d like to reassure people that we are continually monitoring the situation, and the information we are receiving.
We urge the public to challenge what they see online, report where appropriate and consider the source of the news/post.
To report concerns, information or hate crime, please use our website, or contact us via social media, or 999 in an emergency. If you want to report hate crime to us anonymously you can do this by calling Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always dial 999.
Sunday, 10 August
We facilitated a peaceful protest and short march in Guildford town centre on Saturday, 10 August.
Our specially trained officers were out in the town centre engaging with attendees and to provide reassurance to the community, recognising events in other parts of the country this week.
There were no incidents of note, and the event concluded shortly after 1.30pm.
We thank you for your ongoing support, engagement, and information to help keep our communities safe.
Friday, 9 August
Watch our video statement from ACC Sarah Grahame:
We have translated our video statement into Urdu, Nepali and Farsi. Please find these videos below:
Urdu
Nepali
Farsi
Please see below Surrey Police's written statement on our response to the national disorder:
Following the tragic events in Southport last week and the subsequent violent disorder we have seen across the country, we are providing our communities with an update on our policing approach.
While at this stage, in Surrey, we have not seen the levels of disorder, protests, or reports of hate crime that have been seen across other parts of the country, this has understandably caused concerns within our communities.
Since we first saw the increase in violent disorder across the country and where specific communities have been targeted, local officers have increased their visibility and engagement where we know that residents, businesses, and faith leaders are feeling vulnerable. Patrols have been increased in key areas across the county so that our communities have a visible presence from us. We recognise that this is a challenging time for all our communities, and we are committed to providing reassurances to those who may be concerned for their safety.
We are already seeing an increase in reports of misinformation and disinformation, which we know can be extremely concerning for our communities. Our officers have a vital role to play in reassuring those who feel concerned, vulnerable or unsafe in our county, and the spreading of this misinformation and disinformation can cause further alarm. We would encourage the public to not only challenge what they read online and consider whether it could be misinformation, but also not to share this further on social media.
If you do see information circulating online about possible disorder, please report these to us so that we can investigate and respond. You can also approach local officers when they are in the area to raise any concerns or ask any questions that you may have. If you would prefer to report information anonymously, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always dial 999.
We are continually reviewing the information we receive around reports of potential disorder or crime. Our policing response will always work alongside our priority of ensuring our communities feel safe and supported by us.
Chief Superintendent Graham Barnett said: “We would like to reassure all our communities that we are prepared should there be disorder in Surrey. We have specialist teams and resources in place to make sure we can continue to protect our communities while we respond to reports of disorder. We will continue to facilitate peaceful protest, but violent disorder will not be tolerated, and we will respond to this robustly. Arrests will be made, and charges will be brought to those responsible.
“I would like to thank our communities for their continued support as we work together to protect the public, provide reassurances around our policing approach, and robustly tackle any disorder we may see in our county.”