Safety at Pride
The safety of our team and everyone who attends Warwickshire Pride is our top priority. Here is what we can tell you about safety at this year’s festival.
- We’ve hired more security. That means more security overnight before the festival and for the first time having security during the festival. Yes, it’s sad that it is needed, but that’s the world we’re living in and it’s an important addition to the festival. The security will have bodycams recording, so there will be evidence of anything that happens and suspects will be identified.
- We have created briefing documents for the security and volunteers with the names and photos of people who have caused trouble in the past and may turn up again to spread hate, as well as people who have sent threats to us. If those people are seen at the festival, they will be removed.
- The pride march will have support vehicles at the front and back to provide extra protection as we make our way through Leamington town centre. The rolling road closures through the town will have barriers and personnel in place.
- We have written a terrorism risk assessment that has been shared with the police, council and other agencies. The feedback is that it’s a robust assessment that covers everything it needs to.
- We are in conversations with Warwickshire Police after what happened in Berlin recently. They are committed to doing what they can to keep LGBTQ+ communities safe.
- The police will also make officers aware of the vandalism we’ve had on site for the last few years, so there can be checks the night before the festival. There will be security on site all night too.
- We’ve had a crowd management plan created by the security company we’re working with. It has clear processes in the event of an incident. The plan has been shared with the police, council and other agencies. The feedback was very positive about how robust it is.
- Volunteers are briefed on the risks and what to do in the event of an incident.
- There will be an event management hub on site at the festival where key decisions will be made and communicated.