While His Holiness did not visit the Capital during his tenure, his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both visited in 1982 and 2010 respectively. As the Superintendent for Specialist Operations in Edinburgh I am responsible for overseeing the policing response to such events and it would have been a great honour to have welcomed him to the city. Aside from VIP visits, my job is to ensure that we have appropriate resources in place for the various events, celebrations and sporting matches within the Capital each year and since January, it’s been another busy period, with no sign of it slowing down. From a sporting perspective, we have already provided officers to support SPL fixtures for both Hearts and Hibs, including their derby match on 2 March. These types of matches require a significant police resource in and around the stadiums to assist stewarding staff, identify anyone intent on causing trouble and prevent them from entering. Planning takes place weeks in advance, and we work alongside both clubs and other key partners to ensure we have the right resources in place at key times. Edinburgh is also home to Scottish rugby and this year, we welcomed Italy, Ireland and Wales to Murrayfield Stadium for the Six Nations matches. Over 67,000 people from across Scotland and the visiting nations attended these matches, which puts significant demand on the city’s infrastructure, and we have an important job to undertake, in collaboration with the SRU, Lothian Busses, BTP, City of Edinburgh Council and Traffic Scotland. We live in a democratic society and as such, our communities are permitted to carry out lawful protest. Being the seat of Government in Scotland, Edinburgh regularly plays host to demonstrations on a variery of issues. Our role is not to take sides in these debates, but to ensure that those who wish to express their opinion can do so freely. This is balanced with the need to ensure protests are done legally. Whenever notification for demonstration is received by City of Edinburgh Council, we work alongside them and the organisers to facilitate a peaceful event, and to provide appropriate resources if a policing response is required. Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, we will have dedicated resources in place for the Royal Highland Show, the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe as part of Operation Summer City and will also be deployed to some of the big concerts in the city, including AC/DC, Oasis, Sam Fender and Robbie Williams. Please work with us to keep these events safe and enjoyable for all. Superintendent David Reid, Specialist Operations