Final set of online Olympic training packages go live

The arrival of the Olympic Torch in the UK marks the final countdown until the start of the Olympic Games and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has launched its final set of online Olympic training packages to forces across the UK.

The latest Olympic e-learning packages are made up of three separate modules specifically aimed at those directly supporting the Games. The modules include:

•Police Operational Awareness, which is divided into four separate sections – National, Mutual Aid, London and Dorset – with officers and staff needing only to complete the section or sections relevant to their role or deployment.

•Airwave radio in London aims to familiarise officers with the Olympic event radio and is for all mutual aid officers being deployed to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) for general policing duties and those deployed in search teams, as well as dog handlers and mounted officers. 

•METMap Portal, (formerly known as geographic information systems) provides basic training to users of the Olympic national security mapping portal which provides police access to a wide range of maps and locations.

The NPIA has delivered five Olympic e-learning packages which together aim to help ensure all police officers and police staff from across the UK are fully prepared for the biggest ever peacetime policing operation.

The Olympic Awareness package is made up of three stand-alone but related online modules: Tri-Service Olympic Awareness, which provides an introductory overview of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and describes how the police, other emergency services and volunteer organisations will work together on shared safety and security issues; Police General Awareness, which contains information on safety and security issues such as terrorism, public disorder and organised crime; and Police Operational Awareness, which has just been released and provides information on the Olympic policing operation, deployment and preparation for the 2012 Games.

Chief Constable Nick Gargan, CEO of the NPIA, said: “Our Olympic Awareness training recognises that the Games are going to be a massive national policing operation involving forces from every part of the country. It highlights the significant challenges facing police for several months before, during and after the Games themselves including possible targets away from the main Olympic venues.”

“The e-learning packages will help ensure the Games are policed effectively yet unobtrusively so that the sporting and cultural celebrations are not overshadowed by the security operation.”

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the National Olympic Security Coordinator, said: “We are committed to ensuring our officers are well trained and briefed ahead of our biggest ever pre-planned operation and the completion of the e-learning training is an important part of ensuring their readiness to keep the Games safe and secure.”