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5.2 Senator W. Kinnard (Minister for Home Affairs) regarding policing of on day of World Cup quarter final:
Firstly, I am grateful to the Connétable of St. Helier for his earlier comments and for the active part that he himself played in the events of last Saturday. Further, I would like to thank and congratulate all police officers for their effective and responsible policing on Saturday night during and after the World Cup quarterfinal match between England and Portugal. I also endorse the message of the Chief of Police to honorary officers in giving sincere thanks to all of the Honorary Police who assisted on Saturday and in the operations which followed. I am aware that St. Helier bore the brunt of a difficult situation and I am also aware that other parishes assisted greatly by maintaining a presence and a service on their own ground while States of Jersey Police and St. Helier honorary officers were preoccupied elsewhere. I would also like to draw attention to the assistance given by the local media in giving publicity during the build-up to the game and the regular adverts on Channel 103 which stated clearly that any disorder would receive a deterrent response. Unfortunately, this was in contrast to some reports in the national media which were inaccurate in their reporting of the scale of the problems. In fact, no arrests were made during the game, but by 9.00 p.m., 19 people were in custody, mainly for public order offences. However, more arrests are likely once the CCTV footage has been analysed. Football fans were successfully kept away from Minden Place Car Park and rival groups of supporters were prevented from engaging with each other. The Public Order Team was made up exclusively of officers from the States of Jersey Police. While there is always a tendency to focus on specific problematic incidents, I should report to the Assembly that crowds were mainly good-natured with no major disturbances and that Portugal supporters celebrated their win in a good-natured way. Sadly, the mindless actions of a small minority gave rise to disproportionate adverse publicity which, in the modern world, can be observed from afar and damages Jersey's reputation. The important thing is that public disorder of this kind is dealt with firmly within the law. The aim is to seek to prevent and deter disorder, and if disorder occurs, to deal with it positively and effectively. I support police action in taking any lawful measures to ensure that outbreaks of this kind of disorder are firmly dealt with. In this instance, the States of Jersey Police had an effective plan in place to deal with any disorder that might arise and I pay tribute to their foresight and expertise in executing it in such a way that incidents were defused and the public protected [Approbation].