Police interview ‘mentally unstable’ ahead of Birmingham Pope visit

Sep 18 2010 by Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Mail

STALKERS, people with fixations on public figures and those deemed to be mentally unstable have been interviewed by police ahead of the Pope’s visit to Birmingham tomorrow.

Anyone suspected of posing a threat or having grievances – and some who believe they are the true Pope – have also been checked by officers from Scotland Yard’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.

The checks have been made as part of an unprecedented operation to protect the Pope. It is one of the biggest ever carried out by West Midlands Police which has cancelled all rest days scheduled for tomorrow to have every officer available.

The operation was under way today as five men suspected of plotting to harm the Pope continue to be questioned by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

West Midlands Police said the arrests had no impact on its own security operation as they had been meticulous in their planning.

In the West Midlands the security operation will be controlled from the new Events Control Suite, in the heart of Birmingham.

Senior officers faced a last-minute complication when it was announced that the Popemobile would make a “fast walking pace” drive along a three-mile stretch of Hagley Road, where the Pope is due to have a private visit to the Oratory of St Philip Neri, in Edgbaston.

Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Rowe, Commander on the day on Sunday, said: “We are confident that the visit will be a great success and all of the plans are now in place.

“We have been approached by two very small groups about staging minor, low-key protests and they will be directed towards designated areas.