This was our first full day in Edinburgh. Our say started very early by walking to the Police Scotland Edinburgh Division Headquarters. The man leading us around today was Billy, a Divisional Training Sergeant. He gave us some background on the Edinburgh Division. There are 13 divisions that make up four territorial command areas. The whole division has 1158 officers, 68 support staff, and 58 special constables (which is a volunteer police service.) The population is about 450,000, the same as Kansas City. This is relevant for a crime statistic. Kansas City had 208 murders last year while Edinburgh had only 6. There is a huge crime difference here versus in the U.S. The Police Scotland follow the same "Policing by Consent" policy as the rest of the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland. Billy ran down the goals of the Division. A Counter Terrorism Security Adviser gave us a presentation next. He believes that their biggest issue right now is complacency. The thought process of, "Everyone loves the Scottish, they will never target us," can get in the way of people paying attention to terrorist threats. Big events and planning companies have moved away from using police as security. Instead, they hire private security companies that are actually trained to respond to terror threats within a large event. It is safer for the officers and the citizens. Next, we talked to two officers from the Events Planning Unit. They are responsible for helping to plan and maintain events like protests and marches. Here, people have the right to assembly under the European Human Rights convention, but they still must apply with the police. This is to assure that the event can be organized and properly prepared for. The police also charge the organizations in order to have security. Right wing groups are generally more willing to engage with the officers to plan for their events. Left wing groups tends to distrust the police more and go for more spontaneous events. Currently, the Extinction Rebellion group is causing the most problem. They are a climate change protest group. They like to put themselves in things called "Sleeping Dragons." Here is the Wiki page to explain that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_dragon_(manoeuver) It causes major issues with traffic and general public safety. Just last week, Sleeping Dragons had a main road shut down here for five hours. Also last week, these officers had to help unstick two of the members that chose to super glue themselves to the road. There is a special Protester Removal Team that helps with these issues. After the Event Planning Unit, we had a talk with two Armed Response Vehicle Sergeants. Out of the 17,200 officers in Scotland, only 500-600 are armed. At any one time in Edinburgh, there are 32 armed officers on duty. The two shifts covering from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. usually have an additional 12 on duty. They respond to threats to life. They have special firearms dogs. These dogs can find and retrieve firearms. They are also trained to have cameras attached to their heads to help clear a scene or area. For example, the officers may send the dog upstairs while he clears the downstairs. Unlike England, officers don't have body worn cameras. The firearms guys highly recommend that all officers have these cameras. Not to hold them accountable, but to make citizens behave better. It prevents lying to get out of crimes and will cause the complaints against the police to go down. After these presentations, it was time for lunch. We went to the Worlds End Bar. Famous for the World End Murders which we will learn about tomorrow at the Crown Prosecutor's Office. We walked the Royal Mile to meet with PS Madine. She is a plain clothes officer working with the counter terrorism unit. She showed us the National Barrier Asset which is basically really heavy blocks that stop vehicles on impact. A lot of the terrorism here is simple in execution. Many involves a person driving their car into a crowded sidewalk. These barriers prevent acts of terror like this. Of course, The Royal Mile has so much tourism and foot traffic, so of course it needs to be extra protected. Unfortunately, the barriers can only be fully put up during special events such as the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This is because it costs nearly £10,000 to move the barriers since only cranes are capable. After meeting with PS Madine, we went to the City of Edinburgh Council. Here is where the CCTV Headquarters is located. There were over 70 monitors displaying footage from 200 different cameras throughout the city. The analysts are so meticulous and know the city so well. They can follow a person through the city with ease. They help officers with car chases, license plate numbers, and so much more. It is kind of scary the quality of the video these cameras stream in. After meeting with the analysts, we were shown a few instances where the CCTV was very helpful. One of the videos showed two men get in a fight. The first man knocked the other man down with one punch. His skull was cracked and he was rendered unconscious. The first man fled the scene in a taxi. With the help of the CCTV and analysts, the man was tracked down within five minutes of fleeing. Another example video was a very drunk looking man got in his car. The analysts were able to notice the signs and send police to arrest him before he even got turned around in his car. Our day with the Edinburgh Division was now over. We checked out the Edinburgh Castle, but did not go in since it cost money. We visited a Harry Potter store and then went to the hotel to rest for a bit. Two others and I went to dinner at a cute little cafe and got milkshakes from TGI Fridays since it was the only ice cream shop open.