Vital police operation a concerted effort

I was delighted to hear that the Tennents Vital concerts at Ward Park in Bangor appear to have been a roaring success.

A huge operation involving Police, the event organisers, local council, Translink and other emergency and voluntary services, helped facilitate the attendance of over 60,000 people over the two evenings.

Events like these are hugely expensive to plan, run and police and it is important to reassure you that the organisers of this event and others like it, are required to part fund the policing operation.

Over the past week approximately 3,000 people have attended a series of performances on successive nights during the ongoing Belsonic 2011 festival at Custom House Square in the centre of Belfast. Police are continuing to work in partnership with organisers, local residents and businesses to facilitate those attending, albeit on a much smaller scale.

While Belsonic 2011 and the police operation supporting it continues, I want to place on record my thanks for the way in which the vast majority of people attending Ward Park conducted themselves. In particular I would like to thank the local community who worked with and supported us.

The fact that the events were so successful and virtually trouble free I hope will secure many more concerts for Ward Park and other venues like it.

Over the two evenings we had a substantial number of police officers on duty ensuring that those attending could arrive, attend and depart safely, while minimising any inconvenience to local residents and businesses.

During the police operation, over 4,000 items of alcohol were seized or surrendered and live updates on the PSNI Bangor Facebook site kept ticket holders and local residents up to date with traffic and concert information.

Some of the comments and suggestions no doubt helped keep some of you amused while you waited to be admitted.

Now that the dust has settled and Bangor is returning to normality, everyone who played a role in bringing these events to Northern Ireland and ensuring that they passed of successfully, can be very proud of their achievement and I look forward to seeing many more events like it in the future.