Apologies Kevin, yes GUEST 20 Nov 03 - 01:40 PM, was me - I'm away from home at present and I forgot to type in my name.

Thanks for the first- hand back-ground information Liz,

So the potential for crimes of opportunity are linked to any event where police resources have to be altered from what would be described as normal operations.

- State occasions & State visits;
- Sporting events requiring crowd control;
- Large well publicised demonstrations.

Crime is not going to suddenly, dramitically, increase solely because G W Bush is in town. Those who think it is must also apportion some responsibility towards the demonstrators and demonstration organisers - after all if they weren't there there would be no crowd to control and the police would not have to divert resources.