It was Northern Ireland’s largest security operation in a decade, a demonstration of local police power intended to protect a visiting VIP: the president of the United States.
But sensitive details of the security operation unexpectedly spilled into public view on Wednesday when a man identified only as “Bill” discovered a police planning document lying on a Belfast street.
The document, discovered near the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying, included the names and phone numbers of police officers involved in the operation, as well as the streets where they were deployed and other information such as street closures and security measures to detect hostile vehicles.
“It sounds a bit crazy, but it’s true,” the man known as “Bill” said during an interview with The Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster.
The discovery of the Police Service of Northern Ireland document triggered a security breach that embarrassed law enforcement officials but did not disrupt other carefully choreographed events on the first day of Biden’s three-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.