WORLD CUP
Russian police fear crime spike as officers sent to World Cup host cities
Moscow — Police staffing is so stretched in several Russian cities as officers are deployed to bolster security at soccer World Cup venues that one union leader says criminals could benefit. Several police officers in cities across Russia said their staff were working long hours, patrols had been reduced and response times to incidents had slowed down. "The situation is very dangerous…. This could lead to grave consequences," said Vladimir Vorontsov, who represents Russia’s Inter-regional Police Trade Union with 17,000 members. "You could get to a situation where there are simply not enough police to do the work. And the only people who benefit from that are the criminals." Russia has deployed thousands of police to the 11 host cities to deal with an influx of potentially rowdy fans and other security threats such as the risk of Islamist terror attacks. The tournament starts on June 14. There are about 900,000 officers in Russia. Reuters was unable to confirm how many are involved i...
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