Police in Britain say they’re pulling officers from the detail that stands watch over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

They’ve been watching the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Assange has been holed up since being granted asylum there in June 2012.

The controversial 24-hour police detail, waiting for Assange to step off embassy property, has been criticized because of its cost, now estimated to total about 17.6 million dollars U.S. through April of this year.

In spite of the pullback, London’s Metropolitan Police say they’ll do their best to arrest Assange if and when he steps outside the embassy, including overts and covert tactics.