What is Counter Terrorism Policing?

The Counter Terrorism Policing network stretches across the UK. They work alongside MI5 and other partners to find information and evidence to thwart terrorist planning and help bring perpetrators to justice.

Recent events in the UK and around the world remind us all of the terrorist threat we face, which in the UK is considered as 'SEVERE', meaning an attack is highly likely. To tackle this danger the police and security services are working tirelessly to pursue suspects, safeguard vulnerable people and protect public spaces. The public should be alert, but not alarmed. We advise them to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour or activity.

The cooperation between the public and the police is a powerful defence. Consequently, in recent years, attacks have been prevented and lives have been saved.

Terrorists have to plan and prepare to commit attacks; this involves researching possible targets, communicating with fellow extremists, obtaining, stockpiling or storing weapons and materials, carrying out surveillance and doing "dry-runs".

The police depend on information from the public. They can be the polices eyes and ears, and help keep themselves, neighbours and communities safe by reporting suspicious activity or behaviour.

What is Prevent

Radicalisation is the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies. If you are worried someone close to you is becoming radicalised act early and seek help. The sooner you reach out, the quicker we can protect the person you care about from being groomed and exploited by extremists.

Police forces across the country have specially trained Prevent officers who work alongside other organisations through a Home Office programme called Prevent to help people vulnerable to radicalisation move away from violent extremism. We are here to listen and offer help and advice. Receiving support is voluntary.

Friends and family are best placed to spot the signs, so trust your instincts and tell us your concerns in confidence.

Police have a long history of working to prevent vulnerable people being drawn into criminal behaviour. The government-led, multi-agency Prevent programme aims to stop individuals becoming terrorists and police play a key role.

They work with local authority partners and community organisations to help find solutions and work to support and protect vulnerable people.

Following assessment, many referrals to Prevent do not result in any further police action. In some cases other organisations such as health, forensic mental health, housing or education step in to provide support.

All referrals to police are handled with sensitivity and in confidence. If a person is assessed as being a terrorism risk, they may be referred to Home Office’s Channel Programme and maybe given help from a mentor.

UK Policing has a proud history of community engagement, and the success of Counter Terrorism Policing – just like other areas of policing – relies on the trust, confidence and support of all communities.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment has two main components, the identification of terrorist threats and evaluation of the risks associated with these.

Identifying terrorist threats

Consider what sort of terrorists might be active in your location, who might carry out an attack and what types of attack you might face. Remember, although your organisation may be a very unlikely target for an attack, there may be businesses, organisations or sites nearby that might be attacked.

Look at your workplace and its location and think about why it might be attractive to a terrorist and what types of terrorist threats you might be exposed to:

What is the threat level nationally and, if known, for your business sector?

•          Are there any reasons why you or your neighbouring organisations may be deliberately targeted by an attack?

•          Is there any reason why you or one of your neighbouring organisations would be easy to attack?

•          Are there any events or other activities happening in your location which might attract an attack?

•          What attack types may be used against your organisation?

•          What work practices exist which may protect you from, or expose you to, terrorist attacks?

•          Is there anything on your site which could be used to aid an attack (such as fuel stores)?

Look back at previous terrorist attack records as these can help you identify less obvious threats. Take account of differences in location, sector and the size of your organisation and how this might affect the nature of the threats you may face.

Evaluating the risks to your organisation

Once you have identified the threats, how likely people could be harmed by different attack types and how serious this harm could be. Think about threats to life from different attack types, if and how these apply to your situation and how employees, contractors, visitors or other members of the public might be harmed both in the short term and the long term.

 In determining the level of risk you face, there is a range of factors to take into account:

•          Could an attack on other organisations have an impact on you?

•          What attack methods are they likely to use and how likely are they to succeed?

•          Who might be harmed and how?

Remember just because you think you are unlikely to be a target doesn’t mean that you won’t be. It is always safer to plan for the worst.

When thinking about who might be harmed, consider vulnerable people and their needs. Some workers or customers may have particular requirements, for example young customers, new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities. These requirements may place individuals at a higher level of risk because the locations they are in are more vulnerable to attack. They may be more likely to be a target because they may have mobility difficulties, making it harder for them to escape or evacuate premises.

Also note that security risks may be different at different times. For example:

•          The risk level may increase or the risks change at different times of the day or on different days of the week

•          Different types of events might take place in different parts of your local area or within your organisation

It is important to be clear about these differences and which ones your assessment applies to and it may be necessary to carry out more than one risk assessment.

Physical measures

Physical security measures come in three main types:

•          Buildings and infrastructure – this includes physical barriers such as bollards and fences, strengthening buildings and other structures by using reinforced glass and blast doors, and optimising the layout of the site such as creating safe spaces and escape routes

•          Search and screening equipment – this includes devices such as x-ray equipment, metal detectors and chemical and explosives detectors

•          Technology and control rooms – this includes equipment such as electronic access controls, passive CCTV (e.g. for recording only), intelligent CCTV and other detection, tracking and alarm systems

For most small and medium sized organisations, and even some large ones, the scope for introducing physical security measures will be limited. However, there are some questions which you should always ask yourself:

•          How many entrances and exits are there?

•          Do these have doors that can be opened or closed quickly, or have other ways of blocking them?

•          Are there clearly marked routes through the site?

•          Do you have emergency or security lighting? Will the structure of the site (such as windows, internal walls, etc.) withstand or help protect against attacks?

 Active measures

Active or procedural security measures are concerned with what people on site do and how they do it to help prevent attacks.

Three types of people and their roles need to be considered:

•          Security personnel – this includes guards and other security staff who patrol the site, search and screening staff, control room staff and other staff working in support roles with security, such as HR staff involved in recruitment

•          Front-line staff – this includes any member of staff whose main role involves contact with customers, clients or visitors and who need to know what to do should an incident arise

•          Members of the public – this concerns providing information and guidance to people visiting your site on how to protect themselves should an incident arise or to recognise an attack is under way. This can include various types of communication such as posters, announcements, signs, etc.

There are various questions you need to ask yourself:

•          Do you use screening or searching processes before people enter your site? 

•          Are staff required to carry identification and is their access to your site controlled?

•          Do you employ guards or other security staff and are they easy to identify?

•          Are staff trained in observing, detecting and responding to terrorist threats?

•          Do you have other forms of detection in place (for example CCTV)?

•          Do you have a public address system?

Incident

The basic assumption is that an attack can happen and that this will have consequences even if the attack is not successful. The main considerations are the types of attack, the consequences and the responses to the different types.

No matter how good your preventive security measures are, it is not possible to stop all attacks or all the consequences of attempted attacks. Therefore, you need to be alert to what the consequences of an attack might be and how you might respond to and recover from an attack. For most organisations, this is where they have the most responsibility for their own actions. The starting point for this is thinking about the nature of the attack and how this affects both the consequences and the types of response you can make.

Attack types

The following are the types of attack most often used by terrorists in the UK. Some are much more likely and have more severe consequences than others depending on your organisation and circumstances. Your task at this stage is to decide which attacks you are exposed to and which could result in significant harm to individuals, your business or your organisation. The following list is roughly in order of how likely they are to occur:

•          Marauding attacker (carrying a firearm, blade or other weapon)

•          Vehicles as a weapon (primarily road vehicles but could be rail, shipping, aircraft such as drones)

•          Improvised Explosive Devices (which can be carried, placed, posted, vehicle borne)

•          Fire as a weapon

•          Chemical, biological or radiological attacks (poisoning or other harm by chemical, biological or radiological means)

•          Cyber-attack (when used to harm people, through controlling or disabling equipment or other devices and endangering safety).

There are a wide range of less likely possible types of attack to think about, including kidnapping or hostage taking.

The key issues with all types of attack are: their most likely consequences, the amount of harm caused, the timescales over which the consequences unfold, and how best to respond and recover from the attack.

Response measures

These refer to the immediate responses carried out by your organisation. Immediate responses can include:

•          alarms and warnings

•          RUN, HIDE, TELL actions

•          evacuation procedures

•          the use of first aid and fire protection equipment

In all cases, you should have a plan in place which includes training of staff, communications and practice drills.

The sorts of question that you need to ask yourself are:

•          Are staff trained in operating these plans? 

•          Do you run practice drills or exercises to rehearse these plans? 

•          Do you have fire safety equipment, first aid kits and trauma kits readily available? Are staff trained to use them?

•          Do you have collaborative arrangements in place with other organisations in your support network, such as neighbouring businesses, resilience units, local authorities and other security partners?

Intervention

Intervention refers to actions taken by the emergency services, and how your organisation can help them. Your organisation’s role in an intervention includes: contacting the police and, when appropriate, other emergency services; working with and assisting the emergency services when they are on site; and taking actions when requested which require specific local knowledge of the site, such as turning alarms off or on.

Once the emergency services arrive they will take full charge of the situation, and although they may request information or help from you, they are more likely to ask you and your staff to keep out of the way.

The sorts of questions you need to ask yourself are:

•          Do you have communications and reporting procedures in place?

•          Do you have established contacts to the police and emergency services?

•          Are you able to brief the emergency services during an attack?

•          Do you have easy access to potentially useful information such as floor plans, keys or access codes?

Recovery

Recovery can include processes for maintaining your organisation’s activities after an attack, protecting your financial position following any harm or disruption and maintaining your organisation’s reputation or brand.

The sorts of questions you need to ask yourself are:

•          Do you have insurance cover for terrorist attacks? 

•          Do you have a business or organisational recovery plan?

•          Do you have a business or organisational continuity plan?

•          Do you have a media communication strategy?