National Counter Terrorism Awareness Week Launched

A National Counter Terrorism Awareness Week has been launched in London, with forces from across the UK leading a coordinated effort to help raise awareness.

Some 3,000 officers will be involved in helping businesses, including shopping centres, cinemas and sports stadiums, train staff and improve security.

The campaign will also include high visibility patrols in crowded areas of the city, operations in transport hubs and visits to faith centres.

In a statement released by the Met, it highlights five key areas where action by police, businesses and the public can help prevent terrorism. These include:

• vigilance in crowded places and transport hubs

• preventing violent extremism

• cutting off terrorist financing

• and preventing access to tools that terrorists need to operate

Officers will also visit schools and universities to speak with students about the "Prevent Strategy", which provides practical help to stop people from being drawn into terrorism.

And police dogs will be detecting large amounts of money at ports, airports and railway stations to prevent cash leaving the UK for terrorist purposes.

National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said that countering terrorism has "for too long" been thought of as the preserve of the police, security agencies and government, and has called on people and businesses "to be prepared to play their part in keeping the country safe."

Mr Rowley said: "The danger posed by violent extremists has evolved. They are no longer a problem solely stemming from countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, far away in the minds of the public. Now, they are home grown, in our communities; radicalised by images and messages they read on social media and prepared to kill for their cause. The tragic murder of Lee Rigby last year was a stark warning to us all about how real and local the threat is.

"Police officers and our partners are continuing to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the UK from a terrorist attack. So far this year, we have disrupted several attack plots and made 271 arrests following counter-terrorism investigations but the eyes and ears of law enforcement and other agencies alone cannot combat the threat."

(MH/CD)