News

13 terror attacks prevented in UK since 2013

Mark Rowley has revealed that the UK security services have prevented 13 potential terror attacks since June 2013, as he launches Action Counters Terrorism. Rowley, who is the UK's most senior counter terrorism police officer, was speaking to highlight the ‘extraordinary’ role that the public plays in countering the threat of terrorism, revealing that information from the public has helped police in a third of the most high-risk investigations and contributing to stopping some of the 13 attacks. A poll of more than 2,000 adults found that most respondents believed it was important for communities to work with police to defeat terrorism. However, a quarter of those surveyed said they might not report their suspicions because of fears over wasting police time and almost two in five were unsure about what suspicious behaviour might look like. While disclosing the figures, the assistant commissioner also said that there were 500 counter terrorism investigations live at any one time. Rowley said: “Some of that information is a change in someone's behaviour, some of that's about suspicious activity. Sometimes that public information has actually started an investigation. Other times it's part way through and it corroborates some things or adds to things we already know.” He continued: “Advances in technology make it more complex and challenging for us to spot would-be terrorists, because it’s easier for them to be in contact with others and be radicalised in a relatively short space of time. “The threat is becoming more varied and the move towards low-tech attacks on crowded places, like those we have seen in major European cities and beyond, makes it even more important everyone remains vigilant and acts by calling us confidentially if they are concerned about suspicious activity.”

Partners

View the latest
digital issue