NaCTSO launches Communities Defeat Terrorism campaign

Counter Terror Policing have launched an eight-week Communities Defeat Terrorism cinema advertising campaign to target harder to reach audiences such as young people.

Launched to coincide with Oscars season, the reasoning behind using cinemas will allow police to deliver its messaging with fewer distractions, more impact, and to more hard to reach audiences. The spread of cinemas covers all nine counter terrorism regions. For regions where there isn’t a cinema showing the advert, CT Policing will be producing bespoke social media content.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, National lead for CT Policing, said: “Since launching the ACT: Action Counters Terrorism campaign, all forces have worked to show communities how they can make a difference. This, along with innovative collaborations with key sectors like retail, vehicle industry, sport and entertainment, has contributed to a steady increase in the number of intelligence reports that have been of help to CT Policing.

“Please share the campaign’s key messages with all your contacts. This is not a campaign for CT specialists only or just for big cities. Any attack carried out impacts on the resources of policing across the board so we are urging all forces and our partners to play their part. Remember, terrorists across the globe continue to show interest in police targets. We cannot afford to relax our efforts. Always be mindful of your own and your colleagues’ security.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid added: “The threat from terrorism is one of the starkest we face and we have all seen the horrific consequences of a terrorist incident. With the support of the public, our police and intelligence agencies work tirelessly to keep our communities safe. We all have a role to play in confronting those who seek to do us harm. Life really doesn’t have a rewind button so, if something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts and report any suspicious activity or behaviour as soon as you can.”

Previous national campaigns have helped increase intelligence reports by up to 50 per cent.