Counter Terror Business 47

Re-evaluating the terror threat

We are at an odd junction in the development of security and counter terror legislation in the UK.

One the one hand, the Protect Duty, which will set out a legal requirement for all public places to ensure they are prepared for a terrorist attack, remains a work in progress, with the recent incident at the EURO 2020 final highlighting the need for it to be established sooner rather than later.

On the other hand, police forces are set to see league tables for 101 and 999 call answering times introduced under a new Beating Crime Plan which has, so far, only provoked ridicule and more questions than answers from those it is likely to affect most - the police. Attempts to make the police more accountable are needed, unnecessary steps that are likely to make them less efficient are not.

This issue of CTB is jam-packed with interesting and varied content, from the threat of far right extremism (pg 14) to the need for facial recognition technology (pg 46), from the Pegasus story (pg 52) to protecting crowded places (pg 74). Each feature is a very worthwhile read.

Meanwhile, this year we are again pleased to partner up with a number of leading security conferences, including the Counter Terror Expo, the Emergency Services Show and DSEI. Perhaps most importantly we are glad to be supporting the International Security Expo again this September. You can find an extensive preview to ISE 2021 beginning on page 19.

Michael Lyons, editor