COUNTER Terrorism Awareness Week (CTAW) will take place between June 12-18 with the event being co-ordinated by the National Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (NCTPHQ) in conjunction with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and other strategic partners with the overarching theme being Working Together.
In support of CTAW and the strategic policing priority of Counter Terrorism, Police Scotland will undertake a number of Local Days of Action (LDA). The initiative will predominantly be delivered throughout Scotland’s seven cities although there will be localised delivery taking place in other areas to ensure engagement with all communities.
Each quarterly result of the Your View Counts public consultation survey has revealed that the number one policing priority, identified by the public, is countering the threat from terrorism. The current threat level to the UK from International Terrorism remains at SEVERE – meaning an attack is highly likely.
CTAW, therefore, presents a unique opportunity to showcase the wide range of activity being undertaken by Police Scotland and partners in support of the UK CONTEST Strategy while also providing reassurance to the public.
Recent terrorist atrocities in the UK and across Europe have, in the main, targeted crowded places. In response to this threat, Police Scotland continues to focus high visibility patrols at iconic sites and crowded places as part of daily operational policing activity.
Furthermore, Force Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSA) and Divisional Counter Terrorism Liaison Officers (CTLO) continue to engage with, and provide protective security advice, to crowded places.
High visibility reassurance patrols will be conducted as follows:
- Monday, June 12 – Aberdeen (media launch location – Union Square Shopping Centre)
- Tuesday, June 13 – Dundee and Inverness
- Wednesday, June 14 – Stirling and Perth
- Thursday, June 15 – Edinburgh
- Friday, June 16 – Glasgow
It is anticipated that city centres, tourist attractions and iconic sites located throughout Scotland’s cities will be busy due to the initiative being delivered in the middle of summer. Consequently, this provides an ideal opportunity to maximise engagement and provide reassurance to the public. National Safer Travel Days will be conducted at Scottish airports along with similar activity being delivered at sea ports throughout Scotland.
The overriding theme of CTAW, as devised by the National Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters, is Working Together, placing an emphasis on stakeholder/commercial engagement with a focus on crowded places/events and festivals. The themes of each day are:
- Monday, June 12 – ACT (Action Counters Terrorism)
- Tuesday, June 13 – REACT (a form of behavioural detection training)
- Wednesday, June 14 – Run Hide Tell (Police guidance for the public in the event of a firearms and weapons attack)
- Thursday, June 15 – Citizen Aid (a downloadable app for use by the public to help save lives in the event of a terrorist attack)
- Friday, June 16 – International Protect & Prepare (how we can help protect UK citizens and UK interests overseas)
- Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18 – Festivals/Events (Safety at Festivals/Events)
Bespoke counter terrorism activity will also be conducted in support of the aforementioned themes throughout the initiative. While CTAW will predominately focus on Scottish cities, Local Policing Divisions, which do not have cities located within their Division, may also carry out their own activities based around the themes of the initiative.
Officers involved in CTAW will ensure that high-visibility patrols are conducted at crowded places ensuring meaningful engagement with the public, businesses and partners in order to raise awareness and provide reassurance.
A Scotland-specific Cross-sector Safety and Security Communications (CSSC) message is being developed with the assistance of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre. This will be launched on June 12 throughout the CSSC network.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Rollo, CONTEST co-ordinator at the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “We would urge that all partners support Police Scotland’s social media feeds during CTAW.
“Our national Twitter feed @policescotland and our Police Scotland Facebook page will report most national activity. However, Divisional Facebook and Twitter feeds will also provide local updates.NCTPHQ also have a Twitter feed that will provide updates on UK wide activity @TerrorismPolice.”