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What we do
Terrorist activity can come from a variety of sources and counter terrorist policing has been a priority for the West Midlands force for several years. WMP has a dedicated Counter Terrorism Unit based in Birmingham.
The safety of all our communities remains an absolute priority and our message to the public is to remain vigilant.
Threats are constantly reviewed and we will keep local people informed of any developments in the region. At present there is no specific threat to the West Midlands above and beyond the general threat posed by the current international situation.
West Midlands Police will act against individuals or groups where there is credible or corroborated intelligence to suggest that they may be engaged in criminal acts - including terrorism.
This section of the website aims to provide information and links to counter terrorism advice for members of the public and businesses on the role they can play in helping to defeat terrorism.
Contest
The government’s national counter terrorism strategy is known as CONTEST.
West Midlands Police runs a dedicated operation by the same name, co-ordinating the force’s counter terrorism activity in the region.
Our approach is multi-focused and includes elements to prevent terrorist acts, measures to ensure offenders are identified and prosecuted, training and information sharing to minimise the possibility of terrorists acts taking place at all, and pro-active engagement with the community to prevent vulnerable individuals being recruited by violent extremists.
To reflect the national approach, West Midlands Police addresses counter terrorism through the following four activity strands:
To Pursue
The pursuit of terrorists and those that sponsor them. We aim to achieve this by improving our understanding of terrorist networks, tracking down terrorists, disrupting their activity and bringing them to justice.
To Protect
We can help protect the public by ensuring that the West Midlands increasingly becomes a harder target for terrorist activity. To do this we work with local agencies and businesses to advise them and help them develop a counter terrorist strategy.
To Prepare
The force constantly assesses the potential consequences of a terrorist attack and seeks to improve its resilience to cope with this and other major disruptive challenges. We work in close partnership with other agencies and regularly hold large and small scale training exercises.
To Prevent
This is a long term and vital element of CONTEST, focusing on building relationships with all members of the community and enhancing links with key organisations.
Our ‘Prevent’ work will provide not only reassurance to vulnerable groups but also potentially impact upon the underlying causes of terrorism and diminish support for terrorists.
‘Prevent’ has become a vital area of counter terrorism policy and can itself be broken down into five key areas of business:
- To challenge – violent extremist ideologies and support mainstream voices to reclaim Islam from those who would distort its teachings.
- To disrupt – those who promote violent extremism and give support to institutions where violent extremists may be active.
- To support – individuals who are being targeted by and recruited by violent extremists.
- To increase – the resilience of communities to violent extremism.
- To address – grievances that ideologues are exploiting.
Police forces in Great Britain, in partnership with local authorities, have been charged by the Government’s Office of Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) with driving the ‘Prevent’ agenda forward. To do this, the West Midlands force has set up a dedicated department within its Counter Terrorism Unit to focus on establishing and developing successful partnerships.
Uniformed counter terrorism officers are now working across key neighbourhoods to promote ‘Prevent’ within their areas. Schools, colleges mosques, prisons, community centres, youth and sports clubs and women’s groups are all being invited to play an active role in this project which seeks to bring the whole community together to defeat violent extremism.
A good example of the work being done by local councils is Birmingham’s Preventing Violent Extremism project. The scheme is funding initiatives such as Muslim youth and women’s forums, the establishment of a Masters degree in Theology at Birmingham University for Imams, and the running of counter terrorism table-top training exercises where community groups learn about the decision making processes faced by the police in crisis situations.