The Police Counter Terrorism has, and continues to be, a priority for the police and security services across the UK. They will always take primacy on counter terrorism (CT) matters whenever they are involved in events. However, with 43 individual police services in England and Wales, along with the British Transport Police and Police Scotland, there are inevitably inconsistencies in their planning and support.
Most forces have an operations planning team which will represent the police on the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG). These teams will be involved in assisting with planning the police response generally, but not specifically from a CT perspective.
It is important to understand that the police are only responsible for planning their part of the event. They will not take ownership of anything outside of their remit which focuses on public safety, crime prevention and detection and the maintenance of law and order.
The police will not take ownership of the risk to the event. This will usually sit with the event organiser and it is important that some form of memorandum of understanding is completed between the event organiser and the police to agree on terms around risk ownership, including counter terrorism.
Counter Terrorism Security Coordinator (CT SecCo)
The Counter Terrorism Security Coordinator (CT SecCo) is an officer specifically trained and licenced in CT measures who will produce a plan and a range of measures to minimise, mitigate and manage the residual risk of a terrorist attack at an event. CT SecCo’s report directly to a police gold (strategic) commander and act as the tactical advisor to both gold and the silver (tactical) Commander.
The appointment of a CT SecCo will be considered for all the following types of events and circumstances:
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Public military events. (PME’s)
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High profile ceremonial and civic events
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Events involving protected persons
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Crowded place events including high profile sporting events
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Any other event the police gold commander believes that the appointment of a CT SecCo will support delivery of a safe and secure event
In respect of sensitive locations and venues – a CT SecCo may be utilised to undertake holistic reviews and assessments of counter terrorism security arrangements.
The CT SecCo will be involved in all stages of the planning of the event from the police side and will make recommendations around physical measures, police tactics and coordination of plans.
In assessing the security requirements for an event, the CT SecCo will:
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Provide a holistic and integrated protective security plan for major events
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Analyse intelligence, assess threat, identify the vulnerabilities and make recommendations, in order to develop a proportionate security plan
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Co-ordinate assets, both human and physical, working with partners to create seamless plan for the gold commander
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Provide assurance to the police gold commander of the overall security plans of all partners and providers
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Assure the delivery of police provided security assets within security plans such as protective search operations, firearms plans, hostile vehicle mitigation and protection plans
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Aim to aim to target harden, in order to reduce vulnerability, thereby lessening risk
The CT SecCo will review the overarching security plan of any private security provider engaged by the event, to ensure all security provision is integrated and any potential vulnerabilities or residual risk, have a proportionate response plan in place to minimise, mitigate and manage the risk.
In order to make your event run smoothly a good working relationship with the CT SecCo is key.
Unfortunately, even if there is a SAG and a Gold/Silver/Bronze (GSB) structure within your event, this does not guarantee that you will be allocated a CT SecCo. The numbers are small within forces and demand on their skills is high. Each police service has a limited number of available CT SecCo's. Very few are dedicated full time to this role, with most taking on this additional responsibility in addition to their allocated duty.
Best practice would always be for the event organiser, or their representative, to arrange a meeting with the CT SecCo at the earliest opportunity.
Counter Terrorism Security Advisor (CTSA)
The CTSA is a Counter Terrorism Security Advisor. CTSAs are experts in advising on all aspects of counter terrorism protective security. They complete a long and involved pathway to qualification and are well regarded in the CT arena.
Their training is delivered by both the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA formerly CPNI). The CTSAs are employed by Counter Terrorism Policing and are based regionally across the UK. Although not specifically trained to deal with events and with less access to police tactics they are experts in mitigating threat and, if available, their advice can be invaluable. You can contact your local CTSA here.
National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO)
NaCTSO is the National Counter Terrorism Security Office. They are a national body within policing that overarches and runs the “Protect and Prepare” pillars of the governments counter terrorism CONTEST strategy.
NaCTSO manages the CTSA network and provide a huge range of advice and training online that can be accessed free of charge. Several of the links in this chapter go directly to NaCTSO managed websites.
NaCTSO are also responsible for the Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) suite of e-Learning products. This is a suite of products aimed at companies and organisations to enhance their knowledge and improve their preparedness against a terrorist attack. The ACT e-Learning products can be found here.
National Protective Security Authority (formerly CPNI)
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) is the UK national technical authority for physical and personnel protective security. Their role is to reduce the vulnerability of the UK to a variety of threats such as terrorism, espionage and sabotage.
They work closely with the police and other government departments and have a range of free to access online resources that can be found here. Of particular benefit to organisations is the SCaN programme. SCaN (See, Check and Notify) which aims to maximise an organisations’ safety and security using their existing resources. Further details on SCaN can be found here.
Other Sources of Advice
There are a range of other sources that can be utilised to assist with managing the risks posed from terrorism. These range from large consulting firms offering a variety of services through to individuals who offer a more tailored service. It is essential that event organisers fully understand the operational and occupational competence of any consultant(s) they employ when contracting consultancy services. Organisers should therefore ensure that whoever they engage is qualified, competent and suitably experienced to provide advice within the area of expertise they require.
There are a number of organisations that are a good place to start when searching for competent advice:
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The Security Institute
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The Register of Chartered Security Professionals
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The Institute of Risk Management
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The Association of Registered Security Consultants
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Those with a qualification in CT risk management (CTRM) from a recognised educational provider.
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ProtectUK is a website that is managed and run by NaCTSO. This is a central hub of advice, discussion and training materials for all aspects of counter terrorism. The ProtectUK App has evolved from the ACT App to accompany the website and can be downloaded on iOS or Android.