Posts Tagged ‘Terrorism’

You should always remain alert to the danger of terrorism and report suspicious activity:

• in an emergency call 999
• call the Anti-Terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321 to report any suspicious activity
• report suspected terrorism activity to the Security Service (MI5) using their website
• report online terrorism or hate content to the police

The home Secretary has announced, within the last hour that the current Threat Level has been raised from substantial to Severe.

He has said that this is not in response to any intelligence that could lead to attack.

The Home Secretary consults with The Joing Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) before making a decision as to the Threat Level. JTAC is made up of the main Security and Intelligence agencies.

It has been announced by the Home Secretary that full body scanners will be introduced to all UK airports within the next 3 weeks. Alan Johnson also said that explosive trace detection equipment should be introduced at all airports by the end of the year. This announcement comes after Gordon Brown ordered a review of Security at UK airports.

BAA has reportedly begun training their staff in behavioural analysis techniques in an attempt to heighten security awareness. Transit passengers are also to face more scrutiny when passing through the UK as Farouk Abdulmutallab did on Christmas Day.

The Government is also looking at identity based profiling in the battle against terrorism. As expected civil liberty groups have reacted angrily to the new proposals.

The current UK Threat Level is Substantial.

The Threat is assessed and set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC)

Although the Threat has been reduced from Severe to Substantial JTAC admits that the reduction should have little or no effect on individual business alert states.

The Threat Levels are:

Low
Moderate
Substantial
Severe
Critical

The Response Levels are:

Normal (Low, Moderate Threat)
Heightened (Substantial, Severe Threat)
Exceptional (Critical Threat)

Reports in a National Newspaper say that we (UK) have more CCTV than China with a fraction of the population. The UK now boasts 20% of the Worlds CCTV cameras with an estimated 1 camera per 14 people. As individuals it is estimated that we are caught on camera 300 times a day. Whats the problem? well local authorities have been guilty of using legislation designed to Counter Terrorism to spy on people guilty of nothing more than trying to get their children into a certain school.

Senior police officers have openly said that CCTV is responsible for solving only 5% or crime. How can we have 20% of the Worlds CCTV and yet only 5% of crime is solved by the same CCTV designed to stop crime?

Simple really, we believe the reports are correct. Many CCTV operators are not pro-active in their use of the systems they work on and fall into the reactive category of operator. Many system owners are unaware of the management process that needs to be in place in order to ensure that any evidential footage can be admissible in a Court. Having a picture showing crime taking place does not automatically mean that those pictures are admissible in a Court of Law. Many background systems and processes need to be in place in order to satisfy legislative requirements. Paying thousands of pounds to install a system only to find that when you need it it is not admissible is a waste of your money.

CCTV is an aid to security and NOT the be all and end all. Premises still need officers on the ground. The UK has difficulty in retrieving CCTV evidence as there are so many systems on the market with no standardisation. The UK Government missed a trick. Instead of applying standards to all CCTV equipment they let any owner install any system without a thought for recovery of images. The Home Office Scientific Development Branch have standards that cameras must achieve but none of this is a legal requirement.

Watch this space.

The UK Terror Threat level has been reduced from Severe to Substantial.

The Home Secretary said this morning that there remained a “real and serious threat” from terrorists and the public would see very little change in security presence and procedures.

The UK had been on Severe since the 04 July 2007, the day after the Glasgow Airport attempted bombings. In the days running up to the Glasgow Airport attacks the UK was on the highest threat level Critical (attack is imminent)

Substantial means that there is a “strong possibility” of attack.

The UK threat level is decided by JTAC (Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre)