Record 22,000 call anti-terror hotline as police warn threat is growing
A record number of people called the national anti-terrorist hotline last year – 22,000 calls in total.
It comes as West Midlands Police claims the ‘scale, volume and complexity’ of the terrorism threat’ continues to grow.
This week, the force is supporting a national campaign by Counter Terrorism Policing urging people to be on their guard.
The campaign is called ‘Make Nothing Happen’ and focuses on the critical role the public can play in defeating terrorism. This is the first campaign under a new branding platform called ACT – Action Counters Terrorism.
It urges the public to report suspicious activity to help police bring dangerous offenders to justice and prevent terror attacks in the UK and overseas.
The campaign is the result of recent research with the public looking into their attitudes towards CT policing. More than 80 per cent said that it was important for communities to work with the police to prevent terrorism.
Yet a quarter said they might not report their suspicions because they were afraid of wasting police time, while 39 per cent weren’t sure what is meant by ‘suspicious behaviour’.
‘Make Nothing Happen’ will see a six-week national marketing campaign running across radio and digital channels. Supported by national and regional media activity this activity will highlight what to report and how to do it. The campaign will be launched in the West Midlands by Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, Head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism, who said: “Communities can be confident that West Midlands Police, together with our partners, is continually working hard to safeguard the public.
“We want to reassure communities that they shouldn’t be concerned about wasting police time or getting someone into trouble.
“We encourage the public to work hand-in-hand with the police, acting as our eyes and ears and reporting anything that concerns them and help keep us all safe.”
As part of the campaign, there will be a podcast series telling how terrorist attacks were foiled, radio ads urging the public to act and report concerns and three short films describing what happens when someone makes a call or online referral.
