Terrorism-related arrests hit five-year high
The latest data released by the Home Office shows that more people have been arrested for terrorism-related offences in 2024 than in the four years previously.
Last year, the police made 248 arrests which is the highest number of arrests in a single year since 2019.
Commenting on the release of the data, senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, said: “For the last 18 months, Counter Terrorism Policing has been operating at a very high operational tempo and it is no surprise to see our teams arrested well over 200 people last year.
“Within those arrests are three late-stage attacks that were disrupted thanks to the actions of our officers and our partners in the security service.”
“Day in day out, our officers and staff are working with partners to help keep the public safe and today’s figures demonstrate the scale of work we’re undertaking.”
Since March 2017, Counter Terrorism Policing and MI5 have together disrupted 43 late stage attacks from taking place.
Expanding on the reason for the increase in arrests, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Evans said: “The ripples of global uncertainty continue to be felt domestically and that is reflected in number of arrests our officers made last year.
“We have also been clear that our demand has increased when it comes to investigating and disrupting national security related cases – those linked to state threats.”
More than 20 per cent of Counter Terrorism Policing’s casework is now focused on protecting the UK against State threat activity. This involves using the National Security Act and other legislation to counter hostile actions from parts of states such as Russia, China and Iran.
The release of today’s data also shows that arrests for those aged 17 and under decreased from 43 in 2023, to 39 in 2024.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Evans added: “While the data shows a slight dip in arrests of young people, our teams still arrested a concerning number of young people last year.
“The offences of those who were arrested range from suspicion of possessing a firearm, to those who have allegedly shared terrorist material online, and to those who were thought to be preparing acts of terrorism.
“For over five years now Counter Terrorism Policing has been warning about the number of children and young people in our casework and investigations. And while this trend cannot be reversed by law enforcement alone, we must continue to work with our partners to stop young people, no matter their age, from causing harm to the public.”
In the past year, the public have contacted the Anti-Terrorist Hotline and its online equivalent, gov.uk/ACT, close to 22,000 times.
After being reviewed, one in five reports are passed to Counter Terrorism Policing officers meaning the public are providing information that is relevant and important to investigations.