Terrorism poses huge challenges to officers
The service faces huge challenges in terms of resources and training of its officers in the field of terrorism over the coming years, according to the National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations.
The service faces huge challenges in terms of resources and training of its officers in the field of terrorism over the coming years, according to the National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, who is also, head of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, said the recent Operation Crevice marked a watershed in the way the service deals with terrorism investigations.
Four men: Omar Khyam, Anthony Garcia, Waheed Mahmood, Jawad Akbar and Salahuddin Amin were jailed for life for their attempt to cause explosions with fertiliser bombs in which they intended to cause mass casualties.
The case broke new ground in terms of level of the size and scale of the operation and the level of co-operation between forces, security services and the CPS.
DAC Clarke admitted the investigation was resource-intensive and required a certain level of skills and expertise.
We need to ensure we have specialist skills available to deal with cases the size and scale of Crevice skills which are also required by the wider service. Clearly you cant generate those skills over night and it takes time to train officers and for them to gain experience and this can put an enormous strain on the rest of the service.
He admitted there was still a long way to go and but he was confident the service could meet the challenge.
He said: Its five years since 9/11 and were still at a comparatively early stage in terms of developing our ability to deal with what is a constantly changing and evolving threat. We have to be prepared to regularly take stock of our actions and learn from the important cases that are now increasingly coming before the courts.