City of London Police upgrades terrorist protection system

The City of London Police has announced a major upgrade to its real-time emergency communication system, Priority Alert, which has has been providing real-time security information to businesses since its inception after the Bishopsgate bombing in the early 1990s.

The police and the City of London are implementing the new Warn and Inform service to protect the businesses and residents from a range of incidents, including bomb threats, emergency road closures, fire, flooding, building collapse and gas leaks.

The Warn and Inform system will enable emergency voice, SMS text, pager and email messages to be sent to businesses, schools and residents to instruct them what to do in the event of a major incident. The system also has the ability for maps to be broadcast, providing details of incidents including cordons and road closures.

Mike Bowron, commissioner at The City of London Police, said: “Protecting lives is our number one priority in an incident. The Warn and Inform system saves valuable minutes, even seconds in communicating that there is a security threat. It is already part of the emergency and evacuation plans of a large number of London companies. I have no doubt that one day the system could save lives.”

Currently, there are around 1,500 businesses within London that subscribe to the system.