Police must be ‘ready to adapt’ to constantly changing terror threat

The outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner has described the threat of terrorism as a “real and present danger” which is “constantly changing and evolving”.

Dame Cressida Dick said police must be “ready to adapt” but, as she prepares to leave her post, added “we are in a good position” to tackle the threats posed by terrorists in “whatever form or guise we find them”.

Speaking before the fifth anniversary of the Westminster terror attack, she said: “We must not be complacent. The terrorism threat is a real and present danger. It is, as I’ve said, constantly changing and evolving. We have to be ready to adapt and change our approach to match the threats we face.”

The counter terrorism operation is “stronger and more effective now than when I started as commissioner,” Dame Cressida said, adding: “I firmly believe … we are in a good position to meet and tackle the threats, meet and deal with the risks that are posed by terrorists in whatever form or guise we find them over the coming months and years.”

Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said there were around “800 live investigations running at the moment”, about 80% of which are linked to Islamist extremism and that “remains the predominant ideological threat we face in our work.”

On March 22 2017, Khalid Masood mowed down pedestrians and stabbed Pc Keith Palmer before being shot by police in the grounds of Parliament in the first of five terror attacks in the UK that year.

There have been 11 Islamist extremist attacks since the start of 2017. Some 32 late-stage terror plots were foiled in that time, 18 of which were linked to Islamist ideology and 12 that were related to right-wing extremism, Mr Jukes added.

Over the last five years “most significantly”, officers have seen a rise in the threat from “self-initiated terrorists”, commonly described as lone wolves, as opposed to cells of terrorists being directed to act.

Anti-terror police are also “increasingly” seeing examples of extreme right-wing threats, which can include anti-Semitic and Islamophobic rhetoric as well as featuring “violent misogyny”. The perpetrators are “substantially younger” than before, which is a “real concern”, Mr Jukes said.

The threat to the UK from terrorism was lowered to substantial – meaning an attack is likely – in February. Three months earlier it had been raised to severe, meaning an attack was highly likely, after two attacks took place within weeks of each other.

Mr Jukes told reporters the investigation into terror attack outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital in November, which killed the bomber Emad Al Swealmeen, continues.

An inquest following his death heard he bought 2,000 ball bearings and rented a “bomb-making factory” to manufacture a device with “murderous intent”.

He died from an explosion and subsequent fire when the device detonated in a taxi, which was driven by David Perry who managed to escape after the blast, as it pulled up outside the hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Jukes said there are still “questions unanswered” and at present no-one else has been connected to the attack.

He added: “It does appear that the individual had the characteristics of someone who was acting alone and self-initiated. I say all of that caveated by the fact that it’s ongoing but also want to recognise that it was a relatively sophisticated attempted attack … and for that reason it is very unlikely that an individual would have gained that knowledge without at least accessing online materials.”