Cheshire Constabulary, together with police forces throughout
the United Kingdom, is better trained and equipped than ever before
to combat the threat of international and domestic terrorism. This
is thanks in part to the hard work put in by Constabulary's Counter
Terrorism Branch (CTB).
The department works very closely with the North West Regional
Counter Terrorism Unit of which Cheshire CTB is one tentacle coming
off the main hub, based in Manchester.
The events of 9/11 in America and 7/7 in London dramatically
changed how we view extremism and shaped government strategy of the
way we police terrorism. In 2003, the government developed a
counter-terrorism strategy called CONTEST.
CONTEST is based around 4 principles known as the 4 Ps: Pursue,
Protect, Prepare and Prevent. In 2009 the CONTEST strategy was
updated with more emphasis being placed on the Prevention
aspect.
Pursue
Working closely with the regional counter terrorist unit in
Manchester, Cheshire’s CTB pursues and targets terrorists and
extremists.
Protect
Involves making vulnerable locations and critical national
infrastructure secure. This can range from chemical companies (of
which Cheshire has many) to travel infrastructure such as the road
network or even the Manchester Ship Canal.
Prepare
Being prepared is all about the readiness across Cheshire for
terrorist attacks – setting up and taking part in exercises,
developing contingency plans, and setting up trained response
strategies. Once again this involves working with a wide variety of
other agencies such as local authorities, the military and the
government.
Prevent
The Counter Terrorism Branch works to challenge the ideology
that underpins the terrorist threat.
Through the excellent work done so far, Cheshire CTB has
built up some excellent links with the communities of the county.
The role of the branch is to target those who justify violence for
an extreme view which can be all the way from fox hunting to Al
Qaeda.
The hope is by building relationships and working with the
communities they will come to the police if they feel there is
someone with radical views trying to exploit members of their
community.