The Counter Terror Awards acknowledge excellence in the global fight against terrorism. For the last two years, organisations and individuals from the UK and overseas have been recognised across 20 categories for their contributions to reducing the threat of global terrorism.
This year, in a shorter category list, Counter Terror Business, organisers of the Awards, again looks to share appreciation and celebrate the people and organisations who are making the country and safer place to live. From communications and cyber security efforts, to policing on the front line and educating pupils against radicalisation, the shortlisted entries have been chosen for their actions in the last year, where the threat of terrorism has again grown.
Despite the threat level in the UK reduced to substantial in November 2019, meaning an attack is likely, incidents have been witnessed across the country. In the same month that the terrorism threat level was downgraded to ‘Substantial’, London Bridge played scene to another incident when 28-year-old Usman Khan started attacking people with a knife and was then shot by police. Only this month, Sudesh Amman stabbed people in Streatham a week after being released from prison after serving half of his sentence of three years and four months for terror offences.
The 2019 Global Terrorism Index has revealed that deaths from terrorism have halved in the last four years, but the number of countries affected by terrorism continues to grow, and, in the UK, the 鶹 Office has announced that funding for counter terrorism policing will grow to £906 million in 2020 to 2021 - highlighting the scale of problem and resources needed to ebb the terrorist flow.
In spite of the challenges, policies, practices and solutions are being created to counter the threat - something our shortlisted entries can all be proud of. So, with no further ado, we provide our 2020 Counter Terror Awards shortlisted nominations.
Communications Award
This Communications Award recognises communication systems and their potential to assist organisations in both threat detection and post-terrorism communication between governmental and emergency service organisations. In previous years, this award has recognised the use of Body Worn Video technology and real-time footage from UAVs, and this year will be won by one of three organisations. In December, a counter terrorism training course was made available to the public for the first time. Devised by counter terrorism officers and security experts, the ACT Awareness eLearning package was previously only available to staff working in crowded places like shopping centres and entertainment venues. However, Counter Terrorism Policing has decided to open up the training to anyone who wants to become a CT Citizen so they can learn how to spot the signs of suspicious behaviour and understand what to do in the event of a major incident.
Also using an interactive online platform to provide secure expert counter terrorism advice, a collaboration between Pool Re and the Joint Security and Resilience Centre has been shortlisted for its efforts to provide businesses holistic access to timely and accurate information in the event of an attack. Completing the three-strong shortlist is the Metropolitan Police, for their work with Facebook to improve the social network’s ability to detect live streaming of terrorism and potentially better alert officers about an attack. This was launched following the Christchurch terrorist attack, in which a live stream video showing the New Zealand mosque shootings was watched about 4,000 times in total before being removed.
Cyber Security Award
The Cyber Security Award is presented to an organisation which has developed effective technologies to protect against the threat of cyber terrorism. The first organisation shortlisted in this category is the Cyber Threats Research Centre at Swansea University, which seeks to provide further understanding of cyber terrorism through its Cyberterrorism Project. The researchers based at CYTREC are not afraid to ask difficult questions or engage in topics that push the boundaries. In the last year this has involved research into whether content removal might actually be aiding terrorists.
The National Police Chiefs Council have been shortlisted for their efforts to ensure that every police force in England and Wales have a dedicated cyber crime unit in place. Starting last year, police forces have been able to access £7 million worth of funding to build the cyber crime units - including recruiting specialist officers and staff to the units and investing in technology, equipment and training. Prior to the roll out of the force units by the National Police Chiefs Council, only 31 per cent of forces had a dedicated cyber capability. The move ensures that all forces will have specialist officers and staff in place to investigate cyber crime and ensure victims receive a consistent response and receive contact and prevention advice from police following a report.
Completing the Cyber Security Award shortlist is the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. From January to November 2018, almost 1,300 reports of concern were made to the CTIRU who helps investigate and remove terrorist propaganda and information online. As well as assessing reports, officers from the unit scour the internet on a daily basis to find terrorist content themselves and have worked to get more than 310,000 pieces of extremist online material removed in the last decade.
Emergency Services Award
The work that the emergency services do to keep our nation safe often goes unrecognised. It is for that reason that categories like the Emergency Services Award are presented, acknowledging how the police, fire and ambulance services have implemented and tested a strategy to cope with terrorist attack. Ross McKibbin, the Metropolitan Police officer in overall command of the emergency services’ response on the night of the London Bridge attacks, rightfully told the inquest into the London Bridge terrorist attack that emergency services performed exceptionally in what was ‘a war zone on the streets of London’.
Despite the delay in London Ambulance staff attending to some of the most seriously injured coming under scrutiny during the inquest, the work that was achieved, and the speed in which it was carried out, is remarkable, especially give the array of confused information from hundreds of unverified reports. London has unfortunately fallen victim to numerous terrorist attacks in the last few years, and while the police have successfully prevented many, on the occasions that assailants have caused harm, London Ambulance Service have responded and performed exceptionally.
When reacting to a terrorist threat collaboration is crucial, especially among the blue light services. West Midlands Police, together with partner emergency services, have gone above and beyond in ensuring that staff are given invaluable training and experience, should an event hit the region. One such training session was held in May 2019 and saw an exercise take place at a number of locations across the West Midlands including the empty Woodlands School in Coventry, a residential street in Birmingham, abandoned farm complex in Warwickshire and ended at Wolverhampton Racecourse.
The exercise highlighted the strong working relationships between West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and wider Counter Terrorism Policing agencies.
A similar-style event was held in the north east, where nursing students from Northumbria University took part in a staged firearms training event designed to give doctors and paramedics a taste of working in a mass casualty terrorist incident. Great North Air Ambulance Service and Northumbria Police ran the simulated learning experience, which was being run for clinicians from around the country as part of an annual training course. In total, six paramedics and six doctors took part in the live training event, featuring dozens of casualties displaying signs of blast and gunshot injuries.
Perimeter Security Award
This category recognises an organisation, public or private, which has designed and/or installed physical security measures to protect buildings and individuals from terrorist attack. Originally launched in July 2017, the 鶹 Office’s Improving Crowd Resilience competition forms part of the government’s efforts to do more with the private sector to encourage them to help tackle the security challenges facing the UK. As a result of that competition, a new app, called The Krowd, was launched early last year to keep people safe in crowded places. Created by KrowdThink, the app allows people in crowded places to speak directly with on-site security teams, allowing visitors to report suspicious activity in real-time using their phones. Images are then sent instantly from the crowd and can assist the security team to assess a threat.
The second shortlisted organisation is Thames Water, who have heavily invested in two perimeter protection contracts for the perimeter protection of seven of its sites, with the second contract awarded for physical security around 11km of perimeter for four of the seven sites. Thames Water manages more than 4,500 sites that require security to protect the water supply to over 14 million people. The work, awarded to Zaun, forms part of the AMP6 programme to bring Thames Water’s estate up to Defra standards and fully prepare for any security eventuality.
Making up the three-strong shortlist is Manchester City Council, who have recently announced that it will act on proposals that will enshrine the principles of Martyn’s Law into future regulations to ensure the safety of all Manchester residents. A terrorist bomb attack at the Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017 claimed the lives of 22 people, and seriously injured dozens more. Martyn Hett was one of those who died. Since his death, Martyn’s mother Figen Murray has campaigned to have the government introduce legislation to improve security at all public venues, calling it ‘Martyn’s Law’.
Manchester City Council has now said that it will review the way in which it licences venues in order to ensure high safety standards are in place across the whole of the city. Initially this will have to be voluntary changes made by the owners of licensed premises. However, given the significance of the terror attack on Manchester, and the depth of feeling in the wake of the attack, the authority says that it hopes that the practices which underlie Martyn’s Law would be taken up with enthusiasm.
Counter Terrorism Education Project Award
Merging two previous awards, the Counter Terrorism Project Award and the Education Project Award, this award will recognise a governmental organisation or public/private partnership which has developed and implemented an effective counter terrorism strategy or awareness campaign. The ACT Awareness eLearning package recently scooped the top prize at a prestigious European business resilience awards event, and has also successfully made our shortlist here. Counter Terrorism Policing announced last year that the counter terrorism training course is being made available to the public for the first time so that anyone who wants to become a CT Citizen so they can learn how to spot the signs of suspicious behaviour and understand what to do in the event of a major incident. The online learning, made up of seven modules that take a few minutes each to complete, is available free of charge to anyone who wants to take part.
The PSHE Association is also being recognised as a potential winner in this category for its counter extremism training programme. Aimed at providing teachers with the confidence and skills to address key extremism-related topics in the classroom to bring into PSHE lessons, the programme also helps equip pupils with better awareness and understanding of extremist behaviour. A bespoke evaluation survey, carried out by the 鶹 Office’s Building a Stronger Britain Together programme, found that the training and supporting resources led to significantly increased levels of confidence and improved skills in covering extremism-related topics in the classroom among teacher participants.
Transport Security Award
Airports dominate the Transport Security Award this year. First to make the shortlist is Gatwick Airport, who announced in September that facial recognition technology was set to be rolled out at eight departure gates, following a successful trial with easyJet. Instead of humans checking passports and boarding passes, the technology scans passengers' faces and compares it to the picture on their passports, and the name on their boarding pass, both of which are also scanned. It not only speeds up boarding, but also increases security on site.
Meanwhile, London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest travel hub, has deployed a ‘bespoke set of anti-drone systems’ designed to block unmanned aerial vehicles from entering its airspace following a string of recent attempts. Designed by UK-based firm Operational Solutions, the system detects and tracks drones in surrounding airspace, with the ability to locate the drone pilot and show their location, using technology from several manufacturers. The airport has said the fast and accurate detention of drones would keep passengers and staff safe, and minimise delays.
The final shortlisted entry for this award is the Department for Transport and the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA), who launched a Rental Vehicle Security Scheme to increase counter terrorism awareness and mitigate the risk of rental vehicles being used as weapons in acts of terror. Outlined in a 10-point Code of Practice, the partners require participating firms to meet a set of requirements, including a commitment to lawfully share data and information with law enforcement; train staff to identify and report suspicious behaviour and appoint a recognised security contact.
Counter Terror Policing Award
City of London Police are the first organisation to be recognised in the Counter Terror Policing Award category, which recognises the efforts of the police sector in combatting domestic terrorism through prevention strategies and operational excellence. Under Project Servator, an initiative launched by the City of London Police in 2014, 37 per cent of stop and searches carried out in 2018/19 resulted in a positive outcome, such as weapons or illegal drugs being found or an arrest. This is compared to a national average positive outcome rate of 17 per cent across UK police forces in 2018/19.
The tactics involve the use of highly visible but unpredictable deployments of specially trained officers (both uniformed and plain clothed) in operations to disrupt would-be criminals and terrorists, whilst encouraging vigilance and acting as a deterrent. Its success also relies on the support of businesses and the wider community to create a network of vigilance.
Also shortlisted is Leicestershire Police, who has begun trialling Project Servator at East Midlands Airport, which will see local police, business and the public working together to disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism. The policing tactic sees the deployment of both highly visible and plain-clothed police officers, supported by other resources such as dogs, firearms officers, vehicle checkpoints, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and live-monitored CCTV. The trial is being carried out with the intention of adding another layer of security to existing policing methods at the airport.
The third shortlisted entry is for Counter Terrorism Policing for their ‘Summer Security’ initiative. Launched last summer, police reached out to festival-goers who attended live events via the #BeSafeBeSound social media campaign. Led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi, the police worked with UK Music to reach the hundreds of thousands of people who attended live events last summer, releasing a number of videos on social media and providing key advice before and during the events.
Outstanding Contribution to Counter Terrorism
Recognising an organisation or individual from either the private or government sector whose contribution to worldwide anti-terrorism efforts has been outstanding, the Outstanding Contribution to Counter Terrorism Award is considered the stand-out category. In the inaugural Counter Terror Awards, Mark Rowley, then the Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, was the recipient, and last year the award was split between public sector contribution, won by Chief Superintendent Keith Gilert, Senior Police Adviser at the Defence Science and Research Laboratory, and private sector contribution, won by SecuriGroup’s Allan Burnett.
This year, the category shortlist begins with Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who succeeded Rowley in March 2018. Unlike Rowley, Basu has spent his whole career serving with the Metropolitan Police. The 52-year-old, never trained as a firearms officer himself, was the commander in charge of armed policing between 2013 and 2014, before being appointed Deputy Assistant Commissioner in 2015. Basu’s first counter terror operation was to respond to the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury, and, having previously been shy in front of the camera, Basu stepped forward last year in stressing how a no-deal Brexit deal would harm the UK’s safety and security. Basu also led the investigation following the terrorist incident on London Bridge last November, as well as the incident at the start of this month.
“As the mother of a victim of terror, I don’t have the power to prevent other parents or families having to bury their loved ones like I did. But you do.” Those were the words of Figen Murray, the mother of Manchester Arena attack victim Martyn Hett, as she opened the third annual Step Change Summit at the Farnborough Exhibition Centre in March last year. Speaking to a 300-strong audience of business leaders and security experts, Mrs Murray explained the devastating personal consequences of the attack at the Arianna Grande concert - providing a heart-wrenching reminder why the Step Change Programme is so important. She also provided the keynote address at the International Security Expo in December, introducing Martyn’s Law in memory of her son and has grown into a vocal advocate for better security measures across the UK event venue scene.
Completing the shortlist for the Outstanding Contribution to Counter Terrorism Award is Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi. Having joined the police force in 1992, D’Orsi has a background in covert firearms operations and heading policing for London boroughs. At the end of 2016, she was promoted to Deputy Assistant posted to Specialist Operations, leading on Protection and Security, including Royalty and Specialist Protection, Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection, Aviation Policing and Protective Security Operations. For the last few years, her job has led on Counter Terrorism Policing’s engagement with private businesses, Operation Temperer, protective security and preparedness.
