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3,000 calls to counter-terrorism police since public anti-terror campaign begins

Xinhua, May 15, 2017 Adjust font size:

More than 3,000 people have contacted British police with information about possible terrorist activity since a campaign was launched eight weeks ago, the country's anti-terrorism office said Monday.

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NCTSO) said the recent terror attack on the Houses of Parliament in London had seen a surge in calls from people to alert authorities about their suspicions.

NCTSO said that although most of the concerns raised by the public as a result of the campaign had turned out to be nothing to cause alarm, a crucial number contained important pieces of information that resulted in further action from police.

One of Britain's most senior counter terrorism officers, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D'Orsi, said: "the increased response from the general public and from professionals whose job is to keep people safe within crowded places, has been really heartening," said D'Orsi.

D'Orsi said the police aimed to increase protection during summer events that attract large crowds, citing busy shopping centers, transportation hubs and entertainment venues.

"As we have seen very recently here in London, we can not afford to stand still. We need to exploit every possible way of keeping people safe, and do all we can to keep everyone vigilant.

"Whether it is in business communities or local communities, we need to encourage everyone to keep contributing because, sadly, terrorism is a growing and increasingly complex threat."

Counter Terrorism police (CT) are promoting the National Barrier Asset (NBA) at a two-day expo in London. CT is a unique unit within world policing that manages protective barriers, with the help of expert technicians.

Some of the NBA barrier equipment is already placed around the Houses of Parliament and is likely to have saved more people from Khalid Masood's drive across Westminster bridge and around Parliament that killed five people.

Since the campaign, known as Action Counters Terrorism (ACT), was launched, there have been 3,000 calls from the public, as well as 300 referrals regarding online extremist material. Its Code Severe' podcast, the first ever podcast from police, was viewed 850,000 times. Endit