Together against terror

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Published: 27 June 2006

Together against terror

The Metropolitan Police Authority is to hold a series of public forums, entitled 'Counter-Terrorism: The London Debate', as part of its programme of community engagement to counter-terrorism.

The move continues the work from the 'Together Against Terror?' community conference organised by the MPA in December 2005 in the wake of the July 2005 terror attacks, which allowed Londoners to communicate to the Metropolitan Police Service their considerations and concerns about policing the terrorist threat.

The new hearings will give specifically invited London communities the opportunity to express their views about counter-terrorism policing to a panel of MPA members.

Toby Harris, chair of the panel and member with special responsibility for counter-terrorism, said:

"Communities must be involved fully in the fight against terrorism.

Effective resilience against terrorism can only be achieved with community support and engagement.

This help and support from our communities is essential if the police and security services are to be effective in dealing with the threat of terrorism.

We must listen to what Londoners are telling us and work hard to create confidence, co-operation and support among all our communities."

There will also be external guest panellists at each hearing.

A senior MPS officer will be invited to each session to provide an initial response to the communities' issues and then take questions from the group,

At the first hearing on 29 June 2006, a group of young people will be able to put their questions to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Ian Blair.

Toby Harris concluded:

"By fostering a sense of public ownership of the problems and their solutions, the MPA hopes to increase the likelihood of generating future community intelligence, and therefore to help prevent future terrorist attacks."

The programme for the six hearings is:

· Thursday 29 June - young people

· Thursday 6 July - councillors, business and tourism representatives

· Thursday 7 September - faith groups

· Thursday 5 October – women

· Thursday 16 November - Asian men

· Thursday 7 December - police and government

Follow-up work from the hearings will include:

· Six confidential focus groups with students in London universities and colleges, to discuss extremist recruitment and radicalisation on campus

· Thirty-two local consultations - one in every London borough

· Analysis of qualitative data received through the MPA website

· A publication, featuring contributions from practitioners, commentators and community representatives