Counter Terrorism Policing’s biggest ever winter advertising campaign for Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) launched on 19 November 2018, asking business, industry and members of the public to put security on the top of their ‘must have’ lists this Christmas.
The campaign aims to encourage the public to remain vigilant, look out for suspicious behaviour and inform people on how to report their concerns, providing a ‘whole society’ approach where police, security staff, retail workers and the public come together to minimise the chance of attacks and mitigate the impact they can have.
Counter Terrorism Policing have provided a 60 second security checklist for retailers, businesses and employers, in particular for those who operate in crowded places, urging them to think about their reaction to any potential emergencies.
The checklist includes:
- how do you enter and exit the building in an emergency?
- how do you lock down quickly?
- where can you hide?
- have you briefed your staff?
During the campaign launch the National Coordinator for Protect and Prepare, Chief Superintendent Nick Aldworth, said:
As people are enjoying the festive season they will see a visible security presence with police patrols and additional security in crowded places.
Unpredictable deployments across the UK will also provide an additional layer of protection, with specially trained uniformed and plain clothes officers working to deter, detect and disrupt hostile reconnaissance and encourage the public and businesses to be their extra eyes and ears and report anything that doesn’t feel right.
The ongoing use of Project Servator tactics by the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) supports the objectives of the ACT festive campaign using community engagement, to encourage vigilance, as part of its unpredictable and highly visible deployments in and around the sites that it protects across the UK. Officers pop up at a range of locations including the busy public areas surrounding Defence HQ in Whitehall and the Naval Base in Portsmouth.
The MDP have, alongside other police forces and organisations, been promoting the ACT festive campaign on their social media channels, providing information on how to report suspicious activity online.
In addition, posters and graphics have been produced to support and promote Project Servator deployments throughout the coming weeks and these will also feature on police social media.
Chief Inspector Jeff Renton, Senior Police Officer at Whitehall and MDP’s Protect and Prepare Force representative, said:
The ACT Christmas campaign promotes key messages on the importance of remaining vigilant and trusting your instincts, for all staff and members of the public, during the busy festive period. Project Servator is one of the tactics that the MDP uses to keep its communities safe by deterring, detecting and disrupting a range of criminal activity, including terrorism, whilst providing a reassuring presence in and around the sites that it protects across the UK.
The ACT Christmas campaign and Project Servator festive publicity materials are an effective way of highlighting the messaging to the public and further promoting the ‘whole society’ approach of coming together to combat terrorism. As their respective straplines and hashtags summarise: Action Counters Terrorism, Communities Defeat Terrorism, Together We’ve Got It Covered.
If you see something suspicious report it online using the ACT secure online reporting form, tell one of our police officers or call 01371 854 444.
Please use 999 if an immediate response is required.
Find out more:
Follow this news feed: HM Government