Britain’s most senior police officer has warned that a terrorist attack is a matter of “when, not if” but underlined that the United Kingdom is in a strong position to prevent and limit atrocities like those seen on the Continent in recent weeks.
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The Police Federation of England and Wales said counter-terrorism teams could be waiting for up to two years before the extra firearms officers promised to combat an attack are operational.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe warned Sunday that an attack in Britain was a case of “when, not if”.
“The true scale of that collaboration is impressive, but rarely explained”.
A terror attack in the United Kingdom is a matter of “when, not if”, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police warned Sunday, according to the Independent.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commenting in light of a series of recent jihadist assaults in Europe, said the United Kingdom faces a “very real” threat.
Rowley said members of the public were passing information to authorities about people behaving unusually in public places, while others were raising concerns about neighbours and friends becoming “more extreme”.
“The fact is that we see at least 3,639 contributions from the public every day, helping keep us all safe in our collective effort against terrorism”.
Britain’s top police officer has warned that it is a question of “when not if” the United Kingdom is struck by a terrorist attack.
“The threat level hasn’t changed but we are learning the lessons from Europe, from Nice, from Paris, from Munich”.
Mr Rowley said: “Every call, every referral, every briefing, is part of our joint fight against terrorism”.
“If you don’t have police officers having that daily contact in these communities you’re never going to build these relationships. I am afraid I can not do that entirely”, he said.
The threat level in London remains at “severe” and the increase is not due to any specific intelligence but is a long-term response to a spate of deadly attacks in European countries.
He further said the nation’s gun control laws helped make it hard for terrorists.
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“That’s why I’m increasing the visibility and the number of armed officers on London’s streets, and demonstrating some of the range of tactics we already have to protect the public from all manner of threats”.
