"Community cohesion best way to defeat terrorism" - Toby Harris, Chair Metropolitan Police Authority

31/04
26 April 2004

Enlisting the help and support of London’s communities is the best way to stop a terrorist attack on London, Toby Harris, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority said today.

In a speech to a major conference looking at the country’s response to terrorism, he said:

“We may have more than 30,000 police officers in London, but we have 7 million residents and 30 million visitors a year - with all of those watchful eyes on our side, we stand a good chance to thwart most attempts to strike at the heart of our capital.

“On the other hand, we don’t want to over-state our case otherwise we will simply scare those visitors away, together with the £9 billion they spend while they are here, and our residents will develop an unhealthy siege mentality.

“We want London to remain a vibrant and exciting city in which to work and visit so it is up to all those in a position of authority to show courage and lead by example.”

He said that all agencies must work together with London’s communities, workforce and visitors to build a network of vigilance and a climate of “being alert, but not alarmed”.

“To do this, we need to pull together and increase community cohesion by reducing suspicion and division,” he said. “Having more cohesive communities results in more effective dialogue and greater understanding because all communities support a common goal and a shared aim of community well being and safety.”

He added:

“Police have local knowledge of the area they patrol. But it is the people who live or work day in and day out in an area, the people who regularly use particular facilities, who are much better placed to identify anything that is out of place or that gives them cause for concern.

“By harnessing this local knowledge, and this local concern for their own environment, we connect the eyes and ears of a silent but huge number of concerned citizens and make it ever more difficult for the terrorist to operate unnoticed and undetected.”

He told delegates from the emergency, health and social services, that they should lose no time in drawing up contingency plans which included the active participation of their local communities. But he warned them against excluding those communities that felt isolated because of their religious faith or the colour of their skin.

“We must engage with the Muslim community in particular, many members of which must feel that they are being unfairly targeted for criticism at a time when their leaders have condemned unequivocally the violence of the terrorist outrages perpetuated in the name of Islam.

“Demonising the huge majority of law-abiding Muslims in our country and elsewhere is hugely counter-productive in our fight against global terrorism.” He said young Muslims in particular could be pushed towards militancy through negative and racist stereotyping.

He concluded:

“All communities want to be safe and feel safe. A very small minority are trying to make us feel scared. Working together we can defeat terrorism. But this requires vigorous work now and for the foreseeable future.”

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