Observations on security
Some 300 members of the public crowded into a lecture theatre last month to learn how to help the Metropolitan Police combat terrorism. Project Griffin, as it is known, aims to make useful spies of us all.
First step is to identify your terrorist. Watch for tell-tale signs, we were told, including sweating, mumbled prayers, visible anxiety, bulky clothing and perhaps something (a detonator) gripped in one hand. But, slightly contradicting that, keep an open mind, because there is no profile for suicide bombers.
Project Griffin is a partnership scheme between the police and business, and aims to draw members of the public in to counter-terrorism training days run by the Metropolitan Police. Mine, billed as a primer on how to spot and report potential terrorist attacks, was held at Imperial College London.
"Last year was a good year," said Detective Sergeant David Parks, referring to the absence of terrorist attacks in Britain. "But all the indications we are getting tell us that 2007 is going to be a bad year. A bad year for the police and a bad year for the public."
The message was reinforced by the man who was in charge of "tactical decisions" on the day of the 7 July 2005 bombings. Dean Ingledew, chief superintendent of the City of Westminster police, said: "For those of you who think that terrorism is a flash in the pan, let me assure you that it is a current, present and very real threat to all of us as we speak. I have no doubt there will soon be another terrorist outrage. This has to be a way of life for us for the foreseeable future."
Project Griffin signals a new tactic in the fight against terrorism, namely, seeing it as a community issue on which everyone must do his or her bit. Put simply, the police and security services cannot cope alone: they need "extras" to help counter a threat they predict will last more than a hundred years and become more deadly with time.
"This is not something that can be left to MI5 or Special Branch," said Tom Lund-Lack from the Met's Counter-Terrorism Command. "The IRA was a relatively simple problem. It was motivated by two things - politics and nationalism - but it has taken us more than 120 years to reach the endgame. Islamist terrorism is much more complex. These guys are at their dumb stage at the moment. They are going to become much more sophisticated."
Lund-Lack gave a surprisingly detailed presentation, rushing the audience through from the 8th century - the golden age of Islam, with the expansion of the caliphate from Baghdad to Spain - to the present day. "We don't see ourselves as an oppressive body of people, but that's how the IRA saw us and that's how Islamist terrorists see us," he said.
Nor was he optimistic. There is no one to negotiate with in this new war, we were told, no command structures and no warnings. "Iraq is the biggest terrorist recruitment officer there is, and all the tactics learned in Iraq will soon make their way over to this country," Lund-Lack said.
In this new Britain, the public is not expected to jump terrorists in the street, but Project Griffin intends us to know what to watch for and to report what we see. Soon, we will all be spooks.
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