VIDEO: Police launch campaign urging public to report potential terrorists

Police have launched a video campaign urging the public to report suspicious activity in a bid to tackle potential terror threats.

Tip-offs from the public have helped foil 18 potential terrorist attacks in almost two years according to the police’s head of Counter Terrorism in the south west Detective Superintendent Ian Saunders .

The minute-long video, which features a man stockpiling chemicals, buying potential weapons and taking photographs of police officers, will be shown at cinemas across the country over the next eight weeks.

Det Supt Saunders said: “The UK threat level remains at severe meaning an attack is highly likely.

“We have been emphasising for some time that communities defeat terrorism, and the fact that more and more reports from the public provide information that is useful to our officers demonstrates this.

“Like other criminals, terrorists need to plan and that creates opportunities for police and the security services to discover and stop these attacks before they happen.

“This new film has been made to try and help people understand recent terrorist attack-planning methods, but also to demonstrate that each report from the public can be one vital piece of a much larger picture. The important thing for people to remember is that no report is a waste of our time, trust your instincts and tell us if something doesn’t feel right.”

For more information log on to www.gov.uk/ACT and the confidential hotline – 0800 789 321.