Policing within a counter-terrorism context post-7/7: The importance of partnership, dialogue and support when engaging with Muslim communities

Abstract

Within the Prevent strand of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST2, the police and local authorities are seen to be taking the lead in any strategies aimed at preventing violent extremism (PVE), working with wideranging bodies, including representatives from the education sector, children’s and youth services, probation and prison services, and with Muslim communities being viewed as key partners (HM Government 2008). The prevention of violent extremism is being integrated into mainstream policies and practices of a wide range of statutory and non-statutory organizations since 7/7 and the heightened threat of homegrown terrorism. The central role of the prevention of terrorism within policing is helping to blur distinctions between the role of the police and the security services (Lowe and Innes 2008), with community policing being viewed as an important resource for counter-terrorism policing (Gregory Chapter 4, in this volume). These developments raise many questions for both policing and for the prevention of violent extremism, some of which are raised by Gregory in the previous chapter.