We cannot cope for much longer, says police chief
Armed police patrol Edinburgh Airport. Officers have been rearranging rest days and holidays, but this can only be sustained in the short term and more resources may be needed
IAN JOHNSTON
Head of Scottish terrorist policing operation admits resources limited
Long-term increased airport security would require additional funds
Threat level lowered from 'critical' to 'severe' yesterday
Key quote"[If the situation continues], we will be going back to the Scottish Executive in due course to underline how expensive it is and ask: do we re-prioritise, look for more resources or look for help from other organisations?" - IAN DICKINSON, POLICE OFFICER
Story in full SCOTLAND'S police forces cannot continue to provide increased security indefinitely at airports and other potential targets, the country's leading anti-terror officer has admitted.
Ian Dickinson, the officer in charge of the Scottish policing operation following the terror alert, has told The Scotsman that while police forces were coping "at the moment" by using overtime and rearranging rest days and holidays, this could only be maintained in the short term.
If the situation was to continue for more than a month, Mr Dickinson said they would need additional resources from the Scottish Executive, help from other organisations or be forced to give less priority to other areas of policing.
The Scottish Executive, however, said it was "premature" to talk about the need for more funding, pointing out that forces were given more than £1 billion a year.
The government announced yesterday that the threat level has been lowered from "critical" to "severe", relaxing some of the luggage restrictions on flights, after it was decided a terrorist attack was "highly likely" but not "imminent". However, the new regulations still leave Britain with one of the strictest pre-flight security routines in the world and much tougher constraints on the size of hand luggage.
Police said the lowering of the threat level would not lead to a reduction in the significant number of officers deployed at Scottish airports, a move that followed last week's news of a terrorist plot to blow up aircraft flying to the United States from Britain. Armed officers will also continue to be stationed at Channel ports.
The transport chaos caused by the security measures continued yesterday with 22 cancellations at Glasgow Airport, 16 at Edinburgh and seven at Aberdeen. Sixty-eight flights were cancelled from Heathrow while British Airways said 20 per cent of its flights were subject to delays.
Police continued to question 23 people arrested last week and to search woodland at King's Wood in High Wycombe near the scene of one of last week's raids. There were unconfirmed reports that a handgun and a rifle had been found at two separate addresses. Police have until tomorrow before they have to apply for a warrant for further detention of those arrested.
Last night CCTV footage was released of Tayib Rauf, one of these arrested in the anti-terror raids. He is believed to be the brother of Rashid Rauf, a man captured by police in Pakistan whose arrest reportedly set off last week's round-up of suspects.
Meanwhile in Westminster, Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, said the government and Muslim communities both had to do more as they step up the "battle of hearts and minds" against Islamic extremism.
Across the UK, detectives are reported to be dealing with 70 live counter-terror operations, which are said to include 24 major terror plots.
In addition to this workload, police numbers are being stretched by the decision to have a larger presence at airports, ports and other places where large numbers of people gather.
Mr Dickinson, who is also deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, told The Scotsman that officers had been coming forward to volunteer for duty so they could help provide increased security. However, he added: "It would be a difficult operation to run for a considerable length of time and would be very expensive.
"[If the situation continues], we will be going back to the Scottish Executive in due course to underline how expensive it is and ask: do we re-prioritise, look for more resources or look for help from other organisations?
"We have got some flexibility by using overtime, moving rest days, moving annual leave. We can be fairly flexible on that in the short-term, for a number of weeks," he added.
"At the moment, we are managing. We can sustain the present level of activity for some weeks, more than a month."
Mr Dickinson said the quickest way to boost numbers would be to re-employ recently retired officers who are still able to carry out some duties.
And he said in some situations - such as the protests at Prestwick Airport over flights carrying US-made bombs to Israel - police officers could be replaced by civilian security staff.
Mr Dickinson said about a dozen Scottish officers have been sent to England and Wales to help with the anti- terrorist operation and praised the response of rank-and-file police.
It is not clear how long the present situation will last but John Reid, the Home Secretary, yesterday emphasised Britain remained at danger of a major terrorist attack. "I want to stress that the change in the threat level does not mean that the threat has gone away," he said.
"There is still a very serious threat of an attack. The threat level is at severe, indicating the high likelihood of an attempted terrorist attack at some stage, and I urge the public to remain vigilant."
The US has also reduced its official threat level, suggesting the authorities believe the original plot to use liquid explosives to blow up US-bound flights has been thwarted.
In his first comments since the arrests of the alleged plotters last week, Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said that similar and possibly greater threats still existed from a "significant" number of other terror cells.
"What is so concerning is that those operations can turn from being what we think is preparatory to what is clearly active in a very short time," he said.
"The difference between the international terrorists we are now facing and the IRA is the public risk they are apparently prepared to take - aiming, as has been said, at mass murder on an unimaginable scale. Faced with that, you have to take action."
He added that it was "probably an over-expectation" to think that Muslim immigrants could integrate into British society within one or two generations.
"The key issue is for the Muslim communities themselves to recognise the dangers of a slide into extremism. I've been criticised before for saying that there's nothing wrong with being fundamentalist.
"The difference is whether you become extremist and contemplate violence. Every religion has had this spectre at one edge, of very violent people."
Related topics
Terrorism in the UK http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=758
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1188122006
Last updated: 15-Aug-06 01:54 BST
