London: British public make thousands of contributions every day including raising concerns about neighbours and friends becoming "more extreme" to help Scotland Yard in the fight against terror, a top counter-terrorism officer said today.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain's senior-most counter-terrorism police chief, said the British public make more than 3,600 contributions daily which include use of anti-terrorist hotline calls and reporting suspicious online content.
"The information we receive helps our investigations, intelligence-gathering and preventative work; they help us carry out significant protective security operations; they help us get the right support for vulnerable people, and they undermine the plans of terrorists," Rowley told BBC.
The terror threat level in the UK is at "severe", meaning an attack is highly likely.
Rowley said members of the public were passing information to authorities about people behaving unusually in public places, while others were raising concerns about neighbours and friends becoming "more extreme".
"We are drawing people back from a path towards extremism through partnership activity. Even if you take a view that 90 per cent of those people may have self-treated or not gone on to become terrorists, that is still a massive effect," Rowley said.
Other examples of the "collective effort" referred to by Scotland Yard include people visiting police and government websites for advice on how to protect homes and businesses or stay safe in the event of an attack.
"It has often been said that 'communities defeat terrorism' and now that's more important than ever before," he said.
