Around 3,500 suspected terrorists in UK
May 24, 2017 0:41:47 GMT -5
Post by J.J.Gibbs on May 24, 2017 0:41:47 GMT -5
Around 3,500 suspected terrorists in UK - but powers to monitor used LESS than in 2015
THE number of potential terrorists being watched in the UK has swelled to nearly 3,500 - but our security services are using powers to monitor them LESS than they did a year ago, Express.co.uk can reveal.
By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 18:59, Wed, Mar 22, 2017 | UPDATED: 20:09, Wed, Mar 22, 2017
The around 3,000 potential terrorists monitored since 2015 has grown after the return of UK-born people who left to fight with ISIS.
Around 400 ISIS-trained fighters are believed to have returned from war zones in Syria and Iraq.
Despite being on red alert for more attacks on home soil like today's carnage in Westminster, new statistics show the number of arrests, stop and searches, and examinations of suspected terrorists at ports and airports dropped in 2016 on the levels seen in 2015.
This comes at the same time that the number of people arrested on suspicion of plotting terror strikes on British soil has grown by eight per cent.
In 2016 there were 260 terror-related arrests, a drop of eight per cent on the 282 people held in 2015.
The figures were revealed in a quarterly Home Office report on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000, which was released this month.
The figures also show that the amount of white people being arrested on suspicion of terrorism has gone up.
Seventy (25 per cent) of the people arrested in 2015 were white, while 91 (35 per cent) of those held last year were white.
Last year 13 per cent (35) of arrests were of people suspected of plotting terror attacks on British soil, a sharp rise on the five per cent (15) of such arrests in 2015.
The report said: "Of the 260 arrests for terrorism-related offences in the year ending 31 December 2016, 96 had resulted in a charge by January 16 2017 (79 terrorism-related and 17 non-terrorism-related).
"In 68 cases, the individual had been released without charge; in a further 90 cases, the arrestee was released on bail pending further investigation."
The use of a power for officers to question people entering or leaving the country at ports, airports, international rail stations and in border areas fell dramatically by 30 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015.
In 2015, the power was used around 27,800 times, but this fell to 19,355 last year.
Under the power, people can be detained for up to nine hours, with DNA samples and fingerprints taken, without the need for any reasonable suspicion.
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THE number of potential terrorists being watched in the UK has swelled to nearly 3,500 - but our security services are using powers to monitor them LESS than they did a year ago, Express.co.uk can reveal.
By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 18:59, Wed, Mar 22, 2017 | UPDATED: 20:09, Wed, Mar 22, 2017
The around 3,000 potential terrorists monitored since 2015 has grown after the return of UK-born people who left to fight with ISIS.
Around 400 ISIS-trained fighters are believed to have returned from war zones in Syria and Iraq.
Despite being on red alert for more attacks on home soil like today's carnage in Westminster, new statistics show the number of arrests, stop and searches, and examinations of suspected terrorists at ports and airports dropped in 2016 on the levels seen in 2015.
This comes at the same time that the number of people arrested on suspicion of plotting terror strikes on British soil has grown by eight per cent.
In 2016 there were 260 terror-related arrests, a drop of eight per cent on the 282 people held in 2015.
The figures were revealed in a quarterly Home Office report on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000, which was released this month.
The figures also show that the amount of white people being arrested on suspicion of terrorism has gone up.
Seventy (25 per cent) of the people arrested in 2015 were white, while 91 (35 per cent) of those held last year were white.
Last year 13 per cent (35) of arrests were of people suspected of plotting terror attacks on British soil, a sharp rise on the five per cent (15) of such arrests in 2015.
The report said: "Of the 260 arrests for terrorism-related offences in the year ending 31 December 2016, 96 had resulted in a charge by January 16 2017 (79 terrorism-related and 17 non-terrorism-related).
"In 68 cases, the individual had been released without charge; in a further 90 cases, the arrestee was released on bail pending further investigation."
The use of a power for officers to question people entering or leaving the country at ports, airports, international rail stations and in border areas fell dramatically by 30 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015.
In 2015, the power was used around 27,800 times, but this fell to 19,355 last year.
Under the power, people can be detained for up to nine hours, with DNA samples and fingerprints taken, without the need for any reasonable suspicion.
link
