Policy P20 - Counter Terrorism | South Yorkshire Police

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The Authorised Professional Practice (APP) has been approved by the College of Policing as the official and most up-to-date source of professional practice on policing. South Yorkshire Police have adopted APP as their Statement of Agreed Policy. This is the agreed policy on Counter Terrorism and you may wish to refer to the APP section now.

Exceptions

South Yorkshire Police will seek to operate within agreed National APP guidance unless exceptional circumstances exist. Any decision to operate outside this guidance will need to be justified in line with the National Decision Model.

Additions

In addition to APP, South Yorkshire Police’s statement of agreed policy on Counter Terrorism includes;

Counter Terrorism

South Yorkshire Police are committed to providing the highest possible standard of service and in accordance with CONTEST the United Kingdom counter terrorist strategy, the aim of which is to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.

Our counter–terrorism policy will reflect CONTEST and will continue to be organised around four key objectives of;

Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks

Prevent: to stop people becoming terrorists

Protect: to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack; and

Prepare: to mitigate the impact of terrorist attack

We will use this framework to protect our communities in tackling all forms of terrorism working together with local, regional and national partners and other law enforcement agencies.

South Yorkshire Police will support the national strategy by ensuring all staff undertaking such work have the correct level of vetting to maintain operational security, integrity thereby ensuring public confidence.

Our staff will be trained and where appropriate accredited to national standards.

This policy is supported by current legislation, APP guidance and is subject to continuous review.

If there are any concerns around whether or not an incident is linked to Counter Terrorism then contact should be made via the Force Incident Manager with CTPNE resources covering South Yorkshire.

Associated Procedural Instructions

The Counter Terrorism policy is further supported by the following procedural instructions that are reviewed regularly.

Pi20.1 - Generic Forensic Strategies – Spontaneous Terrorist Incidents

Equality Act 2010

The Act creates a statutory requirement for all Functions and Policies (Including Procedural Instructions) to be analysed for their effect on equality, diversity and human rights, with due regard to the General Equality Duty.

In principle, this document has been assessed for discrimination, which cannot be justified, among other diverse groups.

The Code of Ethics published in 2014 and revised in 2024 by the College of Policing requires us all to do the right thing in the right way.

The 2024 Code of Ethics is not a statutory Code of Practice, it has the same status as other guidance produced by the College. The Code of Ethics is supported by the Code of Practice for Ethical Policing. This is a statutory Code of Practice which provides chief officers with direction on promoting and supporting ethical and professional behaviour within their forces.

Human Rights/Discretion

The purpose of providing policy is to give an indication to staff of the expected course of action. However it is not possible to cater for every possible combination of factors that would justify a departure from stated policy. The Human Rights Act 1998 requires the proper use of discretion at all times and nothing within this policy and associated procedural instructions prohibits the proper use of discretion in appropriate circumstances.

Where action is taken that has the potential to interfere with an individual's Human Rights, the reasons behind the making of the decision to act in that way should be recorded on the appropriate forms, or where this is not practicable, in pocket books or policy logs.

Rights of redress for members of the public:

Anyone who feels that a member of staff has behaved incorrectly or unfairly, or who is dissatisfied with organisational matters, service delivery or other operational policing issues, has the right to make a complaint.

Initial action should be taken in one of the following ways:

Complain in writing or in person to the Senior Officer at the appropriate police station or to the Chief Constable of the force concerned.
Visit a local Citizens' Advice Bureau
Contact a Solicitor

Rights of redress for South Yorkshire Police personnel:

South Yorkshire Police personnel who feel they have grounds for concern in relation to the implementation of policies may, as appropriate:

Pursue concerns through their line manager.
Contact a First Contact Advisor.
Pursue a grievance formally through the South Yorkshire Police Grievance Resolution Procedure.
Seek advice from their staff association or trades union.

Use procedural instruction Pi23.11 - Management of Complaints, in the section entitled Handling Complaints relating to Direction and Control.

Start Date: 30/10/2017

Review:

This statement of agreed policy is managed by Detective Chief Superintendent, Head of Crime Services.

The date for the next review of this policy and Equality Analysis is: 08/01/2025

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Policy P20 - Counter Terrorism