A special British police unit was put on standby for an emergency national mobilisation of officers after the Paris terrorist attacks.
The move came as security chiefs and the government considered the prospect of taking the UK up to its highest state of terrorist alert in the wake of the Paris attacks on Friday evening.
Police chiefs confirmed to the Guardian that the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) was put on standby on Saturday morning. The coordination centre would have found extra officers from around Britain, for example from county forces in mainly rural areas, to rush to sites in London and other big cities.
A decision to raise the terrorist threat level to critical – the highest – would have led to extra officers being drafted in to patrol areas assessed as vulnerable to attack, under mutual arrangements between the 43 local forces in England and Wales.
The NPoCC is in charge of finding and deploying officers in time of national crisis. It is run by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, under the leadership of its president, Sara Thornton. A spokesperson for the chiefs’ council confirmed the NPoCC had been put on alert hours after the Paris attack. The fact it was put on standby shows how seriously taking Britain to its highest state of terrorist alert was considered.
Since Friday’s attacks on Paris, the UK threat level has remained at severe, the second-highest warning level. Officials say there is no specific intelligence of an attack, but they are investigating potential terrorist plots and monitoring suspects as part of the regular work of police and the security services.
The terrorist threat level assessment is made by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which sits within MI5. Police have increased patrols around areas where people gather and are on alert for any hate crimes if there is a backlash against Muslims in Britain.
A letter written by a police chief, seen by the Guardian, shows Scotland Yard bosses were planning how to respond, just two hours after the Paris attacks started.
It shows “strategic aims” set by Scotland Yard at midnight on Friday and Saturday, including “protect life and maximise public safety”, “maintain public order and peace” and “maintain community cohesion”. It shows planning to “provide extra reassurance for affected or vulnerable communities including Jewish and Islamic communities”, and to “mitigate fears through providing messages to communities at neighbourhood levels”.
It was written by police commander Mak Chishty, who is in charge of community relations. In another letter to community figures, he wrote: “It is with regret, but something we have come to realise through experience, that hate crime can increase in these difficult times.”
The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: “Officers are working closely with London’s communities and businesses to offer reassurance and advice following the horrific attack in Paris.”
