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In addition, security teams often have little or no understanding about the mind set of current terrorists and how they operate. The differences between a terrorist now and one twenty years ago are frightening. For example, a suicide bomber could be a 35 year old woman who believes her life will be worth more if she commits the attack, and her family will support her in this view– they’ll even be honoured for her actions! Children are also being groomed to be bombers. As a father, some of the most shocking video footage that I’ve seen is of children proudly saying they’re being trained to be a suicide bomber.
Clearly the role of the security team has changed but a widespread failure to recognise this means that many of the country’s largest organisations may be unwittingly exposing themselves to a higher level of risk of attack than is necessary. But why is this the case, and what should companies do to tackle this shortfall in security provision? |
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I don’t believe the failure to change is due to complacency on the part of company directors. Directors, like everyone else, are anxious to minimise risk to employees, customers and members of the public. The issue, in our view, is that directors and senior managers simply don’t know where to go for advice on what constitutes an effective counter terrorism strategy and information on how their security team should be trained.
Until the launch of our Edexcel accredited BTEC Award in Understanding Counter Terrorism earlier this year, there was simply no nationally accredited qualification for counter terrorism training. This meant that organisations, and security providers alike, had no reliable accredited source for training in counter-terrorism techniques.
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