Counter Terrorism Command
Encyclopedia
Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) or SO15 is a Specialist Operations
branch within London
's Metropolitan Police Service
. Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13)
, and the Special Branch in 2006, to form a single counter-terrorism investigative unit. CTC has over 1,500 Police Officers and staff, and a number of investigators based overseas. Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Stuart Osbourn is the current Head of the CTC.
Specialist Operations
Specialist Operations is a directorate of the Metropolitan Police. At its peak, SO was a group of twenty specialist units, which were formed to give the Metropolitan Police a specialist policing capability. The SO designation was implemented in 1986 as part of Sir Kenneth Newman's restructuring of...
branch within London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
. Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13)
Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
The Anti-Terrorist Branch was a Specialist Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service, formed to respond to terrorist activities within the capital....
, and the Special Branch in 2006, to form a single counter-terrorism investigative unit. CTC has over 1,500 Police Officers and staff, and a number of investigators based overseas. Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy assistant commissioner is a rank in London's Metropolitan Police Service between assistant commissioner and commander. It is equivalent to deputy chief constable in other British police forces and wears the same insignia: a pip above crossed tipstaves within a wreath.The rank was introduced...
Stuart Osbourn is the current Head of the CTC.
Responsibilities
According to the Counter Terrorism Command's website, its responsibilities are:- To bring to justice those engaged in terrorism, domestic extremism and related offences.
- To provide a proactive and reactive response to terrorism, domestic extremism and related offences, including the prevention and disruption of such activity.
- Support the National Co-ordination of Terrorist Investigations outside London.
- To gather and exploit intelligence on terrorism and extremism in London.
- To assess, analyse and develop intelligence to aid operational activity.
- To engage in partnership with London’s varying communities in order to understand their concerns and to provide reassurance and support where needed.
- To provide specialist security advice internally and externally.
- To provide an explosive ordnance disposal and CBRNCBRNCBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
capability in London. - To assist the British MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
Security Service and MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in fulfilling their statutory roles. - To be the police single point of contact for international partners in counter-terrorism matters
- Assisting in the protection of British interests overseas and the investigation of attacks against them.
See also
- Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre
- MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
& MI6 - National Counter Terrorism Security OfficeNational Counter Terrorism Security OfficeThe National Counter Terrorism Security Office is not a police organization. It is funded by, and reports to, the Association of Chief Police Officers, which advises the British government on its counter terrorism strategy....
- National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit