CST Blog

Police announce new risk assessment for Jewish community

16 January 2015

National Policing Lead for Counter Terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, has announced that the terrorist threat assessment relating to the UK Jewish community has been increased in the light of recent events in Paris, Belgium and elsewhere.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said:

The global picture of terrorist activity does give us heightened concern about the risk to the Jewish community in the UK. We are seeing continuing antisemitic rhetoric from extremists and attacks on this community in France and elsewhere. In addition to our existing security measures, we are in dialogue with Jewish Community leaders about further actions that we will be taking, including more patrols in key areas.

Police contacted CST immediately prior to this announcement and have stressed that there is no specific intelligence suggesting an imminent attack against the Jewish community.

We believe that today's announcement will help to deliver the level of policing that we feel is required for our community, given the national threat level and the events that we see in Britain and Europe. As CST is currently on our second-highest threat level, we are not raising our own threat level further. (To do so would take us to the highest level: meaning an attack was known to be imminent.)

In practical terms, this means that increased levels of policing should be obvious in Jewish neighbourhoods throughout the UK and extra policing will be in place for other operations relating to the protection of the Jewish community.

CST believes that the increase in the risk assessment for the Jewish community is an appropriate and necessary response after last weeks attacks in Paris and recent anti-terror operations in Belgium and elsewhere. Extra policing for the Jewish community was requested by CST at separate meetings on Tuesday 13 January: the pre-planned annual meeting of Jewish community leaders with Prime Minister David Cameron; and a specific planning meeting between CST and Security Minister James Brokenshire following the attacks in Paris. We appreciate their swift response to our requests.

We hope that the increased police presence, alongside CST patrols, will help to reassure the Jewish community as they go about their lives during this difficult time.

CST has already received an unprecedented number of calls from across the community during this week. We are doing our utmost to deliver appropriate security, as are the Police, and we hope that in time this will help to reassure our community.

Please follow CST Blog or social media on Twitter (@CST_UK) and Facebook (Community Security Trust) for further updates.

For security advice or assistance please call your local CST office: