CST and West Yorkshire Police host joint breakfast event in Leeds

On Thursday 23 May, more than 70 members of the Leeds community came together in support of CST and its vital partnership with local police. Guests included donors, communal partners, security volunteers and several high-ranking police officers from Counter Terrorism North East, local neighbourhood, and protest liaison teams.

Confidential briefings were delivered by both organisations on the current security situation and measures that are being taken to protect our community.

John Robins, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, assured those in the room that his force is dedicated to doing everything it can to fight terrorism. He spoke about the priority he has been placing on engaging with our Jewish community in the region, both prior to and in the wake of 7 October, and how empathy and understanding informs its policing response. He also praised the professionalism and depth of CST’s work and stressed the importance of our partnership with his police force.  

CST’s Director of Open-Source Intelligence delivered a confidential briefing on some of CST’s research work, which identifies extremists and other individuals who appear to pose a physical threat to the Jewish community. The briefing detailed how CST had conducted over 100 investigations into potential threats to the community since 7 October and shared key intelligence with counter terrorism police forces across the UK to help arrest or disrupt those responsible. 

Amanda Bomsztyk, CST’s Northern Regional Director, thanked the Chief Constable and gave a national overview of our work. She spoke about the increased demand on CST’s services since 7 October, including physical security enhancements at communal buildings, and how CST has met that challenge:

“We have covered more events, trained more volunteers - including 42 here in Leeds - increased training sessions to existing teams, worked with community and police, engaged with all levels of government, and referred more individuals to Counter Terrorism than ever before.”

The speech ended with an appeal to support CST’s critical work in protecting our community.

We thank everyone who came to the event. In such difficult times, it felt important to bring the Leeds Jewish community together in support of CST’s joint work with the police. It is only with your help that we can continue to protect Jewish people and facilitate Jewish life in the UK.

If you would like to learn more about CST, please visit cst.org.uk or read our latest Annual Review.

To donate to CST, please visit cst.org.uk/donate or call the fundraising team on 020 8457 3700.