The UK’s Domestic Response to Global Terrorism: Strategy, Structure and Implementation with Special Reference to the Role of the Police

Police response to terrorism, raises the issue of ‘parallel agendas’ for the police. This issue is defined to cover a situation where a public or private sector agency, within the governance mode of counter-terrorism response, finds itself facing potentially separate and possibly conflicting policy agendas. In the case of the police, at the same time as the Government is placing a priority on their counter-terrorism preparedness and response, the Government also expects the police to give priority to meeting targets it has set in other crime control policy areas, to take on new responsibilities with regard to tacking anti-social behaviour, and to provide public ‘reassurance’ while taking steps to improve the confidence in particular of minority ethnic communities.