Health policy responses to Coronavirus are relying significantly on information-sharing by the public.
The early stages of the lockdown saw a rise in the willingness of citizens to report those they observed not following the rules, but these were often ‘bystander’ reports of neighbours or people out in public, rather than reporting from family members or close friends, who we term ‘intimates’.
In contrast, ‘test and trace’ relies critically on citizens being willing to share details of the ‘intimates’ they’ve had close contact with, as well as share their movements through government-sponsored phone apps.
Terrorism research identifies that the ‘intimates’ of terrorist plotters – their families, partners, children or close friends – are often aware that something may be wrong through ‘broadcasting intent’ or ‘leakage’ by the plotter. Yet, many fail to report their concerns to the authorities.
This failure can stem from:
- a lack of confidence in their interpretation of what they are seeing
- fear of the implications for themselves and the intimate
- a lack of understanding of how to report.
All this can be compounded by individual or community misgivings about whether to place trust in the state and its fairness.
Our 2017 study built on groundbreaking Australian research to identify the barriers to community reporting of terrorist involvement, and how this sharing can be encouraged through the ‘staged process’ of information and help-seeking that community members will engage in before taking the momentous step of formally reporting to authorities.
Our study showed that whilst most people in the UK would consider sharing this type of information, improvements to the channels and models used for community reporting could be made.
These findings have subsequently helped the UK’s National Counter-Terrorism Policing (CTP) to plan new initiatives to educate, support, guide and encourage community members to share such concerns – to be launched in September 2020.
It’s clear that Coronavirus has impacted on the broader sharing of concerns about people involved in extremism in the UK. A month after the UK’s lockdown started, media articles highlighted a significant 50% decline in referrals to the Prevent Strategy’s ‘Channel’ process of anti-extremism assessment and mentoring.
CTP’s lead on Prevent, Chief Superintendent Nik Adams, identified the closure of schools, colleges and youth centres as central to this sharp decline, due to the disruption of referrals by education and welfare professionals, as their contact with members of the public contracted.
This decline highlights the unbalanced reality of referrals via the UK’s Prevent Strategy at the moment. From the 2015 introduction of the Prevent duty onwards, education and welfare professionals have provided the majority of Prevent referrals, with research showing educational professional support for Prevent’s role within broader safeguarding strategies.
By contrast, very few Prevent referrals currently come directly from family and friends, or from figures in the community. This indicates a less effective policy focus to date on how to support and encourage such direct community-sharing of concerns, despite local authority Prevent community-engagement strategies.
Print
Paul Thomas Michele Grossman | Radio Free (2020-11-09T07:21:12+00:00) Community reporting of terrorist involvement during COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/11/09/community-reporting-of-terrorist-involvement-during-covid-19/
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