Unintended consequences of public-facing counter-terrorism training and vigilance campaigns on minority groups

Public-facing counter-terrorism training and vigilance campaigns have grown globally. In the UK, this has been under the authority of the National Counter-Terrorism and Security Office (NaCTSO) and the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) with increased efforts to extend the reach of counter-terrorism into communities, private businesses and Publicly Accessible Locations (PALs). Vigilance initiatives encourage the public to report suspicious behaviour; however, little is known about the impact of increased counter-terrorism efforts under the PAL model and the unintended consequences for minority groups. In addressing this knowledge gap, this article contributes to improving counter-terrorism policy and practice and makes an innovative contribution to knowledge. Rigorous mixed-methods were employed consisting of documentary analysis of counter-terrorism vigilance campaigns, semi-structured interviews with counter-terrorism practitioners and counter-terrorism workshop surveys. The findings demonstrate the positive (intended) effects of counter-terrorism training, with widespread notions of suspect bias being unfounded. However, the use of “Islamist-related terrorism” as a threat description has increased allegations of stereotyping. Furthermore, the data shows that the training presents suspicious behaviour such that participants are encouraged to act on gut feeling in response to their subjective instincts. We therefore question whether counter-terrorism designed to empower the public might unintendedly disempower wider minority groups. The implications are philosophical and pragmatic. We theoretically explicate a novel extension to the suspect community thesis through a wider appreciation of neurodiversity than has hitherto been applied to Critical Terrorism Studies. Pragmatically, the findings have generated impact relevant to the PAL model under the 2023 Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.