Officers put to the test in anti-terrorism exercise
Police officers were trained on their response to a vehicle attack as part of a counter-terrorism exercise which took place yesterday at the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh.
Police responded to a vehicle attack within the grounds of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Edinburgh headquarters as part of a major three-day counter-terrorism exercise.
Police Scotland, the NHS and the Ministry of Defence are among the agencies involved in the planned scenario, which is being held across central and eastern Scotland and the north-east of England.
Code named Exercise Border Reiver, it was announced by Prime Minister Theresa May in March and follows a series of high-profile attacks in London and Manchester.
It began yesterday at the Gogarburn headquarters of RBS and will continue at smaller sites and individual properties across Scotland and the northeast of England until tomorrow. Police said the “live-play scenario” is not in response to any specific threat but the result of more than a year of planning.
It tested armed response teams, paramedics and firefighters as well as police control room and organisational staff as observers watched the action unfold.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd chaired a Cobra meeting involving ministers from both the UK and Scottish Governments as part of the exercise.
She said: “The events of this year have shown why it is vital that the emergency services, government and agencies rehearse our response to potential terrorist attacks. The professionalism with which front line services dealt with the atrocities in London and Manchester is in part due to the planning and practice that goes into exercises like this.
“I will chair a meeting of COBR [Cabinet Office Briefing Room] as part of the exercise Clockwise from left: Police move in on the ‘terrorists’ at Gogarburn; victims are assisted by the emergency services; rescuers try to reach the wounded; dead bodies – in fact volunteers and dummies – are left lying after the simulated attack and working with colleagues in the UK and Scottish Governments as we test our plans to keep families and communities across the UK safe.”
The Home Office said no members of the public will be involved in the exercise, with affected areas cordoned off and tightly controlled to minimise disruption.
Assistant Chief Constable
AMBER RUDD Bernard Higgins, of Police Scotland, said: “We’ve seen a number of terrorist incidents within the UK which sadly led to a lot of fatalities. We’ve moved to a threat level of critical on two occasions.
“As these things have occurred so have our plans evolved to try and recreate the threat that we believe exists within the UK.
“In previous exercises the attacks were co-ordinated, so you have had two or three different cells attacking different venues at different times.
“What we’ve seen in recent times – particularly in the UK – it’s low sophistication, it’s small numbers of people, often lone actors. They’re using vehicles, they’re using knives and bladed weapons, but the impact is high and the casualties are high.
“So it’s trying to recreate what we believe will be a likely scenario, should it occur.”
Other bodies involved in the exercise include Northumbria Police, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue services and Transport Scotland.
Justice secretary Michael Matheson said: “Scotland has a key role to play in hosting this exercise, alongside the UK government and other agencies.
“It provides an opportunity to test our response in Scotland and the readiness of our emergency services to deal with this kind of incident.
“While fortunately such real life incidents are rare, the public can be assured that government, our blue-light services and other agencies are continuously testing and reviewing how we are best able to respond to an attack should it happen.”
“The events of this year have shown why it is vital that we rehearse our response to potential terrorist attacks”