Project summary
The project is a commissioned report for the National Counter-Terrorism and Security Office (NaCTSO). The study underpinning this briefing evaluated training provided by NaCTSO to the public. The evaluation was conducted using survey data collected among people who had undertaken the training, semi-structured interviews with NaCTSO staff and counter-terrorism professionals, and documentary analysis of counter-terrorism campaigns.
NaCTSO is responsible for the Protect and Prepare pillars of the UK government’s counter-terrorism strategy. Together with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), NaCTSO has sought to encourage vigilance on the part of the public and the reporting of suspicious behaviour in publicly accessible locations. There has been a focus on crowded places, as these are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack. Martyn’s Law – which requires certain locations and events to consider and mitigate the risk of terrorism – will require more stakeholders to demonstrate that they have taken appropriate and proportionate counter-terrorism measures.
The training discussed in this policy briefing is intended to support these measures. It sought to remedy some of the weaknesses of public awareness campaigns of the past, which sometimes had the unintended impact of presenting entire communities as suspicious, usually on the grounds of ethnicity and/or religion.
Full project title
Unintended Consequences: Identifying the Impact of NaCTSO Public-Facing Products and Campaigns
Project team
- Dr Paul Dresser (Principal Investigator) is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Northumbria University (Newcastle)
- Professor Mike Rowe (Co-Investigator) is a Professor of Criminology at Northumbria University (Newcastle)
- Dr Jamie Harding (Co-Investigator) – an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Northumbria University (Newcastle).
Project highlights
- A report for Protect UK (July 2023) on Unintended Consequences Research: Identifying the Impact of NaCTSO Public Facing Products.
- A report for Protect UK (July 2023) on The Impact and Unintended Consequences of NaCTSO Products and Campaigns.
Findings from the above research have been presented and disseminated as follows:
- Via NaCTSO partners cross-government including to the Home Office, Counter Terrorism Policing, City of London (National Disruptive Effects Unit) and National Protective Security Authority (NPSA).
- Via NaCTSO partners to the Counter-Terrorism and Security network at an annual CPD conference (November 2023).
- Via the authors to NaCTSO and wider stakeholders (April 2023).
- Via the authors to the Research Centre for Crime and Policing Seminar Series,
Northumbria University. November 2024.Dresser, P., Rowe, M., and Harding, J. ‘Extending the Suspect Community Thesis: Counter-Terrorism and the Consequences for wider Minority Groups’. Research Centre for Crime and Policing Seminar Series: Policing Diverse Communities: Lessons, Challenges, and Implications. Northumbria University. November 2024. - And;Dresser, P., Rowe, M., and Harding, J. (2023). ‘Identifying the Impact of NaCTSO Public-Facing Products and Campaigns’. Centre for Crime and Policing Seminar Series, (rescheduled to) April, 2024.
An article in Critical Studies on Terrorism (March 2025) ‘Unintended Consequences of Public-Facing Counter-Terrorism Training and Vigilance Campaigns on Minority Groups’. Critical Studies on Terrorism.
Partners and Sponsors
Project classification
Unintended Consequences is a Social Sciences project. It belongs to the following research cluster:
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