Terrorism training goes online

Counter Terrorism Police are aiming to deliver awareness training to more than a million crowded places workers with the help of a ground-breaking new e-learning package.

Security experts from CT Policing have collaborated with Marks & Spencer and Highfield e-learning - a global leader in compliance and work-based e-learning - to develop the package, which has been successfully trialled with 7,000 M&S employees and around 14,000 from other companies working in the retail sector.

Thanks to Marks & Spencers' sponsorship, CT Policing will make the e-learning package a nationally-available resource for all qualifying organisations – private or public.

Called 'ACT Awareness e-Learning', it consists of six primary modules designed to teach staff about the threat to the public from terrorism and how to mitigate it, such as spotting the signs of suspicious behaviour and reacting to a firearms or weapons attack.

The course, which is fully interactive, can be taken at times to suit business needs and will give all those who complete the sections a nationally accredited certificate.

Police have consulted with other industry leaders in areas such as entertainment and hospitality, and are now ready to make ACT Awareness e-Learning available free of charge to all qualifying organisations – private or public.  

The initiative follows on from the successful launch of the industry self-delivery package two years ago. This enabled accredited trainers instead of police officers to deliver counter terrorism workshops.

Over 400 companies and public bodies, with a collective workforce of two million, signed up - massively increasing the numbers of people able to improve their security awareness.

Moving to an online platform aims to open up the course to many more organisations who do not have qualified trainers within their teams. It will reduce costs and be more flexible for employees to fit in around their main work commitments.

“This package could save lives,” says the police national coordinator for protective security, Det Chief Supt Scott Wilson. 

“Industry specifically requested the development of this product to better equip their staff and help protect communities and businesses.

“Working collaboratively, we’ve been able to deliver a unique training tool, designed to train large numbers of people quickly and efficiently at such a critical time.”  

 “All staff working in crowded places – not just those who have a security role – can follow the course and be in a stronger position to help protect themselves, colleagues and the public.

“We are grateful to Marks and Spencer for entering into this collaboration with us, and for helping us develop the modules in a way that will easy for all sizes of company to use.”

For more information about the ACT Awareness e-Learning package, and to find out whether your business qualifies for access to this free resource, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/act-awareness-elearning.