UK: Muslim youth invited to anti-terrorism exercise
On the fifth floor of Scotland Yard in central London, live video feeds are coming in with news of a terror threat.
The 30 people in the room are forced to make decisions that could change lives - which homes do they raid? Who do they stop and search?
But they are not counter-terror officers, in fact many of them are not even sure they trust the police.
They are 17 to 25-year-olds from around London, nearly all of them Muslim, and they are acting as if they are officers responding to a terror attack as part of Act Now, an exercise run as part of the government's £140m Prevent programme.
It aims to stop young people feeling isolated or having mistrust for authorities - targeting those that the government and the police agree are vulnerable to radicalisation.
Ali Al-Musawy, 17, is from Kenton, West London. He spent his early teenage years causing trouble for the police and his family.
He has turned things around but still has gripes with the police and, like all the youths in this room, his main problem is with the police's stop and search powers.
"That is a big issue, because there are youths that say 'Why's he coming to me on suspicion of terrorism, do I look like a terrorist?' and 'Why can't they search the other white guys, why can't they be the terrorist?'
"That's an issue with the police, they should know how to handle things."
Hanad Mahamood, 24, is a youth worker from Brent in London and he holds the view of the police that the exercise is designed to change.
"I was being stopped and searched just for being a black youth and Islam is on the agenda now.
"I feel even more victimised by the police now and I know most people in my community do."
Police hope the Prevent exercise will give young people a better understanding of why and how the police make decisions, fostering better community relations.
(more)
Source: BBC
On the fifth floor of Scotland Yard in central London, live video feeds are coming in with news of a terror threat.
The 30 people in the room are forced to make decisions that could change lives - which homes do they raid? Who do they stop and search?
But they are not counter-terror officers, in fact many of them are not even sure they trust the police.
They are 17 to 25-year-olds from around London, nearly all of them Muslim, and they are acting as if they are officers responding to a terror attack as part of Act Now, an exercise run as part of the government's £140m Prevent programme.
It aims to stop young people feeling isolated or having mistrust for authorities - targeting those that the government and the police agree are vulnerable to radicalisation.
Ali Al-Musawy, 17, is from Kenton, West London. He spent his early teenage years causing trouble for the police and his family.
He has turned things around but still has gripes with the police and, like all the youths in this room, his main problem is with the police's stop and search powers.
"That is a big issue, because there are youths that say 'Why's he coming to me on suspicion of terrorism, do I look like a terrorist?' and 'Why can't they search the other white guys, why can't they be the terrorist?'
"That's an issue with the police, they should know how to handle things."
Hanad Mahamood, 24, is a youth worker from Brent in London and he holds the view of the police that the exercise is designed to change.
"I was being stopped and searched just for being a black youth and Islam is on the agenda now.
"I feel even more victimised by the police now and I know most people in my community do."
Police hope the Prevent exercise will give young people a better understanding of why and how the police make decisions, fostering better community relations.
(more)
Source: BBC
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