Anti-terror plans 'updated' after Paris attacks

Police Scotland have trained for possible terror attacks on major events including last year's Commonwealth Games

Anti-terrorism police in Scotland have updated their training and planning in the wake of the Paris attacks, officers have revealed.

But Police Scotland stressed there was no specific intelligence to suggest a Paris-style attack was imminent.

The Scottish Police Federation earlier suggested Scotland was "woefully unprepared" for such an attack.

Senior officers, however, said more than 60 anti-terrorism exercises had been carried out over two years.

In one of the most recent, just three days before the Paris shootings, hundreds of people were involved in a major event at Prestwick Airport which simulated a plane being taken hostage.

Ryanair provided the police with an aircraft for the exercise which tested the response of firearms officers, along with police intelligence and negotiation skills.

During the Paris attacks on 13 November, gunmen opened fire or set off bombs at seven locations, claiming 130 lives.

The French authorities have stepped up security following the deadly attacks in Paris

Assistant Chief Constable Ruaraidh Nicolson said while there was no indication an attack is being planned, officers were taking the same steps as colleagues in England to fight terrorism.

He told a briefing at the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire: "We don't have a specific threat in Scotland but we wouldn't want Scotland to feel like it is the soft underbelly, so we're working in exactly the same way as south of the border.

"Are terrorists focused on Scotland at this moment in time? From the information that we have, they aren't. But does that mean we wouldn't have an attack here? I just can't say that, so we need to plan.

"We're doing a lot of work in the background, so you might not see a huge number of extra police officers on the ground, but there is a huge amount of work in the background to try to prevent this from happening in the first place.

"We want to look at radicalisation and stop that from happening. Then if it does happen, we have to be prepared as well."

Police said they had seen a three-fold increase in the intelligence they receive from communities about a possible threat in the two weeks since the attacks in Paris.

There has also been a "spike" in hate crimes since then, with 51 such incidents reported in the week leading up to November 13, compared to more than 130 in the two weeks since the atrocity.

Police Scotland has about 275 officers who patrol in armed response vehicles (ARVs) with the force also having a number of specialist firearms officers, including counter-terrorist specialists.

In addition, there are a "significant number" of other officers who are trained to use weapons if needed, although the force insists the exact number is "operationally sensitive".

Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins said: "If we had a Paris-style attack and it was in one of our major cities, then almost certainly there would be ARVs in that area.

"So there would be a response, but when you see the ferocity of the Paris attack, that's what we are training our ARV officers, in fact all our firearms officers, to understand the threat they might face."

He also said forces across the UK had changed their assumptions about terror attacks in the last two weeks.

Mr Higgins said: "Up until Paris, the planning assumption was based on a two-site attack and what the police capability was to respond.

"Clearly in Paris there was a significant number of sites, seven different locations, and our planning assumptions have got to evolve around what we know.

"Around the UK, work is ongoing to see how the UK policing service would respond to such an attack, what our capability and capacity is to do so."

'Knee jerk response'

Mr Higgins said exercises in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee had tested how quickly ARVs could be on the scene if terrorists armed with guns went on the rampage.

He said: "I was personally assured in terms of the length of time it took the response vehicles to get the location where we were having this simulated attack."

He also stressed: "There has been no knee-jerk reaction by Police Scotland, we've been doing this for the past two-and-a-half years."

The Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, had earlier in the week claimed said Scotland was "woefully under-equipped, under-resourced and under-prepared" for a Paris-style attack and called for more armed officers to be carrying their weapons in public.

But Mr Higgins insisted Police Scotland has "the same firearms capability of any major UK force".

He stated: "The weapons systems we use - which is a fancy way of saying guns - they're more than sufficient for the job we want our firearms officers to do.

"Our officers are trained tactically, they're trained how to shoot, where to shoot, when to shoot and the calibre of the weapon they have will obviously deliver fatal consequences."

He said he had "no difficulty" with what the SPF had said, adding: "Their role is to protect their members and if they believe their members are at risk they are duty-bound to raise concerns about that."