Out of control? Too many convicted terrorists to track, warns senior British police officer

British police are overwhelmed with suspected and convicted terrorists to track, as they simply cannot keep an eye on every single extremist, says Neil Basu, senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism.

In an article for the Evening Standard on Wednesday, Basu revealed that he was “supportive” of UK government plans to introduce emergency laws on February 27 that will prevent existing convicted terrorists from being automatically released from jail after serving just a third of their sentence. 

Basu, who was speaking out after 20-year-old Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in Streatham,  London before being shot dead by police officers, admitted that police were struggling to keep on top of surveillance of dangerous individuals.

With 3,000 or so subjects of interest currently on our radar and many convicted terrorists soon due to be released from prison, we simply cannot watch all of them all the time.

The counter-terrorism chief also said the sheer scale of the challenge to keep the streets of Britain safe from further attacks required the help of the public.

Amman was jailed in 2018 for “Islamist-related terrorism offences,” involving the sharing of terrorist manuals, including a tutorial on homemade bombs. He was under active police surveillance and was living at a bail hostel in South London.

Terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, naming Amman as one of their fighters. A statement released by the jihadist group through its media outlet Amaq, said the man answered its call to attack civilians in nations opposing IS.

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