Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to announce an extra 300 police will be moved into fighting terrorism and radicalisation within communities.

She will tell officers in London of the need to "dissuade that very small minority of people" aiming to do harm.

The Association of Chief Police Officers welcomed the announcement.

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'Protect ourselves'

In a speech, Ms Smith is expected to say new officers will work with communities and existing police, complementing the work of neighbourhood teams.

She will say: "We recognise that we can neither arrest our way out of the problems we face nor protect ourselves to the point where the threat disappears.

"We need to dissuade that very small minority of people who wish to harm our communities from becoming or supporting terrorists. That is the long-term challenge."

Ms Smith will add: "Working with people at local level is essential."

She will say: "I believe the resources allocated now to preventing terrorism work will enable us to develop a new kind of counter-terrorist policing, building upon and alongside your existing work."

Sir Norman Bettison, Acpo's lead member on preventing extremism and chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, said: "The foundation of the police service's work to tackle extremism is positive and embedded neighbourhood policing.

"We need to strengthen the capacity of neighbourhood policing teams to enhance engagement with communities and ensure effective information sharing with other partners.

"Preventing extremism cannot be for the police alone, but relies on effective delivery in coordination with local government, with community groups, education providers and others."

Commons battle

Earlier this week Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said he believed plans to extend detention of terror suspects would get through Parliament.

But there is mounting speculation Gordon Brown could face his first serious Commons defeat as prime minister on the issue.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats oppose the extension of the limit, and a number of Labour MPs have indicated they are unhappy with the plans.

Last weekend Ms Smith stressed the scale of the terrorist threat Britain faces, saying 30 terror plots were being investigated.

She said: "We now face a threat level that is severe. It's not getting any less. It's actually growing."

The Counter Terrorism Bill passed its first parliamentary hurdle earlier this month when it was given an unopposed second reading but it now goes to committee stage, where MPs will scrutinise the detail.

Under the new proposals, the home secretary would be able to immediately extend the detention limit of a suspect from 28 to 42 days, as long as it was supported by a joint report by a chief constable and the director of public prosecutions.

The extension would then have to be approved by the Commons and the Lords within 30 days. But if either House voted against it, the power would end at midnight on the day of the debate.

(BBC)

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