Anti-terrorism project launched

AN innovative project designed to involve Greater Manchester communities in preventing extremism was launched on Tuesday (14 October).

Greater Manchester Police Authority’s (GMPA) Community Engagement Conference on Counter Terrorism provided people with an opportunity to have their say on issues such as community cohesion and preventing extremism.

The conference marked the launch of an 18-month piece of work which will see GMPA work in partnership with many of the region’s diverse communities.

The project, funded by GMPA, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) is aimed at giving communities a chance to tell police about their views and experiences.

GMPA Chairman Councillor Paul Murphy hosted the conference. He said: “It’s vital for the public to have an opportunity to feed in to GMPA’s policy processes if we are to achieve better informed decision-making.

“This project will achieve that. The conference was just the start. Over the coming months we’ll be talking to the people who attended and many more from all our region’s diverse communities.

“The fact that this work will start debate about some really important issues will also mean we have a chance to challenge unproductive stereotyping of communities with regard to terrorism and extremism.”

More than 100 delegates attended Tuesday’s conference at Old Trafford football ground. They represented a variety of multi-faith agencies and community groups.

The day’s agenda included morning presentations from a range of speakers from GMP, the Government’s Department of Communities and Local Government, Muslim Council of Britain and Faiths United from Tameside.

The afternoon’s schedule was dedicated to stimulating debate and capturing views through interactive exercises and a series of workshops.

Both the morning and afternoon sessions were attended by a number of police authority members and a team of young people who have been recruited by GMPA as part of the project.

The young people will produce a DVD learning resource which can be used by schools and community groups to focus on issues such as culture, race, identity, terrorism and violent extremism.