Watch: Knife wielding ‘terrorist’ challenged by armed police in major simulation exercise in York
Members of North Yorkshire emergency services have taken part in a two-day exercise to see how they would deal with a serious terror attack.
The ability to stop attacks, save lives and effectively manage a series of surprise violent incidents across different regions were tested during the mock emergency known as the Exercise Spring Resolve.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat described the exercise as being “critical to ensure all agencies and departments are prepared for any type of attack”.
The National Counter-Terrorism Exercise, which was planned and co-ordinated by the Home Office, was staged on 14 and 15 March at various regional locations.
At York Racecourse yesterday (Wednesday), North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Yorkshire Ambulance Service took part in the second day of the exercise.
A day earlier, the British Transport Police, Metropolitan Police, Counter Terrorism Policing North-East, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service trained in the capital.
The different agencies each have their own objectives which have to be tested.
This included many which are linked to the recommendations made following the Manchester Arena Inquiry-Volume 2 which called for emergency responders to become more effective and improve how they work together.
The exercise scenario involved a mixture of live and notional play and included multiple attacks in rapid succession in London, designed to test fast and effective multi-agency response, communication and co-ordination.
Attack locations included the transport network and other publicly accessible locations.
The scenario incorporated a further no-notice attack on Knavesmire, a publicly accessible location in York, again designed to test and exercise effective multi-agency response and recovery arrangements.
Strategic exercise lead for North Yorkshire Police, Superintendent Jason Dickson said: “This was a welcome opportunity for the emergency services in North Yorkshire to take place in a national CT exercise. It provided an opportunity to test our joint working in dealing with a no-notice violent attack.
“We tested the strategic prioritisation and decision-making for the safe and effective deployment of specialist and non-specialist resources to scenes and the early consideration of recovery measures.”
Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat, said: “The first duty of government is to protect the British people. Exercises like Spring Resolve are critical to ensure all agencies and departments are prepared for any type of attack.
“I would like to thank all our frontline services for their diligent and brave work to protect and safeguard our country and people in the face of complex threats.”