This isn’t just any counter-terrorism campaign… this is a Marks & Spencer counter-terrorism campaign.
Middle England’s favourite retailer has for the first time teamed up with police chiefs to teach shop workers around the country how to deal with atrocities.
The new project, which will be launched this week, consists of online videos telling retail staff how to spot suspicious behaviour, what to do if there is a bomb threat in-store and how to respond to a mass shooting.
M&S helped to develop the package and is sponsoring its launch at a summit of security experts this week.
The online course, called ACT Awareness eLearning, will also be offered to employees of other major retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and John Lewis.
Marks & Spencer staff will be shown online videos telling retail staff how to spot suspicious behaviour, what to do if there is a bomb threat in-store and how to respond to a mass shooting (file photo)
Detective Chief Superintendent Scott Wilson, the police national co-ordinator for protective security, told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘All staff working in crowded places – not just those who have a security role – can follow the course and be in a stronger position to help protect themselves, colleagues and the public.
‘This package is the latest result of the growing collaboration between the police and the private sector. It is a result of us listening to our partners in business and industry, and trying to work alongside them to provide a resource which makes it easier for them and for us to deliver potentially lifesaving advice to people working in crowded places.’
In recent years, 400 companies have signed up for security workshops led by accredited trainers, but it is hoped more workers will benefit now that the lessons are online.
Retail workers are the focus of the project because police chiefs continue to fear that terrorists will attack ‘soft targets’ such as shopping centres, as they did at Kenya’s Westgate mall five years ago. That gun attack left 67 dead. The project follows a similar one last summer that saw 40,000 travel reps given advice on how to keep holidaymakers safe overseas in the wake of the Sousse shooting in Tunisia, in which 38 tourists were killed, most of them British.
Counter-terrorism police have also developed a video telling young people what to do if they are caught up in terrorist attacks – which includes a warning not to stop and take photos.
Advice for the general public is to ‘run, hide and tell’ if they find themselves confronted by violent extremism.