NaCTSO - Who we are and what we do.
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) is a police unit and forms part of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Protect and Prepare. The unit is co-located within the Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI.)
NaCTSO contributes to the UK government’s counter terrorism strategy (CONTEST) by supporting the Protect and Prepare strands of that strategy. NaCTSO counter terrorism and security work is divided into three areas:
•Protection of crowded places;
•Protection of hazardous sites and dangerous substances; and
•Assisting the CPNI to protect the Critical National Infrastructure.
NaCTSO staff can offer specialist advice regarding the security of explosives and pre-cursor chemicals (including fertilisers), pathogens and toxins, radiological sources and other toxic chemicals. We also provide guidance in relation to business continuity, designing out vehicle borne terrorism, the protection of crowded places and reducing opportunities for terrorism through environmental design.
To achieve national delivery on behalf of the ACPO, NaCTSO supports a nationwide network of specialist police advisers known as Counter Terrorism Security Advisers, CTSAs. The primary role of these advisers is to provide help, advice and guidance on all aspects of counter terrorism protective security across a variety of sectors. See 'Our Services'.
NaCTSO and the national network of CTSAs are working on reducing the
vulnerability of crowded places sites across the UK. VSAT will provide a
means for you to identify and reduce the vulnerability to your
establishment and help protect our communities. Create account
Project ARGUS is a National Counter Terrorism Security Office initiative, exploring ways to aid you in preventing, handling and recovering from a terrorist attack. It achieves this by taking businesses through a simulated terrorist attack.
Read More >>Euro-Project is a joint venture between NaCTSO and Avon and Somerset Constabulary funded by the European Commission. It aims to address the key challenge of how to protect Europe from the threat of terrorism through partnership with the commercial and private sectors.
Read More >>