The City of London Police reports a test of its readiness in the event of a terror attack. Police took part in what they described as a realistic counter-terrorism training exercise on Saturday, October 15 to test officers and City staff in their normal workplaces.
The two-hour exercise in the Leadenhall Street area saw the street closed to vehicles and pedestrian access for the duration to allow for a real-life setting as officers used the opportunity to test reactions and see how key agencies would respond in the event of such an incident.
Chief Superintendent David Lawes from the City of London Police said: “I would like to thank all officers who participated for their efforts, as well as the staff from all the different City businesses. Without their help it would not have been possible, and this exercise has demonstrated how communities together can help to defeat crime and terrorism.
“We have been planning to take part in a joint exercise with our emergency service partners and security teams at Aon and Lloyd’s to test our shared response to an terrorism-related spontaneous attack and identify any areas for development. It is absolutely vital if such an event does take place that we are agile, coordinated, and well-rehearsed in our response, and exercises like this give us the chance to learn valuable lessons on how we can further improve our understanding of countering terrorism.”
The contractor VSG provides security for Aon and Lloyd’s, which helped the police force. The contract firm said: “We have been working in partnership with the City of London Police for some time in various guises and this exercise brought us even closer together. Exercising is a vital part of our preparedness to respond to any major incident. It helps us to ensure that we and all our clients are as ready as we can be for whatever might happen.
“The police and emergency services do an extremely important job keeping the public safe. This training, planning and preparation to deal with all eventualities is essential and we are looking forward to planning more exercises in the future.”
