Blackstone's Counter-terrorism Handbook 1st Edition

AND SAD BUT FASCINATING READING FOR US ALLAn appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green ChambersFew books are more aptly named than the Counter-Terrorism Handbook- unique, but what it is fighting is unique in its own way with modern technology.Small enough (almost) for your pocket, and encased appropriately within , sturdy plastic covers, it delivers over 700 pages packed with clear, pertinent and rigorously researched information and guidance on this vexed subject, which has emerged as one of the most serious threats to life and limb in a free society.Designed to provide all police practitioners with an operational guide to anti-terrorism legislation, this is the first volume of its kind aimed specifically at the police and their counter-terrorism training needs, and very much in the style of military notepads officer cadets (like me) used more years ago than one cares to remember when state resources were more limited, but rather more straightforward in both combat intelligence and physical security policing.The Handbook contains chapters on the counter-terrorism operational framework, national structures and strategies and the role and functions of key agencies. The legislative section is compiled by the Police National Legal Database (PNLD) and focuses on police powers, procedures and terrorism offences. When we met the authors at the launch, the usp emphasis of the Handbook rests with the excellent `points to note' and case studies which give that blend of field support which is clearly so well needed to police this area of crime today.Lord Carlile, who, in 2001, became "Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation", explains in the Foreword that the highly experienced authors of this excellent book have drawn together the body of counter-terrorism legislation in a form accessible to all stakeholders.This Handbook which he describes as being designed for police officers will undoubtedly attract attention and interest from a much wider readership, including Ministers, civil servants and lawyers and all aspects of the security services. Carlile draws particular attention to the extensive use of case studies, the 'what-really-happened-when' challenge of the terrorism landscape and as such, an invaluable and certainly crystal clear training resource for specialist and non-specialist officers alike.Lord Berriew's particular concern, however, is one which we suggest the majority of the British public share and wholeheartedly endorse when he says that terrorism law should be used only for terrorism purposes- how right he is and we know where it hasn't followed this road. He continues, saying that every step outside those purposes provides terrorists with an argument. All in authority are required never to forget that such laws are a step outside the norms of criminal justice legislation.Such expedients as stop and search...cordoning off specific areas...accessing details of a bank account and so forth, should be used with the utmost caution. Misused or abused, they and similar measures can escalate into serious infringements of cherished, hard-won freedoms within a democracy. Consider, for example, the controversial proposal to introduce compulsory ID cards now discarded, which of course, two out of our three mainstream political parties opposed until the government capitulated, generally citing grounds that ID cards, traditionally the tool of the traditional police state, are a major threat to personal freedom and a very minor threat to the determined terrorist.Just to digress a bit, this reminds us of a quote from Benjamin Franklin that appeared in the Times `Letters' page a couple of years ago to the effect that `those who would sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither freedom nor safety.' Hmmn - we think Ben was right and, as the problems of terrorism affect us all, we can safely recommend this fascinating and authoritative handbook, not just to the professionals involved, but to the general reader as the ideal resource for modern physical and covert security issues in the modern world.ISBN: 978-0-19-955980-0YouTube[...]

This is a joke - no Blackstone wrote anything in it, and it is just using my family name to further the jack-booted police state!

As it says on the tin.