Would it be that easy for a terrorist to infiltrate our Police service?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph....-terrorist-camps.html

I am not saying that this particular police officer is a potential terrorist, because he has never been questioned, arrested or charged under terrorism legislation.

I am just asking the question in light of this report, because I think there is a dangerous loophole in security, that needs to be addressed.

[NOX]

Of course it would. Sleeper cells are by far the most efficient way of causing maximum damage and ahve a long history of success. The army, police, medical services, fire services etc are all wide open to infiltration, simply because you can't know what anyone's true motivation is for anything and if they are careful, don't leave a trail and avoid the security services radar then it's pretty easy, but it's nothing new, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I were you.

[anotheoldgit]

I would have thought that persons in certain occupations would have to be screened to enable them to gain permission before travelling to certain areas.

I myself once had to gain certain security permission from my employers, to enable myself and my wife to holiday in Yugoslavia, being that it was a communist country.

[THECORBYLOON]

He went to Pakistan before he joined the police.

[jno]

when was that, aog? I once drove through Yugoslavia and nobody cared (least of all the Yugoslavs) but that was in the 1970s.

Of course they might have feared you were going to a communist terrorist camp!

[NOX]

Of course people have to be screened AOG, but you can't screen a person's thoughts only their actions and if a group are subtle enough and careful enough they can drop off the radar altogether. This man made the mistake of being traceable to a training camp in Pakistan apparently ( although he denies this), but I can't imagine it would be too hard to infiltrate the police force, you just need to avoid any well known extremists here who are likely to be under surveillence, avoid travel directly or indirectly by checkable means to anywhere suspicious and to have what appears to be a genuine motivaiton to join whichever agency you are seeking to infiltrate. There is likely to be thousands of people with sympathies elsewhere in many occupations simply because you can't screen people's thoughts and experiences always.

[pdq1]

It seems to be common practice now to jump on the bandwagon and sue us more than they can ever get in wages. He jumped before he was pushed. Anyone who visits Pakistan should be treated as either a terrorist or sympathiser and they should be told as such.

[hc4361]

pdq1, you can't treat everybody with relatives in Pakistan as suspicious - visiting family is a perfectly normal activity.

[naomi24]

jno, I think you’ve misunderstood. AOG doesn’t mean that the Yugoslav’s suspected his intentions. He needed clearance from his employers before travelling to a communist country because he worked in a sensitive area. I’ve been in the same situation myself more than once.

[naomi24]

^^ Before someone else points it out, there's a rogue apostrophe in Yugoslavs there.

[emmie]

no different from any job. It wouldn't be that hard, after all what are the requirements to enter the police these days.