Abstract

PREVENT is the UK counter-radicalisation programme designed to identify and support vulnerable individuals in a non-criminal space. Central to this process are reports and referrals derived from professional practitioners, a duty consolidated through the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015). Despite this, little is known about the thresholds to report from a police perspective. How risk performs beyond fixed indicators which prefigure terrorism is also underexplored. This paper attends to these gaps and provides insight into the reporting stage of PREVENT. Semi-structured interviews conducted with PREVENT police officers identified the mobilisation of intelligence on the basis of “gut feelings” and “instinct”. Simplifying risk thresholds as gut feelings was said to provide several operational benefits particularly in the context of partnership work. The relatability of risk as feelings was said to align the PREVENT Team with internal and external partners by providing common ground to report. In turn, this reduced partners’ dissonance and resistance of PREVENT; participants framed this in terms of securing “buy in”. The research findings are supported by an examination of national counter-terrorism policing campaigns, PREVENT briefing documents, and Home Office initiatives. From an academic and policy perspective, the paper concludes by highlighting the implications of risk assessment driven by subjective judgement(s).