Sept. 18 (UPI) — British police made 379 terrorism-related arrests between June 2016 and June 2017, the highest number ever recorded in a 12-month period, British officials said.
Britain’s Home Office began keeping track of terrorism arrests in 2001. Since then, no 12-month period has seen as many arrests as the one before June, which has included several high-profile terror attacks, including the Ariana Grande concert bombing in Manchester in May that killed 22 people and the London Bridge Attack in June that killed eight.
Of the 379 arrests, 105 people were charged with terrorism offenses, with another 18 being charged with non-terrorism criminal offenses. But as many as 189 arrests did not result in charges of any kind.
While terror incidents appear to have risen in Britain recently, so has the use of “stop and search” powers by British police, which may partially explain the large spike in arrests, including arrests that resulted in no charges.
British police increased their use of stop and search powers by 17 percent, but total arrests during these stops decreased from 12 percent to 8 percent, reported the Guardian.
They said six terrorist plots had been prevented since the Westminster attack in March.
“There is no doubt that since March and following the attacks in London and Manchester, we have seen a shift-change in momentum,” said Neil Basu, the deputy assistant commissioner and senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing. “But while the terrorist threat has increased in recent months, so has our activity, reflected by this significant increase in arrests.”
