'Intelligence in retrospect is always right' Police hailed for making tough judgment calls
INTELLIGENCE in retrospect is “always right” as officers have to deal with “scraps”, Security Minister Ben Wallace has said.
Security Minister: I trust the judgement of intelligence services
The politician said it was down to officers to make a “judgement call” when assessing terror threats but he insisted he trusted their judgement.
Speaking on BBC Two’s Daily Politics, Mr Wallace said spoke of the difficulties of protecting the UK from terrorism.
He said: “The one thing that is really important to remember is that we always get into this area that intelligence in retrospect I’m afraid is always right.
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Everyday intelligence officers and police officers see in front of them segments or scraps of intelligence and they have to make a judgement amongst thousands of different scraps of intelligence
“But everyday intelligence officers and police officers see in front of them segments or scraps of intelligence and they have to make a judgement amongst thousands of different scraps of intelligence about which to put the resource and which to find intent.
“Because there’s a lot of people who might talk about things but who is actually going to do something?”
The Tory minister said the UK’s security agencies were always quick to learn from potential mistakes.
The minister said he trusted the judgement of police
He said: “There will, of course, be a debrief and a wash-up or a review, whatever you want to call it, of the whole event, that is why we are such good agencies and police forces in this country – we learn from our mistakes if there are any mistakes.
“It’s important to remember, we don’t put these people [security agencies] out there as if they’ve made some sort of mistake.
“Intelligence in retrospect is always viewed as right at the time. It’s a judgement call and I trust their judgement.”
The comments come following the London terror attack in which a knifeman mowed down members of the public, before fatally stabbing policeman Keith Palmer in an attempt to storm the Houses of Parliament.
The attacker was later shot dead. An investigation into the incident is underway.