“Trust your instincts – act!” PREVENT police officers’ perspectives of counter-radicalisation reporting thresholds

The UK PREVENT programme aims to address radicalisation by identifying and supporting “at risk” individuals that are deemed vulnerable to extremism. Central to this process is the willingness of professional practitioners to report information to authorities, a duty consolidated through the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. Despite this, little is known about the thresholds to report from PREVENT police officers' accounts. Drawing upon qualitative fieldwork conducted with a PREVENT police team, this paper explores the reporting stage of PREVENT. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews identified the mobilisation of intelligence on the basis of “gut feelings” and “instinct”. Professional partners were encouraged to trust their own subjective judgements in the absence of observable risk indicators and tangible evidence. In turn, a relatable (and simplified) risk logic was said to align PREVENT police officers with nonspecialist actors. The findings are supported by an examination of national counterterrorism policing campaigns, PREVENT briefing documents, and Home Office initiatives. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications of risk assessment driven by subjective feeling(s)