National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit

This article is part of the Counter-Terrorism Portal project of Spinwatch.

The National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit (NETCU) is one of a number of national police intelligence units set up under the aegis of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

NETCU is headed by Superintendent Steve Pearl. The unit is based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, a centre of animal rights activism because of the presence of research firm Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Role

ACPO describes NETCU's role as follows:

Its main focus is to promote a joined up, consistent and effective response to local police forces dealing with single-issue extremism of any character - including animal rights extremism. NETCU also provides a central support and liaison service to animal research and related industries.

According to the Telegraph, two thirds of the unit's work relates to animal testing companies, but 18 per cent relates to farming and other industres that keep live animals.

NETCU has also been involved in monitoring anti-abortion groups such as the UK Life League.

An October 2009 Guardian report described NETCU's role as helping "police forces, companies, universities and other bodies that are on the receiving end of protest campaigns."

Netcu's job is to give "security advice, risk assessments and information that can minimise disruption and keep their employees safe". Its head, Superintendent Steve Pearl, says his 16-strong unit works with police forces across the country, keeps detailed files on protest groups, rather than individuals, and liaises with thousands of companies in aviation, energy, research, farming and retail.

In dialogue with industry

An article in The Guardian from January 2011 states that

NETCU gives out advice to police forces, companies, universities and other organisations to cope with protests that it believes will be unlawful. The Cambridgeshire-based unit, set up in 2004, liaises with thousands of companies in aviation, energy, research, farming and retail.

Structure

NETCU is answerable to the ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee (ACPO(TAM)) and works closely with the Home Office, National Crime Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), as well as with local police forces. It is one of a number of units overseen by the National Co-ordinator for Domestic Extremism.

History

NETCU was formed in March 2004 by ACPO, with funding from the Home Office.

Netcu head Steve Pearl later told the Guardian that at the time, the Home Office was "getting really pressurised by big business – pharmaceuticals in particular, and the banks – that they were not able to go about their lawful business because of the extreme criminal behaviour of some people within the animal rights movement."

In September 2006, Pearl claimed that half of Britain's animal rights extremists had been put behind bars and the number of attacks had dropped significantly.

Mr Pearl claimed that the successes had helped the research companies. "The confidence of industry has most certainly started to rise again and we are seeing tangible evidence of this with greater investment in the United Kingdom," he said.

Eco-terrorism smear

In November 2008, the Observer cited NECTU as a the source of fears of a "growing threat of eco-terrorism" and of concerns that "a 'lone maverick' eco-extremist may attempt a terrorist attack aimed at killing large numbers of Britons."

The unit is currently monitoring blogs and internet traffic connected to a network of UK climate camps and radical environmental movements under the umbrella of Earth First!, which has claimed responsibility for a series of criminal acts in recent months.

A senior source at the unit said it had growing evidence of a threat from eco-activists. 'We have found statements that four-fifths of the human population has to die for other species in the world to survive.

'There are a number of very dedicated individuals out there and they could be dangerous to other people.'

Two weeks later, the Observer readers editor Stephen Pritchard announced that the paper had withdrawn the story:

It's perfectly legitimate to report police security concerns, but none of the statements were substantiated. No website links were offered, no names were mentioned, no companies identified and no police source would go on the record.

Pritchard noted that NECTU declined to respond to allegations that it "was briefing in this manner in order to make prosecutions easier and to boost its funding, which is at risk owing to the decline in animal rights campaigns."

George Monbiot suggested that the original Observer article provided support for the proposition that the eco-terrorism smear was motivated by the decline of animal rights extremism. It stated:

The rise of eco-extremism coincides with the fall of the animal rights activist movement. Police said the animal rights movement was in 'disarray' and that its ringleaders had either been prosecuted or were awaiting prosecution, adding that its 'critical mass' of hardcore extremists was sufficiently depleted to have halted its effectiveness.

The Guardian raised such allegations with Steve Pearl in October 2009:

Pearl denied the unit was engaged in mission creep but admitted that environmental protesters had now been brought "more on their radar" as they had been "shutting down airports, and shutting down coal-fired power stations, more recently stopping coal trains, hijacking coal trains and ships in the river Medway."

The future of NETCU

According to NETCU's own website

following reviews within ACPO TAM and a HMIC Value for Money Review, it was agreed by the ACPO TAM board to merge the three Domestic Extremism units into single national function under a lead force.

The National Co-ordinator for Domestic Extremism, Detective Chief Superintendent Adrian Tudway, is currently managing the merger said "The three domestic extremism units were set up at different times during a six year period, with the current economic climate and the need to maximise resources it makes sense to merge."

An article in The Guardian on the three "domestic extremism" units working under the direction of Detective Chief Superintendent Adrian Tudway states that

concerns have been growing about the accountability and subject to agreement they will be taken over by the Met under a "lead force" agreement – the same way the Met has overall command of national counter-terrorism operations.

Funding and finances

Netcu is funded by the Home Office.

People

• Superintendent Steve Pearl - head

Affiliations

• ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee
• National Co-ordinator for Domestic Extremism

Contact details, Resources, Notes

Contact

• Address:NETCU, PO Box 525, Huntingdon, PE29 9AL
• Phone:01480 425093
• email: netcu@cambs.pnn.police.uk
• Website: http://www.netcu.org.uk

External Resources

• NETCU, WECTU and NPOIU: Britain's Secretive Police Force, Free Range electrohippies Project, accessed 14 May 2009.
• Wikileaks, UK ACPO National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit Protest Policing Pocket Guide, accessed 23 November 2009.