Image caption Chief Constable Simon Cole said criticism of Prevent was unfair A senior police officer has called the government"s Prevent anti-extremism programme “absolutely fundamental” in tackling terrorism in the UK.
The programme has been criticised by MPs, the National Union of Teachers and the Muslim Council of Britain.
But Leicestershire Chief Constable Simon Cole said it was sometimes wrongly presented in “hysterical” terms as a spying operation.
A Muslim group and a government advisor are calling for an independent review.
The Prevent duty was introduced last year, requiring schools and local authorities to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
About 7,500 referrals were made to the scheme in 2015-16 – the equivalent of 20 a day.
Of the people referred to the scheme, set up in 2005 in the wake of the 7/7 London bombings, one in 10 were deemed to be vulnerable to terrorism and were referred to Prevent"s Channel programm..
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