Mosque Protection Safety & Security
The safety and security of mosques and Islamic institutions across the UK are paramount. Nobody should fear violence, harassment or abuse when going to pray or praying inside. Nor should mosque staff fear the dumping of a pig’s head, let alone menacing letters or emails.
Following the publication of our decade-wide report ‘A Decade of anti-Muslim Hate’ and the findings of a hate crime survey with ITV News that revealed that of the 117 mosques surveyed, almost 90% experienced anti-Muslim hate crimes in the previous 12 months, Tell MAMA continues to provide information and advice and provide the means for mosques to contact us for additional support.
To help congregants and mosque staff find our existing resources and safety advice we provide links to high-resolution PDF files here and here. We also provide similar specialist advice during the blessed holy month of Ramadan each year.
Following the white supremacist terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019, we launched the National Mosques Security Panel to bring together expert advisers to help deliver alongside our team dedicated training programmes and advice sessions for mosques – sessions that still do offer.
The stated aims of the National Mosques Security Panel and related programmes include (but are not limited to):
· To implement oversight delivery plans so that they meet the objective of providing a wider community assessment to statutory agencies at points of crisis.
· To map, measure and understand potential threats drawing on a decade of Tell MAMA’s existing work to help mosques and other Islamic institutions with tailored information and advice that meets their specific needs.
· Protective security training for mosque staff which includes up-to-date advice about spotting the risks of those who might intend to cause harm or what to do if those intending to cause violence or harm, particularly from the far-right, target the mosque before, during, or after prayers. Protective security is, after all, based on assessment (SecCo-trained) that will provide effective and incisive assessments of security needs whilst providing reassurance through engagement.
· To give training around active monitoring, physical building checks, perimeter walks, and safety drills alongside written products for mosques that cover religious holidays, changing seasons and political climates.
· To assist those seeking to apply for protective security schemes, in terms of writing applications and talking staff through the application process.