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Reasonable, Practicable & Evidencing Principles

A Specialist Practitioner Capability Briefing on Counter Terrorism Measures

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© Mildot Group Ltd 2026. All rights reserved.

This publication is protected under copyright law. No part of this document may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, stored, copied, adapted, published, or shared in any form without prior written permission from Mildot Group Ltd, except for brief quotations used for legitimate review or academic referencing purposes. Paid mildot group members can copy the article and use for the own personal use and apply all the copyright laws as described.

The information contained within this document is provided for educational, informational, and professional development purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, formal security advice, operational instruction, or regulatory direction. Organisations remain responsible for conducting their own assessments, obtaining specialist legal advice where required, and ensuring compliance with all applicable legislation, regulations, standards, and guidance. The application of reasonable and practicable principles may vary depending on jurisdiction, regulatory interpretation, operational context, and evolving case law.

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy at the time of publication, threat environments, legislation, guidance, operational practices, and regulatory expectations continue to evolve. Mildot Group Ltd accepts no liability for loss, damage, or consequences arising from reliance upon the material contained within this publication.

The views and analysis contained within this publication reflect operational interpretation and professional opinion based on industry experience, publicly available information, and referenced material at the time of writing. This publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for qualified legal counsel.

For professional enquiries, advisory support, or training solutions, contact: Contact Mildot Group

Date: 16/05/2026

Author: Anthony Gledhill

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Reasonable, Practicable & Evidencing Principles

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How They Decide Counter Terrorism Measures

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Introduction

No matter where I have worked internationally, one principle has remained constant. Protective security decisions require a credible benchmark to justify:

• The measures being implemented
• The decision not to implement them.

Without a structured decision making framework, organisations often drift into one of two dangerous positions.

Overreaction

Highly visible security measures appear quickly because they reassure leadership, demonstrate action, or reduce organisational anxiety.

Yet many create little meaningful reduction in vulnerability while increasing:

• Cost
• Operational friction
• Staffing pressure
• Disruption
• Commercial impact

Under-reaction

Other organisations avoid implementing sensible measures because they:

• Cost money
• Require resources
• Slow operations
• Create inconvenience
• Appear excessive until an incident occurs elsewhere

Neither position survives scrutiny particularly well after an incident.

This is not a recycled summary of government guidance or a theoretical compliance explanation.

It is an operational analysis of how reasonable and practicable principles are applied within protective security and counter terrorism decision making to produce proportionate, credible, evidenced, and defensible outcomes.

Built from operational delivery experience across complex environments, the capability briefing explains how security decisions are assessed, balanced, justified, evidenced, and defended when scrutiny, liability, operational impact, and consequence all converge.

Using operational examples, recent legal scrutiny, and practical implementation logic, the article breaks down how organisations balance:

• Risk
• Vulnerability
• Foreseeable harm
• Operational impact
• Feasibility
• legal duty
• Cost
• Proportionality
• Practicality

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Included Within This Operational Briefing

Inside this specialist practitioner analysis:

• How reasonable and practicable principles are operationally applied within counter terrorism decision making
• How proportionality is evidenced and justified under scrutiny
• Why some highly visible security measures deliver limited actual protection
• How operational, financial, legal, and reputational factors are balanced during implementation decisions
• Lessons from recent legal scrutiny and judicial interpretation
• The difference between compliance activity and operationally defensible capability
• Why mandatory requirements still require evidence based proportional implementation
• How poor security decisions create wider organisational exposure beyond the initial incident
• Practical decision making logic used within real operational environments

This is specialist operational guidance written for professionals responsible for making, influencing, reviewing, or defending protective security counter terrorism decisions.

The following framework demonstrates how proportionate security decisions are assessed, justified, evidenced, and defended under scrutiny.

Follow this link to access this operational briefing for an investment cost of £30