The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has praised the force's strong links with the community, following terror arrests in Birmingham a fortnight ago.
At a West Midlands Police Authority meeting today, Paul Scott-Lee said officers, who had spent years working with people living in the areas where nine men were arrested, had helped to reassure the community after the raids.
To ease community relations, the police activated telephone advice lines in a number of languages and distributed 5,000 leaflets offering support.
The leaflets were translated into Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu and told readers, "we want to reassure you that the police are not targeting communities or faith but suspected criminals".
The Chief Constable said: "Operation Gamble, which was the name given to an operation involving counter-terrorism arrests the week before last, was a result of a very, very long term inquiry.
"Six individuals have been charged with substantial offences. Those charges are very significant and have not been seen in the UK before. The work does not end now that we have arrested and charged people. The team of officers working at this level will proceed."
He said the force had been analysing evidence gathered during the raids on January 31, which are believed to have been linked to an alleged terrorist plot to kidnap and assassinate a British Muslim soldier.
"We have seized between 4,500 and 5,000 exhibits. These include computers, telephones and blackberries, all of which need to be downloaded and examined.
"I think there has been some very positive reporting from not just people who are leaders of the community, but of people who live in the West Midlands," he said.
"I think it is a tribute to the work we have supported over the last decade for a relationship between the police and the community."
"Terrorism is a serious issue within this country and this particular incident is but one example of it."
Coun Yvonne Mosquito (Lab Nechells) praised the police for their work during the raids but said it was important to recognise the rights of the two men who were released without charge.
"How we treat these alleged innocent individuals is important. I will be keen to hear what we do with these people," she said.
But members of the Birmingham Muslim community yesterday denied that a police presence in the raided areas had provided them with reassurance.
Businessman Bashir Ahmed, who runs a collection of shops in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, said: "That is the biggest lie. Nobody likes the police here. They walked into my shop and I said, 'do you want to buy anything?' and they said no so I said "get out of my shop".
Salma Yaqoob (Respect Sparkbrook) said she believed the police had shown an interest in listening to the community but felt the large police presence had been "alarming".
"We support the police in carrying out their investigations," she said. "But did we need such a high profile presence over a few days rather than reassurance?
"We know there is a threat in this country but we need to have confidence in the community as they are on the battle line fighting these extremists."
