First there was the shock: the extraordinary scene of a jeep doused in petrol smashing into the entrance to Glasgow airport a year ago, as families prepared for foreign breaks on the opening weekend of the school summer holidays.

First there was the shock: the extraordinary scene of a jeep doused in petrol smashing into the entrance to Glasgow airport a year ago, as families prepared for foreign breaks on the opening weekend of the school summer holidays.

But afterwards, one of the most important questions was how the police and other authorities could prevent future terrorist attacks.

The underlying response from Allan Burnett, Scotland's new counter terrorism co-ordinator, is that much of the answer lies in community engagement and early intervention.

As the former head of special branch at Strathclyde Police and a key member of the UK's counter-terrorist task group, he is keenly aware of the need for tough enforcement and accurate intelligence.

He strongly supports recent and controversial moves to extend the pre-trial detention period of terrorist suspects from 28 to 42 days.

Ultimately, though, he explains it is essential to engage the parents and young people tempted by extremist groups, whether that relates to al Qaeda or neo-Nazis.

Under the additional £3.8m in funding announced last weekend by the Scottish Government for counter terrorism, Mr Burnett plans to provide training for every officer in Scotland: not only on what suspicious activity to look out for, but also on the nuances of Middle Eastern politics and Islam.

The aim is to ensure officers feel comfortable talking to different communities and engaging with parents and other authorities about their concerns.

"We have got to work on relations with the community because, come a day of the sort we experienced at Glasgow airport, that investment, most of which was put in by community officers, stood us in very good stead and allowed us to work with the community.

"We want to do this through a mixture of training and briefing and building on the work we have already done on race relations and diversity. Officers have been through diversity training, but you don't get a lecture on the Middle East or Afghanistan.

"It is about understanding why certain people might have slightly different opinions to the ones they might hold and how to deal with that. These are all useful things - to understand the difference between a Shia and a Sunni. If you want to explain at least part of the reason why there is conflict in Iraq, then that is really important to know."

Mr Burnett's plans for early intervention are still being developed, but he hopes to adopt some of the successful schemes being piloted in England and Wales which allow young people on the cusp of radicalisation to engage with police and other support groups without being prosecuted.

He talks of adapting some of Scotland's current schemes for diverting minor offenders addicted to drugs and alcohol, for use with young people tempted by extremist groups. Restorative justice, whereby minor offenders meet victims of crime, is something he is keen on.

"I will be looking at all the opportunities that we have got in Scotland, either to build on what we already have or work with the community on developing alternatives that are fit for purpose," he explains.

"It would involve a whole range of agencies looking at how you divert young people. There are pilots being done down south led by members of the community, including Channel. It is about altering behaviour and rehabilitation, as with forms of addiction like gambling. Some of the projects will be faith-based, some will be education-based."

He added that police will be working with their partners to make sure vulnerable young people are not attracted to "those who would murder and maim".

"It is about getting them back on a proper path. It might be about coming face to face with a victim with something like restorative justice. Perhaps it would involve psychiatric help, an alternative faith message, or just getting mum and dad to talk to them and ban them from using the computer."

Mr Burnett is quite clear that locking up young people who are on the brink of extremism is not the answer to preventing future attacks and that such an approach would only alienate the community. Of the 124 young people referred to the Channel project, none of them have been prosecuted.

The aim is to divert and rehabilitate these young people and increase the community's willingness to engage with the police.