Ahead of the International Security Expo, Counter Terror Business talks to Nigel Cook, head of security at Royal Historic Palaces, about the relationship between safety and visitor experience and designing effective mitigation
You are chairing the Protecting Crowded Places & Countering Terrorism stream at this year’s International Security Expo in November. Who and what can we expect to hear about within this part of the event?
The concept of protecting crowded places and events from the threat of terrorism is complex and multi-faceted. The wide variety of venue types, ranging from public spaces to purpose-built venues, coupled with the evolving range of terrorist attack methodologies means that delivering proportionate, effective, yet unobtrusive security can be a real challenge. The conference will hear from a wide range of leading practitioners, who will be speaking on a varied range of mitigation opportunities. Whether it be recognising the opportunities afforded by environmental design, understanding the potential to recognise and interdict in hostile reconnaissance, considering how you can systematically search your premises to best effect, focusing on the critical questions of resilience, training and exercising, building an appreciation of how businesses can work together to protect themselves, or insuring business against the potential impacts of terrorism, delegates will hear from, and have the opportunity to pose questions to, subject matter experts.
International Security Expo has, once again, succeeded in pulling together an impressive line-up of speakers and I feel certain that the conference will promote healthy discussion and debate. The topics on the agenda for the day are as diverse as they are interesting, and I genuinely believe that everybody who attends will pick up at least one ‘nugget’ that they can take away with them.
The Historic Royal Palaces’ estate is quite large and your security information details how staff are trained and receive briefings from both the police and security services. Just how important is staff awareness of the possibilities of an attack and knowledge of how to react?
I don’t think that anyone would argue that effective briefing needs to be a core element in any security operation, not only for those who directly deliver security, but for every member of staff who can contribute to the security effort. Understanding the terrorist threats that face a business, and what employees can do to mitigate those threats, as well as the actions to take in the event of the threat materialising, are critical requirements. No business, particularly those that operate in the ‘crowded place’ sector, can guarantee that it will not become the target of terrorist interest, and therefore equipping its employees with the best available information and intelligence will always be a business imperative.
Like many businesses, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) receives regular operational updates from the Metropolitan Police Service, and is strategically linked into a number of other sources. HRP has always been an active supporter of Project Griffin and has made efforts to release staff to attend briefing sessions whenever possible. However, releasing staff from the workplace for such important briefing and awareness sessions is not always easy, particularly for smaller businesses. That fact has been recognised, and the new online Action Counters Terrorism awareness initiative ensures that the valuable information contained within the seven e-learning modules can be made available to a far wider business audience.
Of course, whilst there is clear value to be derived from receiving appropriate briefings and undertaking relevant learning opportunities, the value of both will be significantly enhanced through a process of testing and exercising the business response to a range of scenarios. These can be as simple or complex as time will allow, but whatever the complexity of the testing, huge value can be derived from fully debriefing what went well, as well as what did not. Lives, as well as business continuity, can depend on the decisions taken in the first few seconds and minutes of any terrorist event, and in the panic and confusion a potential enemy can be indecision. Therefore, a modest investment of time and effort in this area can equip staff with the knowledge and confidence to be decisive in times of crisis, offering the best opportunity to save lives, and the reputation of the business.
Work is being done to promote understanding of proportionate and cost-effective approaches to High Footfall Screening at different sorts of sites and venues. What are the current difficulties with balancing protection and visitor experience?
There are a number of factors which impact this question, one being a potential that ‘protection’ and ‘visitor experience’ can sometimes be viewed as being mutually exclusive. Whilst some may believe that security regimes are, in themselves, a negative visitor experience which can inflate a sense of fear, the evidence, particularly since the 2017 attack on Manchester Arena, has been that the converse is the reality. Whilst, in the months after the attack, many visitor attractions saw a discernible drop in visitor numbers, those with effective security regimes on entry did not suffer to the same degree. Data compiled by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions clearly showed that to be true, and customer feedback across HRP revealed that enhanced security regimes had actually reassured our visitors and was reported as having been a positive experience. Where possible, human interaction will always play a positive role in the delivery of security regimes, offering an opportunity to enhance the visitor experience. However, this can be extremely difficult to deliver at venues and events which attract significant crowds, especially if the majority of those crowds arrive shortly before the start of the event.
The practical difficulty of securing such crowded place events has been the focus of research by the 鶹 Office’s Joint Security and Resilience Centre (JSaRC), in partnership with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, and this work has resulted in the creation of what is known as the High Footfall Screening Concept. The aim of this concept is to offer, through the use of multiple and complimentary technologies, the ability to deliver a proportionate level of security assurance against larger threat items without inconveniencing visitors and creating long queues.
Whilst the primary aim of the High Footfall Screening Concept is to detect mass casualty threat items such as explosives and firearms, there is a complimentary aim to provide an enhanced visitor experience through easy access combined with assurance about their own security. The concept has been trialled in a wide range of settings, and the feedback received from those who have been involved has been reported as having been overwhelmingly positive. So, whether security regimes are primarily delivered with a human interaction, or predicated on the use of technology, the evidence clearly shows that in both scenarios the balance between protection and visitor experience, with careful planning, can be successfully achieved.
The overarching theme of the 2018 International Security Expo is 'Evolving Security Through Innovation’. How does crowded places protection fit into that mantra?
Crowded places will always represent an attractive target for terrorists. They offer the opportunity to inflict mass casualties and create significant media coverage, both of which are factors in the terrorists’ associated intention of heightening fear in the minds of the public. It is no coincidence, therefore, that governments and security services around the world have reviewed terrorist attack methodologies and put their minds to mitigating those threats as far as is possible. Whilst incidents such as the August 2018 attack on Parliament provide clear evidence of the effectiveness of hostile vehicle mitigation, not all the resulting solutions are technological, and a great deal has been done in terms of raising terrorism awareness, and enhancing the training and capabilities of security personnel, be they statutory, voluntary or commercial.
Unfortunately, designing effective mitigation is easier once the threat has materialised, but the reality is that by then it’s too late. So, whilst those charged with keeping us safe strive to deliver defensive mitigation, the terrorists are adapting and changing their attack methodologies, a sort of ‘cat and mouse’ scenario. It is for these reasons that those responsible for considering what mitigations are required must remain agile and ‘think the unthinkable’. Successful defence against future attacks will always be a difficult task, particularly when the terrorists can use, or seek to adapt, innocent items for their criminal uses. Whether such attacks involve the use of vehicles and knives, or drone technologies, the challenge will always be the same; to try to stay ‘one step ahead’ of the terrorists and their thinking. That task is not simple, and the evidence shows that we are unlikely to always succeed.
However, we must continue to evolve if we are to meet the challenge of remaining ahead of the terrorist curve, and our ability to innovate the use of existing or new technologies, as well as the training and deployment of security personnel will continue to be a key factor in determining our success.
