VENUE Owners must act quickly to protect audiences following the thwarting of a planned Islamist terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Austria, according to a leading security coordinator.
Philip Grindell, CEO of security consultancy Defuse Global, said the news should prompt venue owners in the UK to review security plans before new statutory compliance rules come into force.
A draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, announced in the King’s Speech last month, will impose requirements to increase preparedness for terrorist attacks and take proportionate steps, depending on the capacity of the venue.
But Mr Grindell says venues need to start planning now, and well ahead of the new rules coming into force to ensure that they have a single point of contact to co-ordinate a prevention and response plan.
He said: “Event security has been a significant topic since the announcement of the proposed Terrorism (Protection of premises) Bill, which is also known as Martyn’s Law, since the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May 2017 following a concert by pop singer Ariana Grande.
“However, despite the attack occurring seven years ago, there is still a great deal that can be improved on.
“Intelligence appears to have foiled a planned attack on Taylor Swift fans in Austria, though recent ISIS-linked attacks or disrupted plots since October last year have revealed that of 58 suspects identified, 38 were aged between 13 and 19, and the trend suggests that stadium concerts are high on the ISIS target list.
“A second concern is the apparent planning that has precedded this planned attack, with a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and 21,000 euros in counterfeit cash at the home of the main suspect, and with another of the detained attackers having secured employment at the venue.
“The uncovering of the plot means that event planners and venues, rather than waiting for the Martyn’s Law to be a requirement, need to move smartly to improve their security awareness.
“Any security plan is layered and can be visualised as an onion. The plan starts from the inside and works outwards, ensuring that all elements of vulnerability are identified, assessed, and managed. A failure to do this resulted in the recent attack on the event attended by former US President Donald trump.
“One solution is to have a single point of contact to co-ordinate all the various elements into one plan. With events in the UK involving members of the Royal Family, Government officials and high-profile military events, this role is conducted by a counter-terrorist security co-ordinator. Where an artist, such as Taylor Swift (who would be referred to as ‘The Principal’) is involved, this security plan will include their personal security team.
“The security plan should be mindful that an attack may be directed at The Principal or at crowded spaces, and as such the plan must mitigate both threats.
“The plan should review such elements as the due diligence of new employees, or employees who had recently or suddenly left, any persons known to be fixated on The Principal, and should include a recent intelligence brief on the venue, the people involved, and current affairs that may impact the threat assessment.
“All persons to be employed at the event must be identified, assessed and equipped with photographic identification that cannot easily be reproduced. It is advisable that the ID is retained by the venue and issued as an employee arrives on duty.
“The venue should be subject to a professional search to include fingertip, explosive dogs and other explosive detection features.
“Everyone entering the venue, including suppliers, should be subjected to a search. This ensures that nothing of concern, such as weapons or other implements that might be improvised is brought in.
“An external security plan should include high visibility, vigilant officers. These officers should patrol the designated area, identifying anything or concern which can be reported back to the control room and investigated, and provide reassurance to the attendees and the community and help with issues such as crowd control and bag searches.
“A counter-reconnaissance team should be deployed to identify anyone who might be displaying behaviours of concern. These individuals can then either be followed, spoken with, or brought to the attention of law enforcement.
“The outer security cordon should then identify and mitigate any further appropriate vulnerabilities. In the case of former President Trump, that should have included a counter sniper-element which would have ensured that any possible positions a sniper might operate from were searched and secured.
“Where crowds of attendees are likely, a hostile vehicle mitigation plan must be considered. This puts a protective barrier around the identified area, protecting the venue, the people and any infrastructure. This will prevent a vehicle being used to crash into people causing harm and panic as well as delivering a vehicle borne explosive device.
“Further reassurance can be delivered when issuing the tickets, advising attendees not to bring bags, informing them of an external bag drop area a short distance away from the venue, as well as clear signage directing attendees to the emergency aid points, evacuation points and informing them of the additional security patrols.
“A positive security communications plan can be distributed to local residents and the media, highlighting the planned event and the possible disruption. This can have an additional benefit of providing a deterrent to any planned attackers.
“The critical factor in this plan is to employ an independent experienced security professional to coordinate the plan. This eliminates any concerns of bias or internal commercial pressures from the plan and ensures that it is designed to protect all parties involved.”