Meanwhile, it's crucial not to panic, or
exaggerate risks or despair that nothing can be done to prevent such murderous
attacks at concerts and other mass assemblies, says Brian Levin, a
professor at California State University San Bernardino and director of its
Centre for the study of hate and extremism. "We have over 30,000 people
killed every year (in the USA) in vehicular accidents so you're at far
greater risk driving on your way to a venue," says Levin, a former New
York police officer who's preparing to take his teen son to a concert next
month. "People tend to misjudge their fears and risks in part based on
their exposure vicariously to attacks through TV" coverage.
The result could be damaging for the concert
industry in general and acts playing venues perceived by the locals as too
vulnerable to attack. Don't let terrorists change your entertainment behaviour.
"If people stop going to concerts, the net result is that our opponents
have won — they use fear to change our behaviour. It gives them exactly what
they want. The irony is that past terrorist attacks, including in Brussels and
in Paris, suggest that suicide bombers may be choosing different tactics
because of better security. The problem (now) involves perimeters and
chokepoints, egress and ingress. Keeping terrorist attackers from getting inside public
buildings has improved so much in recent years, attackers are increasingly
targeting outside perimeters, especially when thousands of
people are trying to leave, as appears to have been the case in Manchester. A
lot of the mechanisms and policies and procedures we have today, such as metal
detection, are inwardly focused — protecting inside the venue.
Consequently, terrorists have taken up tactics such as vehicle ramming and
suicide bombings at entrances to airports and transport stations. We need to
start reorienting our security and safety procedures, we call it
'expanding perimeters,' to adapt to new threats. We have to
reallocate our focus and energy on the perimeters and peripheries of buildings.
Experts believe the attack on Manchester
Arena, the U.K's second-largest, almost certainly had nothing to do with pop
princess Grande, whose concert had just ended. More than 20,000 fans, many of
them youngsters carrying pink balloons and wearing her trademark bunny ears,
were just leaving. The bomber may have chosen Grande's gig merely as a
convenience. Or he may have been attracted by the youth of Grande's typical
audience to cause maximum horror: The death toll stands at 22, including
12 children under 16, with more than 50 people injured. Security professionals
can learn from each attack on a venue where mass numbers of people gather. A
large number of facilities already have procedures for controlling open plazas
and curbs and (exits); for those who don’t have a robust program for that, this
incident will be analysed and resources put in place to
strengthen" protection. The bomber might have been detected before setting
off the bomb if there had been such robust security, including more cameras, on
the lookout for anyone acting nervous or loitering near "soft
targets" such as exits.
"We have to start thinking ahead: If you
have 15,000 people coming to an arena, what are we doing to protect them on the
way in, when they're in there and on their way out?" he says, including a
more "layered" approach to security that combines private and public
security resources.
Another security tool that could be helpful:
dogs. Most people have seen bomb-sniffing dogs at work — they focus on objects
and spaces at the direction of handlers. Vapor-wake dogs are trained to sniff
out bombs before bombers reach their target, by detecting the vapors of the
explosive materials combined with the body heat of the bombers. Initial
indications are that the Manchester bomber travelled via public transport to
the arena, located adjacent to a major transport station.
An 'article' dog has his head down, a
vapor-wake dog has his head up and he's sniffing the air, following the trail
left behind" as a bomber is in motion
Aside from technology and canine prowess,
ordinary people should become more "situationally aware". Take
control of where you are going: Know where exits are, know how to get from a
chokepoint to a place where it's not as densely packed”, experts say. And if
you see something, say something even if it's "politically incorrect"
and even if you fear you're wrong and may be accusing an innocent person.
Stopping and frisking an innocent person is preferable to failure to stop and
frisk a suicide bomber. It's the new order: Everyone has to be very vigilant. A
lot of people say they don't want to give up their constitutional rights but we
already have given up a ton of rights because of terrorists. I feel better at a
concert if I'm patted down — it's a pain in the butt and it slows down lines
and tickets are more expensive, but I feel safer. No one likes this, but if it
makes us safer, then we got to do it.
Public event operators, governments, infrastructure owners, emergency
services and all other security and safety stakeholders need to find the right
balance between infrastructure, technology, operations and manpower to ensure
public venue security and safety. After the success last year, we are pleased
to announce the 2nd annual Public Venue Security and SafetySummit, being held in Melbourne from 21 – 23 March 2018. The
Summit will bring together leading security professionals to explore the
implementation of effective and practical strategies to ensure operational
continuity of public venues, events and facilities.
Written by: Nicolas Verbeeck
Nicolas was born in Belgium and became an expert in consuming excellent beers, chocolate and waffles. During the winter period you can find him on a hockey pitch and in summer he loves to go for a swim or a surf. In 2013 Nicolas was wondering what the beers, chocolate and waffles would taste like in Australia and never came back. One reason… the weather. Nicolas obtained a masters in International Politics and tries to use this background to produce excellent conferences at Akolade.
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