EVENT SECURITY
CTB INTERVIEW Counter Terror Business (CTB) talks to David Stewart (DS) about security planning for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, safety within the ‘last mile’, and stadium security
LARGE-SCALE SPORTING EVENTS CTB: MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS CAN BE AN IDEAL TARGET FOR TERRORISTS, AS HIGHLIGHTED BEST IN PARIS IN 2015. SINCE THEN, HOW HAVE SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS CHANGED AT LARGE-SCALE SPORTING EVENTS? DS: Obviously, in the UK our most recent incident was at the Manchester Arena in 2017 and this, whilst not a major sporting event, had a similar profile. Many major multi-sport events will use venues that are normally used for concerts etc, so really, the main focus is always driven by the threat and risk assessment for each individual venue and event. As such, there haven’t really been significant
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COUNTER TERROR BUSINESS MAGAZINE | ISSUE 42
changes in the approach but just a greater acknowledgement that there is always a potential threat and then on a case by case basis, consideration has to be given to how to mitigate the risk posed by that threat. The biggest challenge for major sporting events is trying to ensure that the event is safe and secure but without it feeling like it is defined by security. We always have to consider appropriate security measure but the security should ideally be secondary to the event itself. Technology is moving on apace with new mass screening devices being actively tested at venues and what we are now seeing is technology being used in conjunction with
