Improve your
protection services using search procedures
I
n May of this year, I celebrated 50 years in counter terrorism and High Risk Security. In
those years a lot has happened in this field both in terms of threat and countering that threat.
If you asked me ‘what was the one thing that has made a significant difference in providing protection?’ I would argue that it is in practical search procedures.
What’s the history?
Before the early 1970s there were no formal search procedures which were taught to security forces. The situation in Northern Ireland soon led the British Army to realise that something was needed, otherwise the IRA were always one step ahead.
Royal Engineers lead the way
Since the Royal Engineers already carried out mine clearance and ‘booby-trap’ clearance as part of their combat engineer training, they were the natural choice to lead the way. They also had tradesmen like bricklayers, electricians and plumbers who would understand how a building was put together and functioned. Training was based at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham. However, these skills, particularly at basic level, were required in everyday operations so all the rest of the Army sent selected teams to be trained there just before going on tour to Northern Ireland. This included the Royal Marines and RAF Regiment.
It was only in 1984 after the Brighton bomb that Police Forces also realised that they needed training in these skills. Having commanded the UK High Risk Search teams for a number of years, I ran the first Police Search Adviser (POLSA) course in November of that year. Now all the Police Forces in the UK have several POLSAs who are responsible for coordinating operations and running training courses in their own constabularies.
So what is Search?
These are the systematic procedures used to find weapons, explosives or other contraband. There are procedures for body (and bag), vehicle, building, area and route search. Each discipline has its ‘system’ to ensure that the chance of success in finding threatening or illegal items is that much
8 © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – AUTUMN 2015 Searching and delays
One of the issues with searching in a Low Risk environment is that it causes delay, queues and thus annoyance. In this case the searcher is told to speed up - after all, it is
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higher than just checking those areas you think are most likely to hide items. We see searching carried out in a variety of situations these days, the most common being at airports. But there are many other examples where a restricted area may require this procedure, for instance at museums, at international events/exhibitions or even global events such as the G9 Conferences, or climate change conferences - anything that might be an emotive issue to which there could be demonstrations or a threat to the establishment.
Who can search?
Regrettably, at a lot of these venues the search is carried out by ‘security personnel’ and not the Army or Police. These are only deployed at the very High Risk events. The SIA licence in the UK does not include formal search training so, unless they subsequently receive training from a qualified Search Adviser, their skills are going to be severely limited. With the increase in violent weapons threat after the events in Paris, Denmark and Belgium, organisations in large cities are considering ‘airport like’ searches at their Reception. Initially it may only be visitors and contractors that are subject to this and it may be just a quick check of a bag/briefcase rather than a body search, but should the threat persist this may increase.
However, one must remember that there is no right to search an individual. One has to ask their permission, but should they refuse you do have the right to then refuse entry.
only deterrent, isn’t it? As with many tasks, it is only worth doing if it is done well. It has been proved that if a bag search has been done professionally, say to 1 person in 3 or 4, it is much more of a deterrent than searching everyone badly. Assuming the would-be assailant carries out a reconnaissance, he will soon see how to take advantage of a poor search, but if the search is done well and almost certain to find the hidden device, he will not take that risk. This also touches on another extremely important point - that is pride in doing a job well.
Giving confidence to security guards
A lot of security guards are treated with disdain. The people they are supposedly protecting look down on them as menial workers with low intelligence. So something that is done well and professionally will give them confidence and pride in their role.
The bag search
In a city environment or at a major event, the most likely type of search is bag search. It would appear to be simple and straight- forward – it is, but I am amazed at the number of occasions I see it done inadequately. The first ‘golden rule’ is for the searcher NOT to put their hands into another
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