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n our regular feature putting the spotlight on front-line security officers, Graham Bassett met up with the PACE South Bank Patrol.
South Bank University, various hotels, colleges, Coin Street, Jubilee Gardens and residential buildings.
By nature of such a varied/sizeable demographic, the team partners with many agencies such as Safer Neighbourhood teams, funded Metropolitan Police officers, Lambeth & Westminster Public Protection, British Transport Police, Lambeth Thames Outreach and Youth Justice Systems, We Are Waterloo BID, The Children’s Railway Charity – plus numerous client buildings with their own security teams.
The team has participated in more than twenty training initiative and courses, including SCAN/ACT, Catastrophic Injuries, County Lines Child Exploitation, Sexual Violence Awareness & Support Skills, CSAS and RNLI training in relation to the Thames.
As one would expect looking after such a sizeable space, there are daily challenges and although dealt with as ‘part of the job’ some no doubt would be worthy award nominations. Recent incidents include:
• Group of males seen conducting robberies by the team: MPS called, assisted with foot chase, two were caught/arrested (carrying machetes).
Top photo: L to R: Misbon Fernandes, Rafal Zolnowski, Colin Shim Hue.
Photo above: L to R: Alan Gregory, Umer Khalid, Amarpai Baines, Rafal Zolnowski
When I arrived at the South Bank on a bright spring morning, the team was otherwise engaged with Just Stop Oil protesters – which meant I could spend a bit of time with Umer Khalid, Security Manager for the site; Grant Read, Operations Director; and their client Alex Valenzuela, Director of Place for the South Bank Employers’ Group and find out more about the team which looks after this mammoth security contract. Keeping everyone safe on the South Bank is central to what the South Bank Employers’ Group do, from counter terrorism and crime reduction to community safety. The South Bank Patrol team was established in 2008 and SBEG has been working with PACE since 2018.
The sheer size, complexity and mix of stakeholders to keep safe is staggering. The team looks after an area that covers Lambeth Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge (four bridges) – plus Waterloo Station.
Pre-Covid, footfall was around 30m a year (now about 75% of that) looking after 35k employees (which was 50k pre-Covid) in various buildings, including: St Thomas’ Hospital, Imax, National Theatre, Southbank Centre, London Eye, Sea Life Centre, London
© CITY SECURITY MAGAZINE – SUMMER 2023
• A female who had been self-harming rescued from the Thames (suicide attempt). The team, on average, deals with a suicide attempt every one or two weeks.
• Assisted a stab victim until the paramedics arrived.
• An individual who had conducted a robbery at knife point, but evaded capture, was seen and apprehended by the team next day and handed over to the police.
• A male wanted for assaulting a police officer, was (within a few hours) located by the team, which monitored his movements until the police arrived and arrested him.
• A man who had exposed himself was followed by the team into Waterloo Station and identified for BTP who made an arrest.
• Working with the relevant agencies, they helped remove two encampments and assisted those in need to Thames Outreach for shelter.
Talking of awards, the team was a finalist in the Security Excellence Awards ‘Outsourced Security Team/Individual of the Year’ in 2022 and more recently an OSPA 2023 finalist in the Outstanding Team Category.
Graham Bassett City Security magazine Editorial Committee
www.citysecuritymagazine.com
Chairman Frank Andrew Davis (Andy) says: “As a region we are continuing to increase our network of ISLs and presence in multiple sectors. We continue to share information about threats that can directly or indirectly impact businesses and individuals across the region, and we are looking forward to letting more people understand the benefits that CSSC membership can bring.”
If you are interested in joining or learning more, please contact
northeast@thecssc.com. You can also follow the work of this hub on social media @CSSCNEYORKS.
Cross-sector Safety and Security Communication – East Midlands Region
The Cross-sector Safety and Security Communications (CSSC) East Midlands Region covers the counties of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire.
The group works in partnership with the county police forces and local organisations to provide proactive security, to help improve business resilience, and reactive security information, when there has been a major incident.
Chairman Andrew Nichols says: “CSSC continues to grow as a security-led initiative across the whole of the UK, with all the regions now well established. In the East Midlands our management board is driving to grow our membership.” He continued: “DCC Paul Gibson (who is one of our board members) is currently acting as Chief Constable for Northamptonshire, on a secondment from EMSOU, and we wish him well on this temporary appointment. Following the Manchester Arena Inquiry we will be focusing this year on supporting the recommendations in the report.”
The aim of The East Midlands CSSC is to reach as many people as possible through connections to businesses, local organisations, charities, government bodies and other related groups.
Their recent newsletter included articles on enhanced first aid training in the work place, the responsibilities for business in helping to prevent terrorist attacks, and violence in the workplace.
If you are interested in becoming a member of East Midlands CSSC, visit
www.thecssc.com/about-east-midlands. Your feedback at any time is always valuable so if you have any points you would like to share with them, please contact:
eastmidlands@thecssc.com. The more people we can share and exchange information with to keep us all safe, the better.
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