Michael Hughes, the Chief Executive of Hesco has spoken at the UK Security Expo 2017 which took place in Olympia about the challenges faced by planners who are wanting to adopt a more integrated approach in order to tackle the threat of terrorist attacks to make city and town centres safe and open.
During his speech, Michael said that the more recent mayhem caused by driving heavy vehicles into crowds, and the more established threat of suicide bombers at leisure and commercial venues form a dual threat to civic protection. Because of these differing attack methods, civic planners need to work to identify any possible threat and provide a reliable safety solution while also appeasing the commercial pressure to make sure that centres are kept open and vibrant in order allow for successful businesses. On top of this there are economic pressures that they have to deal with which means that the provision of effective protection.
It is important that civic planners keep in mind the high level of security that is needed for areas where large numbers are going to gather either for work, leisure or education. On top of this it is thought that the implementation of regular searches of people are vital, however there is the logistical challenge of checking every van and lorry near a possible target area and having the ability of working out when a vehicle can change gear, and go from being a mundane feature of urban life to a moving weapon.
The construction of a perimeter of security around venues can offer peace of mind as well as confidence to the planners and the people that they are protecting. The Hesco Terrablock is surface mounted and has been engineered so that there can be installed rapidly and on any type of surface without the need for ground penetration which don’t require any ground preparation and can also be easily removed once the event is passed.
