Fools Paradise! Commonwealth Games Security!

Kia Ora,

Well the on going saga of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi is playing out. With the concentration on the state of the Games Village & some of the other buildings security has been pretty much glossed over.

The news footage here has focussed on two security points. The person with the rifle & the car search.

The person with the rifle is in what in the army we would of called a 'caught unawares shot'where someone took the pose like they were actually working. No one would stay in that pose for their whole shift especially if they were weak in the upper body.

As to the car search. A suicide bomber would love that search as too many standing around the vehicle. But not a problem that could not be sorted with some quick training & leadership.
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding Threats and Responses in the Post 9/11 World (3rd Edition)
After my last blog on the security situation at the Games Village with comments based on the information from a security consultant who had been on the site, I have received a message through another social media forum. That message is from someone living close to the Commonwealth Games area & the comment was interesting. There is a lot of security but its only mission seems to be hassle the locals not protect anything.

They say the situation is a lot worse than the media is reporting.
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Readings and Interpretations, Revised & Updated 2004 (Trade Edition)
A reporter was just on TV saying how many check points they had to go through.

Picture the other day showed an Indian check point several years ago checking all the tourists whilst the locals walked around the side. Pretty much the situation in one I came across after the suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan in 2006. At the hotel I was in, all tourists went through a metal detector & had their luggage searched whilst some who would be an odds on bet to be Jihadists were allowed around the side.
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Readings and Interpretations, Revised & Updated 2004 (Trade Edition)
In another incident we watched as a bodyguard for an Iraqi politician handed his pistol to the politician as they were not checked.

You can have as many check points as you want, but if they do not apply to all then they are ineffective.
Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Conflicting Perspectives on Causes, Contexts, and Responses
The same here recently in a dress rehearsal for the Rugby World Cup 2011 when people were walking past the alcohol searches & not been checked. Though I can't blame the security for that as no one expects a great threat. But as we focus on the issues in India, it is best to remember we will need to be much better than worrying about alcohol searches.

It can be fixed but time is running out for both the Commonwealth Games & the Rugby World Cup 2011. At present we are all in a fools paradise.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Like Lambs to the Slaughter!

Kia Ora,

Well security at the Commonwealth Games have hit the headlines again with an Australian 'Expert' saying there is a huge chance of terrorist attacks outside the venues.

The Australian Olympic Committee has followed its New Zealand counterpart & hit out at him. Dismissing his claims & basically saying it is under control.

So was he on the button?

Well what he has forecast is a high likelyhood but his prediction shows that he is most likely out of step with what has been happening.

On the other hand the consultant I spoke of a few blogs ago seemed to be up with the methods that terrorists have been using in the last few years. His focus was more on the games village to be used by the atheletes & I could visualize what he was talking about quite easily from experience. Whats more the TV images so far have backed up what he was saying.
The Mind of the Terrorist: The Psychology of Terrorism from the IRA to al-Qaeda
Meanwhile what of the 'Expert'?

His predicitons are more in line with what would happen in conjunction of an attack on a venue or the games village. That or, as was set up to happen when the embassy next to our villa in Baghdad was targeted by a suicide bomber, a series of IED's aimed at the emergency services responding to the initial incident. On that occassion those IED's failed to detonate.
Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind
Meanwhile the authorities continue to ignore Private security consultants whom might just know a lot more than the government lacky's.

That is not to say the games shouldn't go ahead, but there maybe needs to be a look at using the likes of PSD companies in conjunction with the authorities. In this situation experience is everything. Otherwise it really is like leading lambs to slaughter.

http://foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Consultants. What defines them?

Kia Ora,

Well still no word from 'Mr Angry' over my post yesterday.

But I do thank all those who sent messages of support. I really appreaciate them in particular from former military comrades & people I worked alongside in Iraq with, some who do have 'formal qualifications' & have done the hard yards.

At least they have given me something to write about. For the next few days I will go more in depth into what the issues are.

One of the main gripes was I was not a consultant.

So what defines a  security consultant?

 First there is the consultant I was contractored as in Iraq. As one mate found out & as I said as was pointed out to me, you were only there in some roles to advise & where therefore contracted as a consultant.

One mate lost his position for taking physical action because he felt it was too dangerous for the clients. Major news crews hire people as consultants, not specifically as bodyguards. They can ignore the consultants advice & more often than not those they employ come from one company whose operators experience is way in advance of my own.

But I am able to claim that I have & can work as a security consultant & I don't need a bit of paper to do so.

Of course there is the other more traditional view of a consultant, which is the person who carries out a security survey, then produces a nicely written assessment of what they think needs to be carried out to ensure the security of a premises or person.

This also is only advice which can be & is often ignored.

Again due to military qualifications, training & experience I can do that to a very high standard if asked. So can any person who was in the NZ military after they have gone through certain stages of their training.

In the last 12 months an experienced security consultant (of both types) has been trying to get me to stop giving out tips for free & focus on the consultancy role for which they believe I have the experience & knowledge to carryout this to a high degree.

Outside NZ, ex NZ military are considered extremely highly in the private security world & it is not based on a bit of paper.

Though if I do carryout a consultancy expect somethings outside the square.

For example when my runanga built our Marae I offered some security advise based on what the discussions were at the time.

Someone else spoke to a security consultant at the time who waffled on about alarms etc.

Like many Marae & Maori communities this is extremely isolated & in fact in 1906 was said to be the most isolated Maori community in NZ. Road goes through now but still isolated. No cell phone coverage, limited TV channels unless you go for Sky, internet is by satellite & it is only in the last 25 years that diesel generators have gone(though we have an emergency one at the Marae). 

Alarms are not a real option even if they were directed to someones house. You just never know if anyone is going to be in. Not to mention the weather plays havoc with them if wireless & if hardwired same issue plus having to lay wire through a swamp.

So down there you need to look more at using the ground to enhance security.

Some of my suggestions were using Geese instead of the proposed Dogs, gravel driveway as opposed to sealed, extending the ditches along roadside around the Marae site, then building old style pallisades to assist with fact it was built in a swamp.

In other words it was just like been in the army. Make use of the ground to benefit you or your client in this case.

Not all ideas were taken up, but that is fine.

As I said in yesterday's post, basically I can claim to be a consultant but it is not my focus. It is why I split the company in two. One side can do those areas if required, the newer one is focused on basic security, which in NZ is where we need to get it up to speed first. It is well away from that at present.

Anyway a blog is just opinion & I write mine based on experience in the NZ army, NZ security industry, working in Iraq, where I see the threats to NZ society & what we have to do to bring it up to a minimum level.

                                           http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz