From street parties to music festivals, outdoor event season is upon us, but how are you protecting your public spaces during this? Discover our top event security tips here.
Events generally face multiple security risks due to the high traffic volume of both individuals and vehicles present at one time, and not having the correct management in place could lead to a catastrophe.
However, navigating events in public spaces creates even further management challenges regarding security and as organisers, it’s your responsibility to prepare for this and protect those involved.
So, whether it’s a small-scale street party or large music festival, we delve into the dangers to events in public spaces and how to protect your event against them.
What Are The Dangers to Events in Public Spaces?
Events alone in contained spaces face various challenges, however, when you transition them into public spaces, the risks only increase.
Public spaces are a much greater challenge when it comes to security due to their vast size, often open access and day-to-day functionality they are required for.
There are several security dangers to events in public spaces, including:
Disorderly and ASB Behaviour
Unfortunately, with large crowds, there’s a higher risk of disorderly conduct and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), especially alcohol and drug-related incidents.
This can create numerous challenges as the larger the crowds, the more individuals there are to manage and if an incident does break out, there’s a higher likelihood this could escalate quickly and spill out across the public space.
As organisers, you have a duty of care to attendees and if any incident of ASB leads to injury or theft, you could be held liable for this.
Theft and Vandalism
Events in public spaces can draw in the wrong crowd as thieves and vandals look to take advantage of this opportunity to pickpocket and damage property.
With high volumes of crowds and vehicles, criminals can utilise this to hide their identity and commit illegal activity without anyone knowing.
The difficulty of resolving such issues is that without any monitoring in place, most theft and vandalism will go under the radar until it’s too late and there’s no way to find those involved.
Crowd-Related Incidents
Issues regarding overcrowding, stampedes and crushing, all increase in likelihood at events due to the number of attendees, especially when individuals are entering and exiting the public space.
This is because of the number of individuals all entering or leaving through a limited number of exits, pushing large crowds into smaller spaces.
Crowd control can become a challenge, particularly if attendees are fuelled by alcohol and drugs, and you need to stay on top of this, otherwise this could lead to injuries or at worse, death.
Terrorism
Events, especially those in public spaces are at a greater risk to terrorism due to the vast size of the event and number of attendees present.
The aim of terrorism is to advance a political, religious or ideological view and these acts will often target events due to the sheer damage and publicity related to them if a strike were to occur.
Holding these events in public spaces can increase this risk as managing entry and exit on these event types can be hard if there’s no advanced security and monitoring in place to protect against this.
Infrastructure Damage
Events require infrastructure for stages, perimeter fencing, food and drink stands and welfare tents, however, at times this infrastructure may be put under strain.
This could be due to poor weather, crowds climbing it or a fault in the infrastructure itself which could lead to it becoming damaged and this damage could escalate into worsening outcomes.
If this occurs during an event, attendees could be placed at risk, however, for events in public spaces, nearby buildings and external members of the public could also be placed at risk.
Weather Risks
Every event organiser will be familiar with the challenges weather can bring, as well as the unpredictability of it.
However, poor weather conditions such as rain, wind, thunder and lightning can all have extremely devastating impacts on events, particularly those held outside in public spaces.
It can lead to flooding, damaged infrastructure, attendees being injured or environmental damage, all of which could have negative knock-on impacts with various areas of your event.
Fire Hazards
Similar to infrastructure, events require power and electricity to run and this can create fire hazards. Additionally, electronics and other devices from attendees can increase this risk also.
Fires at events in public spaces can be extremely damaging because they can spread outside of the events’ space itself, placing both buildings and the general public at further risk.
Also, managing the devices of attendees at all times is not possible, so without monitoring and security in place to limit dangerous goods and track hazards, fires can escalate much quicker.
Traffic Control and Car Accidents
Although, events in public spaces are likely to be planned heavily and be prepared for managing traffic, it is still an uphill battle when dealing with both everyday traffic and the increased traffic of those attending the event.
This can lead to an increased risk of car accidents, potentially even involving pedestrians.
Having a clear traffic flow is central to reducing this risk and this must be communicated clearly to drivers and pedestrians through the use of signage and other communication platforms.
Health Emergencies
With such a high number of attendees at events, there is always the risk of health emergencies and for those in public spaces, these events will often be run over vast areas, making managing and responding to these issues less simple for emergency responders.
Especially on hot days, health emergencies are likely to increase due to dehydration and other risks associated with this. In these instances, the challenges only increase for event organisers and their teams.
How to Protect Your Public Spaces During Events
Due to the vast challenges that events face in public spaces, it’s vital that you enforce the best prevention and security measures in order to protect your event, employees and any attendees.
With over 20-years of experience supporting events such as the G20 summit, we have worked closely with event organisers to secure their site and protect against the various risks presented to them.
Although, every event is unique and has their own requirements, there are key steps you can take to protect your public spaces during an event:
Conduct a Thorough Risk Assessment of the Event and Public Space
Risk assessments can help establish the weak points and areas of concern regarding an event and the public space where they will be held.
Before running any event, there are key factors you need to consider in a security sense to ensure that the public space can manage it and is safe to do so:
- What permits and regulations will you need?
- Is the venue suitable for the event?
- How will you manage the crowd?
- What security measures will be required?
- How will you ensure your venue is accessible to all?
- What health and safety requirements for the event?
- How will you prepare for various weather conditions?
- Where will you receive power, water and other utilities from?
- How will transportation work to/from the event and support traffic flow?
- What communication methods will staff utilise at the event?
Holding an event in a public space is complex, making the risk assessment part of the process extremely important before you even decide whether the event can take place.
You may find there is too much red tape to cross or that there isn’t the capacity to hold the event and therefore will need to consider another space for it.
However, if during this process you find that the event can be held in the specified public space, the risk assessment will help with building your security plan and be the perfect starting point for your preparation work.
Develop a Security Plan With the Safety Resources Required
Establishing your security plan in advance is a must for any event, particularly one in a public space where planning can be more difficult and decisions cannot just be made last minute.
You should begin developing your plan as early as possible to ensure you can prepare the resources you require to provide the safety and security to the event and any attendees.
Emergency response units and Police support will need to be informed beforehand and if you are considering implementing any security measure, you should explore your options to understand the best options for you.
At this stage, you should speak to individuals and businesses about this, and if you’ve not created a plan before, you may wish to involve an external consultant who has supported on a project similar to yours.
Prepare an Emergency Response Team
As mentioned, health and safety at events, particularly in public spaces is important for many reasons; the safety of attendees, maintaining crowd control, protecting those external to the event and ensuring support in cases of emergencies.
Without the correct emergency response teams, your event could be understaffed and under supported in cases of emergencies and if this is allowed to occur, this could lead to negative consequences, including:
- Injuries and at worse, death of attendees and employees
- Poor crowd control like trampling and crushing
- Car accidents
- Poor business reputation caused by complaints
- Financial loss
- Loss of attendees
Coordinate with the emergency response teams within the area to organise a plan in advance and discuss the correct support required for the event.
Implement a Visible Criminal Deterrents at the Event
Security risks such as terrorism, theft and trespassing will often begin on the external areas of your event and for those held in public spaces, there is an assumed lack of security that these criminals will take advantage of.
Therefore, you must implement visible criminal deterrents internally and externally of the event’s premises to help present a show of force against this and prevent them from entering.
Physical deterrents such as perimeter fencing and security guards can be used on the external areas of the event. Patrolling the public space for any suspicious behaviour and making trespassing more difficult for any unauthorised individuals.
However, the human eye can only cover so much and with such high numbers of attendees, utilising mobile CCTV systems around the perimeter of your event could provide a visible boost in security at your site.
Our CCTV Towers stand up to 6 metres tall, are painted bright yellow and run completely autonomously, meaning they can be placed wherever you see best whilst creating a strong security presence that is unmistakable to any potential intruders.
Install Mobile CCTV Systems Around the Perimeter of the Event
As we’ve already briefly touched on, mobile CCTV systems can help boost visible criminal deterrence at your event, but they also help live monitor and record your site for any suspicious behaviour.
For some advanced systems such as ourselves, we use Video Analytics to detect motion and monitor for even the smallest signs of danger to your site, including loitering.
Our aim is to be proactive and reactive in our security approach, preventing and intervening active crime in order to stop it from impacting your event and any attendees.
In particular, our CCTV Towers work as both criminal deterrents and monitoring systems to provide a cost-effective solution that ensures you don’t need to skimp on the quality of security you receive.
Additionally, our advanced camera technology offers day-to-night coverage through the IR PTZ cameras used with all our products, allowing you to zoom in to threats and view up to 200 metres in the dark.
With any event, you must remain vigilant and mobile CCTV is the best way to provide those extras eyes in which perimeter fencing and security guards cannot.
Utilise Remote Monitoring Services for Enhanced Events Security
Remote monitoring services tend to involve a monitoring centre off-site tuning into and watching your CCTV’s live feed, assessing threats and responding in a prompt, appropriate manner to them.
This allows you to remain proactive and reactive in your security approach, rather than having to work retrospectively to deal with any crime because at that point, it may be too late.
We understand that events can’t afford those slip ups which is why all of our products are backed by remote monitoring services which help you to keep on top of any external threats presented towards your event.
This is included as part of our fully-managed security service, helping to alleviate the burden of security from you as organisers and let you focus on the other key responsibilities you have during the event.
Communicate and Coordinate With Local Authorities on the Event
Permits will have been required in the first place to run an event in a public space, however, you should continue to cooperate with the Local Authorities during the planning and running of the event.
This will help you maintain the support and security you require throughout, and gain further suggestions on what can be done to boost the safety at your event.
Always keep in contact with those relevant as events require multiple agencies to work together in order to protect the event and anyone in attendance to this.
Restrict Access Control to the Public Space
Access control for events in general isn’t simple, but for those in public spaces, managing this becomes an even greater challenge as intruders and criminals will utilise this element to access the site without permission.
Hence why you need to focus on restricting access control as best as possible to ensure that only those authorised can enter your event.
Access control options you could implement are as follows:
- Increased security guards at entrances and stringent ticket checks
- Turnstiles
- Ticket scanning devices
- Wristbands or stamps for attendees to show their authorisation if they leave the venue
Market-Leading, Fully-Managed Security Services for Events and Public Spaces
Protecting your public space needs to be a priority, especially during events when security risks only increase, and you cannot afford to skimp on the security measures you utilise to protect your events and its attendees.
As the UK’s market-leading security supplier and we have created a range of products that can support the needs of your event, no matter its size and requirements.
Previous event organisers have used our CCTV Towers to protect against threats such as trespassing and theft, all of which could have impacted the event and placed attendees at risk.
Want to get ahead of your event’s security? Trust us in providing you with that much-needed helping hand and speak with one of our security experts today.
