With exactly what the promised Protect Duty legislation will mean for the events industry remaining unknown , the pandemic leaving a deficit of security staff , and events worldwide seeing some alarming audience behavioural trends , the security sector has its hands full .
Words : Christopher Barrett
E vent security providers would argue that there has never been more reason to review and enhance event security procedures , personnel , training , and systems . Looking at the stark evidence of worrying audience behavioural trends globally , and with Protect Duty approaching , it certainly seems wise .
Eric Stuart is the owner of crowd management specialist Gentian Events Limited , chair of the United Kingdom Crowd Management Association ( UKCMA ) and a director of the Events Industry Forum ( EIF ).
A hugely experienced
Eric Stuart security professional , Stuart says he is very concerned by the number of deaths the international events industry has seen in the past two years compared with the past 20 . He provides a long list of tragic events , including the 151 killed during a Halloween celebration in South Korea , two police officers being among 11 victims of a crowd surge at a Congo stadium show , more than 45 killed at an Israeli religious festival , 10 deaths after a stampede at the Astroworld festival in the US , and 125 dead after a crowd crush at an Indonesian football match .
“ Then you have two big near misses in Europe ,” says Stuart . “ The Euro 2020
Final at Wembley Stadium was officially classified as a near miss in terms of multiple fatalities , and I think the Paris Champions League Final that saw the use of CS gas in a dense crowd should also be counted as a near miss .”
Stuart has found that there has been a distinct change in behaviour at events since the pandemic subsided , largely because people have been housebound for so long . He says that among the by-products of the lockdowns is that young people lack experience of how to behave in crowds .
“ They haven ’ t had that familiarity with the pack and how to behave in that environment , so we ’ ve seen some real aggressive and extreme behaviours resulting from an apparent sense of intolerance and entitlement ,” he says .
“ Everybody ’ s had a rough deal for two years and been treated badly by the Government , and now when they come out they don ’ t want anyone telling them what to do . There ’ s a real challenge now for security and stewards because people are continuously questioning their authority when asked politely to do things .”
Chris Kemp , CEO of Mind Over Matter Consultancy and professor of Crowd Management at Edinburgh Napier University , has years of experience in risk management and
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