City Security Council and City of London Police focus on major incident response

The Major Incidents, Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles and Reception Centres: Joint Response Training is designed to boost awareness of procedures and encourage collaboration between private security companies and the police in the City of London. The aim is to raise awareness and standards of security in the industry and apply the training proactively rather than solely looking to learn lessons arising from the next major incident.

The Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles were established back in 2012 to ensure that blue light services personnel (ie the police, the Fire and Rescue Service and the Ambulance Service) are trained to work together in response to major incidents such that as many lives as possible can be saved.

The programme covers various areas of response to major incidents involving mass fatalities, including Survivor Response Centres, and has been created by CSC operations Board member Jon Felix working together with detective constable Hannah Knight and supported by chief inspector Ray Marksell from the City of London Police.

The sessions focus on understanding what and how intelligence and resources can be shared between the City of London Police and private security companies.

Improving response times

Ray Marskell stated: “Knowing who to brief or to request information from when an incident occurs, knowing where to direct those involved for assistance and sharing the right information through the correct channels can improve response times and reduce the impact of an incident.”

Jon Felix added: “These sessions will bolster the fantastic work being carried out by way of the ACT and SCaN anti-terrorism and security training. The better our staff are trained, the better the response for all – not just our clients and their buildings, but wider communities as well.”

Ashley Fernandes, chair of the CSC, concluded: “We believe collaboration between the police and private security businesses delivers the most effective response to major incidents. The new programme also adds a vital level of credible training to the private security industry. In time, we hope the programme will be certificated by an official awarding body.”

*Training sessions will be running throughout the year and are available for the employees of all City Security Council member companies. Further information is available via e-mail at: operations@citysecuritycouncil.com