All 22 members of the City Security Council took part in a joint, hi-visibility patrolling strategy with the City of London Police as part of an initiative to deter potential building attacks from protest group Extinction Rebellion.
The joint initiative, which was implemented over the May Bank Holiday weekend, saw combined patrols being set up across the CSC sites within the Square Mile. With approximately 1,000 security officers taking part supported by the police who were out in force both on foot and as mounted police officers.
Member of the CSC and Managing Director of security company UniTrust, Scott Gough coordinated the initiative and said; “When lockdown commenced, we reached out to the CSC membership to gather data about the number of expected man levels within the square mile during the day or night. All members submitted data and we estimated that we have a combined footprint of around 1,000 officers during the day and 750 at night in the city, looking after approximately 600 premises. We advised the City of London Police of our collective resource so they would know we were ready and available should they require any additional support.
“The COLP alerted us that Extinction Rebellion protests were planned for the May Bank Holiday and this led to a combined high visibility patrol strategy being set up across the CSC sites. Together we created a sea of security officers and police officers all highly visible and acting as an efficient deterrent for any potential extinction Rebellion protestors.”
David Ward, Chairman of the CSC comments “This initiative is a great example of why the CSC exists in the first place. Working side by side with our competitors and collaboratively with the police to provide a common goal of greater protection for our clients, their assets, and the public. Our security industry has shown its value as protectors of the City as well as its professionalism. We are extremely proud of our frontline workers who, even in these difficult times, are eager and ready to work in any capacity, alongside the police to support them. The team coordinating this initiative fully deserve the recognition they have been given by the COLP and we are looking forward to further collaborations.”
