Tag: Tourist Site

Five Factors to Improve Today’s Physical Security Screening Experience

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Security screening technology is often measured by three factors – detection, alarm rates and throughput. At the macro level, these three metrics give a broad sense of whether or not a device will improve an overall security process. However, these three pieces don’t tell the whole story. Two other factors, closely tied to throughput, flesh out the overall security trade space. They are “touch rate” and “divestiture.”

  • The traditional factors – detection, alarm rates and throughput.
  • The five “must consider” factors – detection, alarm rates and throughput, along with touch rate and divestiture.

Only when the entire set of factors is considered as a whole, can the effectiveness and efficiency of the device be evaluated. In today’s world where physical security screening has become the “norm” in more and more of the places we gather, the latter two factors become increasingly important — to find a purpose-built device and the right process.

The age-old adage “there are two sides to every coin” speaks volumes. While “throughput” is important to security operators, it’s the combination of throughput, touch rate, and divestiture that matters to your customer.

With this is mind, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) created the TSA Precheck Program, the focus was specifically on two things beyond detection: 1) touching people less and 2) letting them leave everyday items on or in their pockets and in bags. While “throughput” wasn’t the central tenant of the program, it was believed that doing the first two things for a growing population of travelers would ultimately speed up throughput for all travelers.

When the program was created its authors wondered whether these two things would be material enough to make a difference in the physical screening experience. More than half a decade later, there is a clear differentiation between the highly customer-focused TSA Precheck practice and “regular” screening, underscoring the point that customers place high value on an improved experience.

Customer experience matters.

Not all customer environments will be the same; each will have slightly different objectives. Some will be in high threat locations; others will not. Regardless of the customer or their venue, the following things will always ring true. First, your physical screening system must detect threats at a high level and with limited alarms. Second, your physical screening system must do this in a way that keeps people moving, minimizes physical touching and allows them to walk at their pace without losing control of their belongings. Finally, in a world of limited or shrinking budgets, your system must be able to deliver efficiencies – either in terms of hard budget savings or repurposed security resources.

If you’re reading this blog, it’s possible that you’re implementing a comprehensive security screening solution for the first time. Or, perhaps, you’ve already implemented something in response to growing threats over the past decade. In either case, I encourage you not to start at square one. Why not learn from the organization that has been the face of post 9-11 security for almost two decades? Certainly, the TSA has made mistakes. And, thankfully, they have also made significant advances. You can learn from both, and you don’t have to spend a decade to do it.

Consider the five factors discussed above and evaluate your overall security process through a customer lens. Is the technology in your current process, or the one you are considering, purpose built to meet today’s security concerns while also preserving the culture, look, and feel of your venue? If it isn’t, you have options. There will always be two sides to this coin, but there are ways to ensure that both shine for decades to come. Contact us to find out how.

Note: To underscore the importance of the customer experience, I highlighted the tangible changes to TSA Precheck screening. It’s important to acknowledge the foundation of the program is built on the concepts of trust and access, and the public’s willingness to share personal information for the benefit of this streamlined screening experience.

Shining a Spotlight on Better Event Security

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Mass shootings like the one that occurred this past weekend at The Jacksonville Landing entertainment complex and last year at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas shake us to our core. They make us feel vulnerable in moments when we should instead feel excited. Large performance spaces have been cultural cornerstones for thousands of years because they uniquely bring together people regardless of race, creed or gender over a shared love for the arts. Attacks like these exploit one of the most powerful uniting forces in our society.

The challenge for security professionals is that these venues take a number of different forms. For example, in the Boston area you could see Moulin Rouge at the Emerson Colonial theatre, the Eagles at TD Garden arena and Cirque du Soleil’s LUZIA under a big top at the grounds of Suffolk Downs – all within the same month. As adversaries shift their focus to public places and become increasingly innovative in their strategies, we need a new approach to venue security.

A New Focus for Attackers

Since adversaries have moved on from hard targets such as airplanes, government facilities and military bases, there has been a significant shift to soft targets such as performing arts centers, sporting venues and arenas. While this is widely known – our CEO tells the story often of the anxious conversations he recently witnessed fellow parents having as he picked up his son’s friends to take them to an Imagine Dragons concert at a stadium – not enough is being done to address this new focus of keeping loved ones safe.

Further, the attack method and the perpetrator have changed. The rise of crowd-sourced terrorism has led to readily accessible means for an attack. Firearms, vehicles and home-made explosives are within reach as adversaries shift their focus from high-profile locations to anywhere people gather.

Raising the Current on New Security Technology

While attackers have focused in on specific venues, security screening technology has been largely unchanged. Today when you go to a see a show at a theatre, you’ll likely wait in line for sometimes 30-45 minutes before approaching a metal detector for which you have to empty your pockets or divest personal items before walking through. Many stadium and arena operators no longer even allow visitors to bring backpacks or other bags into their venues to improve the efficiency of screening.

Advancements in technology are changing this status quo, providing higher throughput and improved threat detection with less disruption. Some combine personnel and bag screening to help minimize removal of personal items and speed up the process. These technologies are using the latest sensors, software and user experience design principles to provide an improved level of security with a better visitor experience.

While technology is an important component to an effective security plan for a performing arts center, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. When building a security plan, facility managers should work to understand their threat vectors, vulnerabilities, and mitigation plans. They should incorporate the following components into a comprehensive security plan.

  • Intelligence: Understand and identify the threats to the area, building, and people in it. Work with various federal, state, and local enforcement agencies and leverage the facility team’s network of contacts. Threats are constantly changing; therefore, intelligence must be ongoing.
  • People and Training: Guards and officers serve as the frontline, they know the facility and the people in it. They should be trained on an ongoing basis in security protocols as well as identifying suspicious behavior.
  • Processes and Protocols: Facility managers can no longer use a “one-size-fits-all” approach to security. They need tailored systems and well thought out processes and protocols – like risk-based security – to ensure security layers are properly deployed throughout a venue.
  • Technology: As mentioned above, new technologies can provide threat prevention beyond the capabilities of guards to significantly improve screening operations. CCTV and access control expand the reach of the team on the ground. Further, facial recognition technology can be employed to recognize and authorize employees in an employee screening application or to adjust screening for VIPs.
  • Visitor Experience: With new technology and processes, it’s important that customer experience is not a secondary consideration – especially at a performing arts center. A security experience can maintain a level of calm and unobtrusiveness.

By employing a holistic approach, security guards and facility managers at performing arts centers can be armed with the information they need to quickly and confidently assure a safe environment for their visitors. With the right technology, they can effectively screen and adjust layers of security in response to changing threat levels without impacting visitors and their normal pace of life. In fact, when selecting new technologies, facility managers should look for solutions that provide a balance between improved security and a better visitor experience.

While related issues like the gun control debate may divide us, cultural experiences like seeing a show or going to a concert unite us. We can all agree that we deserve to feel safe in all the places we gather. At Evolv, we will continue to innovate to bring intelligence and security at the perimeter of soft targets to keep people safe – at performing arts centers and beyond.

Read more here about safeguarding against soft target attacks.

Six Ways to Prevent Soft Targets from Terrorist Attacks

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We bet five years ago that soft-target attacks would become the favored tactic of terrorists, particularly if ISIS began to lose ground on the battlefield. Unfortunately, we were right.

Many stadium and arena operators no longer allow visitors to bring backpacks or other bags into their venues. Policies like these were instituted to ensure that the venue can balance the need for effective screening with the need to avoid miserably long security lines.

But there’s no getting around it: for anyone wanting to pack an extra sweater, a snack for the baby or raincoat just in case, this is a big deal–a serious degradation of the customer experience. Unfortunately, such are the compromises security professionals have had to make in this post-ISIS era. Soft-target attacks–everything from sophisticated assaults on iconic arenas to lethal “lone wolf” attacks on unsuspecting neighborhood nightclubs—are on the rise, forcing operators of public venues of all sizes to rethink their security strategies. All too often, venues have had to resort to the oldest, bluntest response: hire more security guards and request more police support and do more thorough physical searches.

We all know that’s not a sustainable response. Throwing labor at the problem is costly in the short-term and economically unsustainable in the long-term. It’s not sure to dissuade a determined terrorist, but may impact your brand. After all, your business is to provide a carefree, entertaining experience for your customer—not to turn a night out into what feels like a visit to a hardened military installation. And when customers complain, we all know who will bear the brunt of the pressure. You will.

Therefore, here are six ways that screening technology can protect soft targets from terrorist attacks:

1: Create an Enhanced Visitor Experience – Deliver security at the pace of life. Visitors are not asked to “pause and pose”. Because it uses high-speed millimeter imaging, the system can screen people at walking speed. Since we need to search for mass casualty weapons, there’s no need to empty one’s pockets and purses into “dog bowls”.

2: Don’t Treat All Threats Equal – Our industry responded impressively after 911, with powerful systems designed to find anything a highly trained terrorist could use to attempt a repeat of that infamous day. The unsophisticated lone wolves who carried out most of the more recent soft-target attacks needed powerful weapons and explosives to cause mass casualties. We’ll look for those—not screwdrivers, razor blades, or other everyday objects with minimal potential for terror.

3: Don’t Deploy Security That is All or Nothing. It’s Complicated.  – In the past, the main question for many organizations was whether to deploy screening technology. Like it or not, ISIS has changed that calculation. Now, almost any place where crowds gather can be a target. Look into technology that improves your defenses at all your facilities – whether it is adding another layer of protection to a sports stadium or introducing one to a previously unprotected nightclub or corporate office.

4: Know that Flow Matters – Living in a free society means accepting some risks. Security cannot come at the cost of freedom of movement, freedom from intrusive searches and freedom from inconvenience.

5: Understand that Customer Experience Matters – Minimizing the unpleasantness of screening is not a secondary consideration—not for your customers and visitors, and not for your boss. Our working assumption is that if our technology hurts your ability to retain and attract business, you won’t use it for long. You need to protect your customers and help your business.

6: Consider Future-Proofing Through Software – Powerful software platforms help you easily adjust as new threats emerge. This is crucial to keep you prepared for today’s sophisticated terrorist networks, who use social networks and other tools to quickly share instructions for building more lethal bombs or executing new types of attacks.

It’s time the security industry stepped up with solutions for the reality of today’s world. Our technology is specifically designed to expose the threats behind mass casualty attacks that have become all too common to help your front-line personnel take quick action without inconveniencing your customers.

To learn more, read the three questions security directors need to ask before the next soft target event here.

Security content kit for stadiums and arenas

Three Questions Security Directors Need to Ask Before the Next Soft-Target Event

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It’s been more than a year since a suicide bomb was detonated in the foyer of the Manchester Arena. The blast killed twenty-two concert-goers and injured hundreds more. Since then, I have met with security directors from concert halls, stadiums, arenas, sports teams, and convention centers around the world. These security directors are typically asked three questions by their venue owners and managers:

1. How vulnerable are we to this type of attack?

2. What are other venues doing to prevent this type of attack?

3. How can we prevent this type of attack from happening in our venue?

The short answer is, there’s still more to be done.

A typical reaction after the Manchester event was for security directors to reach out to the security consulting industry to help them address these questions. This often included a new or refreshed threat assessment and vulnerability analysis that resulted in identification of security gaps. People, processes, and technology were then evaluated in various combinations to close those gaps.

An initial focus on upskilling people typically includes training to make guards and employees more vigilant and aware of the signs of trouble. This is a quick way to reinforce important skills. Venues will conduct formal internal training, either by bringing in an outside firm or working closely with law enforcement through various programs they offer. Having trained staff is an important part of the overall security plan.

Next, many of these venues step up contact with various sources of intelligence to help them understand and identify the threats to their area, their building, and, if applicable, the people performing at their site. These sources stream in from various federal, state, and local agencies or fusion centers, through a range of companies providing intelligence-as-a-service, and through the venue’s own network of individual contacts. For example, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces in more than 100 U.S. cities and similar international intelligence bodies are a critical component in this fight against terrorism.

The third key piece involves making changes to processes and technology. These may include fortifying the perimeter with bollards, adding “eyes on” such as CCTV cameras, or improving visitor screening operations. Process and technology changes, implemented effectively, can multiply the available forces, enabling significant improvements to both the effectiveness and efficiency of the overall security operation.

Decisions about which security technology should be deployed and what processes to wrap around them are highly dependent on the threats and vulnerabilities of a specific venue. There are some key considerations in this decision:

How vulnerable are we to this type of attack?
A key question is: what threats are we most concerned about? Based on physical layout, crowd concentration, and location, some venues are most concerned with person-borne threats and others are concerned with vehicles used as weapons. The threat of an individual bringing a firearm or explosive device to do harm to a crowd of people is high on most lists. Typically, threats are identified and prioritized within a logical framework including the probability of a given type of event, the impact on the venue and its visitors, and the vulnerability based on current security measures.

What are our operational realities?
One comment we consistently hear loud and clear is that a traditional airport or courthouse “mag and bag” checkpoint security process isn’t a viable solution. Security leaders do not want to create an environment where visitors or fans are required to remove all the items from their pockets and place them into a small white bowl, walk through a screening device, and then re-collect their items and go on their way. A manual search of every bag also significantly slows down the screening process and is intrusive to visitors.

What are the gaps in our security plan?
Firearms and explosive devices concealed on an individual are two concerns high on the list of most security directors. There are thousands of people converging on these venues in a short period of time, often just before the start of a show or beginning of a game. To effectively and efficiently screen each visitor for these types of threats is impractical, if not impossible, using traditional technologies – often a mix of walk through metal detectors, manual bag checks and guards trained to identify known trouble makers. For some venues, it’s canines for explosive detection. Evolv has combined all three of these capabilities into a single high-speed device.

Our formula is simple:

  • Find the threats we care most about: explosive devices and firearms
  • Make the visitor experience as unobtrusive as possible
  • Ensure throughput between 500 to 1,000 people per hour (per security lane)
  • Make it easy for guards or officers to use
  • Ensure it is flexible so that it can be used at multiple locations and in different operational configurations to screen different groups of people

Arenas, performance centers, and stadiums have begun deploying new security screening technologies such as the Evolv Edge, and even more are conducting pilots to understand how best to deploy them. However, too few have taken proactive steps to effectively protect their visitors and fans from today’s threats. Let’s focus on detecting the threats we know are out there.

Whitepaper: Balancing Security, Visitor Experience, Operational Efficiency and Cost Considerations

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Summary

All security systems are designed to keep people safe. The challenge is balance. Does the security present an undue burden, either to the provider or to the customer, does it evoke a sense of safety, and does it operate within the cultural bounds of the venue? And of course, how much does it cost? Security experts generally agree the use of a venue specific risk-based security (RBS) approach is preferable to “one-size fits all” solutions. Flexibility and adaptability are key factors in RBS solutions, allowing “tailored” systems designed to mitigate risk while maximizing customer movement or throughput with minimal disruption.

Evolv Edge was designed and built to aid an organization’s move toward a risk-based security approach and provide balanced detection across a range of threats in a changing environment.

Download this whitepaper to learn how Evolv Technology’s Edge system provides the best RBS solution to detect metallic and non-metallic threats that cause mass casualties.

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Fill out the form to download this whitepaper to learn about balancing security, visitor experience, operational efficiency, and cost considerations

A multi-venue Performing Arts Center keeps visitors safe with seamless security screening

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Today, millions of people are vulnerable to attacks as private facilities, the transportation infrastructure and public venues and arenas have become potential targets. These soft targets are more vulnerable to attacks because they are harder to secure, with surging crowds, multiple ingresses and egresses to monitor and often minimally trained staff. Based on physical layout, crowd concentration and location, some venues have become concerned with person-borne explosive threats and others with concealed firearms. Decisions about which security technology should be deployed and what processes to wrap around them are highly dependent on the threats and vulnerabilities of a specific venue.

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The world is full of soft targets and we’re defining a new approach to protecting them

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We are focused on the mission of keeping people safe. Here’s a quick look at how we see our challenge, our opportunity and our vision for the future of screening at soft targets around the globe.

A dynamic adversary

Another mass casualty event at yet another soft target. Riyadh, Bangladesh, Istanbul, Orlando, Brussels, Paris and San Bernardino.

Questions emerge: Were the terrorists lone wolves or known wolves? Were they inspired or directed? How can we improve protection? Should we push the perimeter out? Are we creating new soft targets with new checkpoints?.

We’ve spent the past three years talking with hundreds of professionals about securing their people and their facilities from active shooters and suicide bombers. These professionals provide protection to stadiums, transportation hubs, subways and rail, office buildings, special events, hotels and entertainment venues, military facilities, critical infrastructure such as chemical and nuclear facilities, and landmarks. They do this in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The needs may differ among them, but their mission is the same: keep their people and places safe.

Defining a new approach

We have accumulated, synthesized and prioritized the needs of this global group of security professionals to define an entirely new approach to physical security. We have researched, evaluated, built and tested a wide range of sensors, software, and analytical approaches to detect the physical security threat. We have studied and analyzed the operational realities of keeping soft targets safe. We’ve looked outside the physical security industry for innovative approaches and technologies to bring to bear on the physical security mission.

Enter Evolv

One thing is crystal clear: We need to provide better security without disrupting people’s everyday pace of life.

This should be accomplished with the latest sensors, software, and analytics, combined to provide a seamless screening experience, letting the public easily pass through while trapping those intending to do us harm. Our product is emerging from development, none too soon to help protect the next set of soft targets.

Our Products

The most effective security processes incorporate means to adjust sensitivity based on risk level. Our products enable risk-based adjustment as a core capability built into the technology. These adjustments can be made for a specific individual, location or time of day. Settings allow for different detection sensitivity and threat sets, based on intelligence, site-specific factors or a randomness protocol.

Our technology is designed to enhance the look of your location, not detract from it. Products are easily deployed at access points, lobbies, and entrance ways with little to no infrastructure modifications. Our design approach is to minimize the impact on your location by carefully designing the product and the ways it can be used.

Randomness is an important component in an effective security protocol to counter surveillance activities or to disrupt planned operations. Our screening products can be rapidly relocated and set-up to enable unpredictable screening at different locations throughout your facility.

Today’s security environment demands multiple layers, both visible and discreet. Results are typically fused at a command center, providing a more complete picture of the security situation. Our products improve situational awareness by inserting real-time multi-sensor data into the overall picture. In addition to providing screening results at the unit and to the command center, real-time information can be served to mobile security officers or others connected to the operation.

– Real-time video surveillance
– Facial recognition and known wolf matching
– Firearm and explosive detection

We have designed our products from the ground up to detect and prevent threats that can cause mass causalities. From sensors to software to networking, they are focused on keeping your people safe while allowing free flow and movement. We use a combination of sensors, built on active millimeter wave, that inform automated detection algorithms to provide a fully automated ‘red light’ or ‘green light’ decision. Detection settings can be adjusted based on the latest threat level. Evolv products are designed for high detection rates with minimal false alarms, to focus on the threats and minimize the impact on your visitors.