Stern warning on 2007 W/Cup security

RORY STERN, a South African has been put in charge of security for the 2007 World Cup of Cricket in the Caribbean.

Leading up to the tournament, Stern will be responsible for establishing and accessing the security criteria for the Venue Assessment Team (VAT). Stern was closely involved to ensure adequate security was provided at the 2003 World Cup in his homeland. He is a respected international security expert and close protection specialist who accompanied former South African President Nelson Mandela globally as team leader of his close protection unit for five years. Stern’s experience puts him in an ideal position to head the sensitive portfolio.

At the recent Venue Summit in St Lucia, he went into great detail on the strategy that was used in South Africa, a lot of which will will be duplicated in the West Indies. “We wanted to be preventative. We wanted to have sufficient controls in place that we only didn’t have to react to safety and security issues, but we could prevent them from happening,” Stern said. “We wanted to enhance the spectator experience. We came up with the philosophy that we are not a bunch of kill giants that are going to arrive at a cricket ground and say you can’t do this and you can’t do that. “You will kill the local culture of cricket. We wanted the security plan to enhance the spectator experience,” he said. The first thing that was needed, as is the case with any major event in South Africa, whether it be sporting or political, was a recommendation and approval of the security plan by the Cabinet and signed off by the president. A host of personnel were involved, from police, consultants, organised labour, the private security sector, a health and disaster management committee, volunteers, but success depended on a co-ordinated effort he said. Stern stated the ICC World Cup 2007 will have to include elements of what is now practised  internationally. One of the reasons for that is the terms of the host agreement and the stipulation of insurance companies.

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the US, no major sporting event will get insurance unless there is a very thorough security plan in place. It is necessary that all security personnel deployed are registered and that they are properly trained up to the established standard. There is also the Venue Operation Centre (VOC). This is a fully operational and professionally-equipped control room that is part and parcel of any stadia built in recent times. Stationed here, among others are, disaster management personnel, police, the security directorate, the venue volunteer co-ordinator, police VOC commander, medical emergency and the stadium manager. Effective communication is key, said Stern. “You cannot simply have a two-way radio network without having headsets so that you can hear the communication above the crowd noise,” he said. There will also be “spotters” who are security officers or a policeman dressed like a spectator. You need quite a few of these in the stands. Metal detectors and scanners are also a must. “To gain entry to a stadium, one must have either a match ticket or an accreditation pass. Security is so strict that even those applying for accreditation to the event have to go through background checks. One security officer was assigned to each team on a full-time basis and he picked up support staff along the way in each city,” noted Stern

All stadiums also have to provide some certification. ”Before a ball can be bowled, each stadia must provide three certificates —- structural safety, maximum capacity and fire certification,” he said. There will also be remote search parks in effect. This means any vehicle which comes into the stadium after it was secured goes to a remote facility where it is searched, to make sure there were no bombs, weapons on board. Simple measures like the use of public address systems and giant screens are to be used to ensure safety for everyone. There are also other systems in place to eliminate a host of potential trouble-makers. The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit have a very significant database of “undesirable” people and that list is passed on to government authorities in an effort to prevent their entry into the country. “We are running a cricket World Cup. It’s still a cricket World Cup. But it is just as important to remember that security is the glue that holds any operation together,” remarked Stern.