Military Called In to Clean Up Olympic Security Mess

By Chris Key - Thursday, 12th July 2012

Following yesterday’s blog that discussed the impending failure of security measures surrounding the Olympics, breaking news today has confirmed Churchill’s fears regarding the insufficient training of the Games’ security officers. G4S, a worldwide security company now face penalties following their admission that they have ‘encountered some delays’ in processing the final stages of security guard training. In a reactive move from the government, up to 3,500 soldiers have now been deployed to fill the gap left by G4S in hopes to salvage the crumbling security infrastructure.

This comes after the shocking announcement made earlier this year that all Olympic security staff did not need to hold an SIA license. Today, the revelations have been two fold. First it was reported that G4S do not have anywhere near enough staff to accommodate the security needs of the Olympics and secondly, after SIA licensing was stricken off the list of requirements for candidates, it has become apparent the promised specific Olympic training has not been carried out to the necessary standards.

More than anything else, this situation highlights the upmost importance of hiring experienced SIA (Security Industry Authority) trained staff for your every security need. 

Why is hiring SIA licensed staff so important?

• Trained staff will have a vast array of expertise from monitoring computers and security cameras to self-defence, the protection of others and conflict management.
• They have an awareness of the law in the private security industry, fire safety, communication skills for the care of Olympic-goers and the procedures to take in case of an emergency.

Without any form of training, the Olympic security officers would not be responsive in the face of potential threats such as acts of terrorism, crowd disputes, hooliganism, and theft.

After years of campaigning which saw David Beckham amongst other famous faces secure the London 2012 bid, it would be a terrible thing to see the safety of visitors compromised.