Counter-terrorism measures at Wembley

Neil Sharman - Security Manager at Wembley Stadium - shared the stadium’s counter-terrorism measures both on event day and non-event day during the ESSMA Summit in Porto.

Safety measures on non-event day

There are 50 permanent security staff on-site and the control room is monitored 24/7 on non-event days. Furthermore, there are safety measures in place such as a 100% bag search of all people including staff, each vehicle delivery must be booked in advance and all visitors must be logged in advance and require an ID during their visit.

“We firmly believe that our 24/7 counter-terrorism operation and security culture is the foundation for a safe event day.”

Additional measures include external patrols, extensive CCTV coverage which is 24/7 monitored, daily updates with neighbours to share intel/incidents, hostile reconnaissance measures and emergency responder familiarisation.

Safety measures on event days

Via a formal documented process, Wembley prepares itself on event days via a phased introduction of enhanced measures. Key part of this process is the briefing message and the consistent use of key staff.

In addition there are enhanced safety measures:

  • Enhanced number of personnel
  • Use of event accreditation replaces staff passes
  • Staff pass through mag arches
  • Staff bags are marked with a unique event day seal
  • Vehicle search is supported by K9 unit (police dogs)
  • Venue sweep by K9 unit
  • Restricted bag policy in operation- exemptions
  • Concourse sweep and closure
  • Police on site  

Main takeaways 

  • Effective measures operate 24/7 not just event day
  • A safe event is built on secure foundations
  • There will always be a commercial vs. security conflict
  • Going from 70 -100 is safer than 0-100 and costs less
  • Venue and event reputations are hard to recover from


Go to our ESSMA Flickr account for more pictures.

 

Access the Summit presentations on the ESSMA Knowledge Platform

Posted on 11/04/2019 in: