SECURITY
Above: The Lincoln
Center uses Evolv
Edge scanners,
which can process
800 people an hour,
without manual
bag inspections
44 AUDITORIA 2020 VOLUME ONE
the right programme, venues leave themselves
open to accusations of corporate manslaughter,
or failing to obey corporate governance
regulations. “It can get nasty if there’s an incident
and they don’t have proper policies,” he says.
Evacuation or invacuation
Contingency plans for emergencies are vital.
“If someone’s coming through the door with
guns and knives, you don’t have time to reinvent
the wheel,” comments Bluestone. “Everything
needs to be thought out in advance. Are you
going for an evacuation, or an ‘invacuation’,
which means finding a safe haven inside and
barricading yourselves in?”
Part of the planning involves building strong
relationships with agencies and stakeholders
in the immediate environment, according to
Mike Downing, chief security officer at Oak
View Group. This includes the police and
firefighters, but also less obvious groups such
as those who take care of street maintenance,
lighting and other day-to-day issues. “Once a
Performing arts venues have also become
more of a target, along with transportation hubs
and stadia. Arguably, the nature of many of
the terrorist attacks has changed, too. “Today
Islamist and far-right terrorism is a potent
threat,” says Mike Bluestone, director of security
consulting at the UK’s Corps Security. “The
IRA used to give warnings for people to get out
because their goal was disruption rather than
mass casualties. But with suicide bombings,
stabbings, shootings and swarm attacks,
the intention is to harm as many people
as possible. MI5 the UK’s intelligence
agency spends 30-40% of the time
investigating lone actors who have
been wound up by influencers using
propaganda. But auditoria also have
to worry about antisocial behaviour,
such as pick-pocketing, unlawful
intrusion from homeless people and
protests from single-issue activists.”
The first step, Bluestone says, is to develop
security policies and procedures. He says without
Evolv Edge
is used by
seven performing
arts centres in the
USA, including the
Lincoln Center
in New York