Bodyguard and Security 2.pdf

IBSSA official publication 2006Controlling hundreds of thousandsThe practice of securing eventsWho has not seen hundreds of thousands of peoplecovering the place, madly cheering pop starts? Whocannot list sports event where 50-80,000 fanatic footballfans give voice to disagreement with the referee’sdecision? In some places, the crowds are controlled byprofessional work; in others, things may turn into atragedy. Our magazine asked the professional managerof Hungary’s largest event security companyIn-Kal Security to summarise the basic concepts,principals and rules along which they work.When organising and ensuring security forevents, some basic concepts and professionaland legal regulations have to be made clear to beable to work smoothly and successfully.We talk about an event when some sports,cultural, political or social event or gathering isheld organised by some structured community,association, public or civil organisation or privateindividual, where different people meet forsome purpose just for once, periodically or on aconstant basis.Event security means the total of measuresand activities taken to ensure smooth realisationof the event and to protects the life and propertyof the participants.In retrospect it can be seen that privatebodyguards and security services have emergeddirectly before the political regime changeamong Hungarian security businesses and haveundergone a stage of quick development concurrentlywith privatisation after the politicalregime change.The role of politics in the development ofthese security servicesThe situation after the democratic transformationplayed and important role in the quickdevelopment of event security as a branch ofservices, when the political change started totake place in Hungary together with the socalledstreet politics that accompanied it. Thismade it absolutely necessary to provide modernand efficient event security, which was notbased on violence. At the same time, in furtherdevelopment of the experience gained the developmentof event security as a branch of securityservices started, and has emerged as one of theleading branches of the trade by today.Ever since events have been held, there hasalways been a need for supervisors, organisers ora staff or organisers whose traditional, “classical”organisational tasks have not changed.Today, the events that accommodate hundredsof thousands of people regardless of their characteror purpose cannot make do without thewell-trained professionals who are prepared toensure that the event runs smoothly and theparticipants are not disturbed.The role of private security services (organisers)will never be the same as the police’s lawenforcement role, partly due to their powers andpartly due to the lack of authorisation grantedin legislation.Security services may perform their tasks onthe basis of and in compliance with the provisionsof Act IV of 1998; they are not lowenforcers but only civilian organisers performingtraditional organiser tasks.Based on the current regulations, there mustbe at least 1 organiser employed per 100 participantsat the event.Private security services may not take over thepolice’s role at events as the powers of securityguards are limited and do not include statutorypowers; and the other hand, in the course of performinga task jointly with a police officer, theyenjoy increase legal protection as a person supportingam official person, and control powersare also increased.Co-operation between private securityservices and the police is indispensable whenensuring the security of events. The tasks of privatesecurity services cannot be rigidly distinguishedfrom police tasks at the entrances to theevent venue. Where hundreds or thousands ofparticipants are present, the behaviour of thecrowd needs to be controlled – within the20