June - Airport Life

Sophie Ashburn
ACCESS,
ALARMS
AND CCTV
AT THE VCP
Latoya Burke-Monrose
Adrienen Racz
Manning the VCP - When we hear the word ‘security’ at LCY most of us tend to think about Central
Search but there’s another crucial area of the airport that’s managed by the Security Team.
The Vehicle Control Point
(VCP) is the gateway to
the western end of the
airfield for all staff based
on the western side and
all vehicles entering
the Critical Part (CP).
The primary function of the VCP
is to process and screen staff
and vehicles as they enter the
CP. But the security team don’t
just spend their time searching
vehicles and staff, collaboration
and teamwork is a vital part
of the operation and there’s a
whole lot that happens behind
the scenes. The team, which can
be made up of any 6 members
of the Security Team, spend
their shift managing the VCP,
either on the early or late shift.
When we caught up with Security,
John Kaguoya, Andras Mezofi,
Isaac Cariaga, Latoya Burke-
Monrose, Sophie Ashburn,
Adrienn Racz and Ross Avery
were manning the VCP and
gave us the inside track on the
wide range of duties carried out
in a typical day at the VCP.
CCTV Patrol Monitoring
Also known as Big Brother!
The team constantly monitor the
CCTV cameras around the whole
airport looking out for suspicious
behaviour or anything unusual.
CP Patrols
Keeping the airport secure
The team ensure that continuous
CP patrols are conducted around
the whole airport, looking out
for suspicious activity or risks
to area such as broken fences.
Monitoring of the CP Line
Keep your eye on the line
The Jet Centre and apron are not
part of the CP during operational
hours, so that means that no
vehicle or person can walk from
the Jet Centre across to the CP
without being processed by
security. Thermal imaging CCTV
technology is used to keep an
eye on the line. From time to
time when people do cross the
line, the team rapidly respond
to deter them away, it’s vital to
the overall integrity of the CP.
RVP
The Rendezvous Point
In the unlikely event of an
emergency, the VCP becomes
the Rendezvous Point (RVP)
meaning it’s the agreed location
that emergency services and
response vehicles would head
to, to be briefed. The security
team are trained with frequent
communication exercises -
Customer Services make a mock
phone call to the emergency
red phone, the team then
ensure they collate the correct
information and would initiate
the RVP for the emergency
services in a real situation.
Jet Centre
Due to the tight layout of the
airlock, which is where vehicles
enter to be searched, it is really
important that the team are
in frequent communications
with the Jet Centre. The last
thing we’d want is vehicle
colliding with a private jet!
Dealing with access control
Passes and security checks
This is the primary function of
the VCP, everyone that passes
through must be in possession of
a valid pass. Vehicles must also
have a valid CP pass, otherwise
they won’t be allowed entry.
Ross Avery, Security Officer
told us “A catering vehicle once
arrived at the VCP and entered
the airlock to be searched. All
their paperwork was in order
and the vehicle clear except for a
missing fuel filler cap. Although
not a clear security issue the
vehicle was refused entry.
When the delivery returned
in a different vehicle they did
not have the correct security
paperwork to be allowed entry.
After some negotiations with
the parties involved and with
other agencies, a deal was
struck which meant the vehicle
and its goods were correctly
screened and access granted.
Although the flight was
delayed slightly, it left with its
catering and all parties were
satisfied with the outcome”.
Fence line activations
Sound the alarm!
The perimeter fence is protected
with an alarm that triggers in the
VCP if somebody tries to tamper
with it. When this happens, the
team investigate by initially
checking the CCTV, if they
do see anyone suspicious the
Terminal Manager and Police
would head out to the scene.
Equipment handovers
To me to you
At the start of every shift,
the teams conduct a rigorous
handover which includes
testing the CP Line and
reporting any faults.
The team clearly have to be
extremely vigilant, some
processing staff and vehicles
while others monitor screens
and patrol the CP line. Teams at
the VCP are faced with different
challenges day to day but have
to consistently stay on the ball.
John Kaguoya
Top Tips to get through
the VCP quicker
From time to time there can be a lot of
traffic at the VCP, but following these
top tips can help you get through
quicker and ease congestion.
• Ensure all large electrical items
(including power tools, laptops, tablets
and similar) are removed from your bag
and placed in a tray on their own
• Ensure all liquids are removed and placed in
a 100ml sealable bag (this includes lighters)
• Keep your vehicle tidy – messy
vehicles with lots of loose items can be
turned away during busy periods
• Follow the guidelines on the
staff food allowance
- Staff can take a ready meal consisting
of a mixture of solid and liquid food (so
that excludes soup, yoghurt and similar
foods) with a weight no larger than 400g
- Or you can take a tin of food (again
excluding soup) such as baked beans or
tuna with a weight no larger than 200g
- Or your own meal in a Tupperware
container no larger than 1.5L and again it
has to be a solid and liquid mixture of food
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