Draft27-12

Weapons Awareness
what to look for takes more than tech:
If you do not understand weapons
you cannot protect against them,
writes trainer Steve Collins.
A
weapon is any article made,
adapted or intended to cause
injury to or incapacitate
a person, to destroy or damage
property, or intended by the person
having it with them for such use,
whether by them or any other person.
Weapons can be split into many
categories and sub categories, but for
the purpose of a basic understanding
the four main categories are:
1) Edged weapons
2) Impact weapons
3) Projectile weapons
4) Explosive devices
Steve Collins of PS5.
Right: some of the
everyday-looking items
over the years Steve has
collected - torches, pens,
toys, a lipstick holder,
a pipe - that conceal a
weapon
Photo courtesy of PS5
36
UNHAPPY
‘Key skills, knowledge
and confidence can
make the difference
between a strong and
stable response to a
disaster or complete
chaos.’
Pilgrims COO, David
Freear.
Airport
The vast majority of us fly, even if it’s
only once or twice a year on holiday,
but statistics show that there are up to
100,000 commercial flights every day
- that’s a lot of ‘planes requiring a lot
of security. Every airport has security
measures to keep passengers and crew
of commercial flights safe while in
the airport and on board the aircraft.
All passengers and crew must pass
through security checkpoints prior to
boarding; these checkpoints include
x-ray machines that will facilitate
the checking of carry-on baggage.
Checkpoints also have metal detectors
that passengers and crew must walk
through. In many airports passengers
and crew are required to remove
their shoes before passing through
the metal detector archway. Coats
and jackets must also be removed
for screening. A physical pat-down
search can be either a random security
measure or in an alert. Full-body
scanning, recently brought in in the
United States and in certain European
countries, is not yet a common
fixture; it has been the subject of
much controversy regarding both
safety and invasion of privacy. As a
result of all these security measures,
potentially dangerous items are
usually (and hopefully) successfully
detected and confiscated from
passengers attempting to take them
on board commercial aircraft, even if,
as is mostly the case, the passenger
has no mal-intent and is merely
ignorant of the rules. However, and
DECEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY
Ordinary but lethal
despite all the security measures,
real weapons are also being taken on
board aircraft every day, all over the
world. Numerous examples exist
of prohibited items being detected
at transit airports where passengers
are being re-screened having already
flown a sector with the item in their
carry-on.
Prohibited item
Many passengers report themselves to
the media after reaching a destination
only to find that a prohibited item
had been inadvertently left by
them, or a family member, in their
bag. Weapons, in the wrong hands,
obviously pose a danger to passengers
and crew of commercial aircraft and
many go undetected because they
have been specifically designed, made
or adapted to defeat and compromise
security measures. It has also been
demonstrated many times that it is
still possible to take a full framed
semi-automatic pistol through airport
security and onto an aircraft by
stripping it down into its component
parts and distributing the parts among
two or three passengers’ carry on
hand luggage. For example – two
French journalists boarded a domestic
flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle
airport to Nice via Marseille with a
9mm pistol split between them. How
can this happen? You may ask. The
reason for this type of security breach
is simple and applies worldwide.
The vast majority of airport security
personnel will have had little to
no training in how to identify the
component part of a firearm; many
will have never been shown a real
firearm, never mind their component
parts; and many will not even be
aware that a firearm is capable of
being stripped down.
Insufficient training
Sadly, and the excuse is always lack
of funds, so-called increased security
doesn’t always mean increased
training. Clamping down on the
carrying of weapons is all well and
good, but the reality is that criminals
and terrorists will find alternative
ways to breach security, and one of
the methods will be the development
of more concealed, disguised and
stealth weapons. I have been teaching
weapons awareness and recognition
since 9-11 and it still never ceases
to amaze me that there is still an
astounding lack of comprehensive
training, and through no fault of
their own, security personnel and
www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
➬
p36,8 stevecoll 27-12.indd 1 18/11/2017 11:35