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Ace service from G4S and Merton Borough Police

05 Jul 09

Today is Men’s Singles Final Day in SW19. It’s the culmination of Wimbledon 2009, and the end of what has proven to be a challenging fortnight for G4S’ on-site security operatives. Brian Sims reports from Centre Court.

By Brian Sims

A few years back the cries of “Come on, Tim!” could be heard miles from Centre Court and Henman Hill at Wimbledon as the Great British Public egged on young Mr Henman in his efforts to become Men’s Singles Champion. Then it was Greg Rusedski’s turn to try and emulate the late, great Fred Perry. This year, of course, all eyes have been focused on strapping Scot Andy Murray.

No less than 12.6 million viewers tuned into the BBC to witness 22-year-old Murray’s epic, five-set fourth round encounter with Stanislas Wawrinka but, alas, it proved to be something of a false dawn (or should that be a false dusk, given that the match didn’t end until a record-breaking 10.38 pm?)

Murray went on to complete a memorable quarter final victory over former World Number One Juan Carlos Ferrero and, as a result, received congratulatory messages from none other than Her Majesty The Queen and James Bond himself – the one and only Sean Connery. However…

On Friday afternoon in the mid-to-late afternoon sun, Murray’s gargantuan effort and (occasionally) big serves – his quickest is measured at 130 mph – weren’t quite good enough to overpower 26-year-old American and former World Number One Andy Roddick, who served up a storm – his fastest-ever being a world record 155 mph – to win through 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6.

Whether or not Roddick now has enough left in the tank to defeat the majestic Roger Federer – who beat a spirited German by the name of Tommy Haas in the semi-final – this afternoon is anyone’s guess, particularly after what has been a sapping period of heat and humidity. We’ll see.

Working with the local police service

Just as the big players gracing the 42-acre All England Club have had to be on top form these past two weeks, so too have the 700 security staff from G4S.

Armed with over 20 years’ experience of ‘policing’ this highlight of the sporting calendar, the company has once again worked closely with the All-England Lawn Tennis Club and Merton Borough Police to provide a bespoke security solution encompassing everything from bag searching through to player escorts and vehicle checks.

Security was stepped up in SW19 two years ago when a car bomb happened to be discovered in the Haymarket area of the Capital just prior to the start of the tournament. Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper wasted no time in putting plans in place to search every single vehicle entering every single car park in and around the Wimbledon complex. More of that anon.

This time around, with the threat of terrorism hanging as heavy in the air as the humidity, Draper wanted to make The Championships as safe as they possible could be for 450,000-plus spectators and the players alike.

According to superintendent Peter Dobson, the event’s Gold Commander seconded from Merton Borough Police, the security operations were planned over a six-month period leading up to the tournament. Concerns surrounding a terrorist attack were high for what is, after all, an iconic event televised around the world.

Terrorists and single issue protestors

“All types of incursion must be catered for,” said Dobson. “Not just the would-be terrorist, but also single issue protest groups such as Fathers 4 Justice, Plane Stupid and No Sweat, as well as those individuals fixated on causing disturbances.” The latter grouping includes stalkers who hound the top players wherever they go on the tour circuit.

“There are something like 30 individuals known to us who stalk the players on a regular basis. Most of them have had some form of contact with law enforcement agencies in other countries. We cannot prevent them from turning up in SW19, but we have to stop them from entering the All England Club.”

Working in tandem with G4S’ site and operations managers, Dobson issued a notice to security officers that they must use discretion when carrying out their duties. For example, the security staff on bag search duty were urged to allow anyone carrying small, round-ended butter knives for use with picnics through the turnstiles. It’s all about exercising a little discretion, it seems.

Bags were not allowed to measure any more than 18” by 12” by 12”, while no hard-sided items like picnic boxes, coolboxes or briefcases were allowed into the grounds.

Another major problem faced by those enforcing the law at The Championships is, you’ll not be surprised to learn, the ugly spectacle of ticket touting (or ‘scalping’, as they’d say in Andy Murray’s home town of Dunblane). Last year, a temporary dispersal zone was introduced. It proved successful. The number of recorded touting offences fell from over 200 in 2007 to just eight. This tactic was used again for the 2009 Championships.

The policy in place is black and white. Anyone caught selling tickets on the black market faces immediate arrest. Those only suspected of ticket touting are asked to leave the zone (which encompassed not just the immediate area surrounding the All England Club but also the areas circling Southfields, Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Stations) and, if they return within a 24-hour period, they’ll be arrested. That policy was set down in writing and sent to 20 known touts prior to the opening day.

Hamilton: going ‘Back to the Floor’

Interestingly, G4S Events’ managing director Mark Hamilton chose this year’s Wimbledon to go ‘Back to the Floor’, working alongside officers in performing bag and perimeter searches, player escorting duties, ticket checking and anti-touting surveillance duties.

Hamilton – who has headed G4S Events since the company’s acquisition of Rocksteady in 2008, and been involved in the security and crowd safety management industry since 1973 – told SMT Online: “Providing the range of services we do for Wimbledon is fantastically exciting, but also a very real challenge. I believe it’s important that senior management understand the responsibilities of front line employees, who work tirelessly to ensure the Health and Safety of the public at events such as this throughout the year.” It’s an excellent and proven philosophy.

Events are ‘hands-on’ occasions as far as the security operatives are concerned. Members of the security team inevitably have to pull together to do whatever it takes to make an historic occasion like Wimbledon a success.

Thorough searches are made of members of the non ticket-holding public and their belongings. Famously, many people will queue overnight to snap up any tickets on general sale for the next day’s play. Hardy fans or not, they must be subjected to the same rigorous, airport-style security examinations as everyone else. X-ray equipment and metal detectors are used to make sure guests don’t bring any items – such as flags, horns or objects that are a tad more dangerous – into the grounds that may compromise security or otherwise ruin the day out.

Similarly, trained and Security Industry Authority-licensed G4S officers check the tickets and search the bags of all ticket-holders and pass holders as they enter the site.

It’s a Corral, and it’s OK

In days of old, as soon as the gates opened at 10.30 am floods of people would dart about the place in a rabid frenzy seeking out the best vantage points courtside or in the picnic areas. There are dangers inherent with this sort of behaviour (trip and fall among them), but the fanatics never saw that. They just wanted to be at the front and centre on Centre Court or Court Number One and didn’t care what it took to accomplish that feat. Possibly because they really were a tennis nut, or simply wanted to make sure that their Union Jack face paint was picked up by the BBC cameras.

Either way, nowadays there’s no chance of this happening. G4S has devised a clever solution called The Corral. A herd of officers form a line immediately behind the designated turnstiles and then control the speeds at which initial entrants are allowed to proceed around the grounds. Pretty simple yet very clever stuff indeed. A bit like the Metropolitan Police Service’s Kettling technique but, happily, this one doesn’t build up a head of steam and there’s no violence.

For The Clubhouse – whose steps have been used by champions of old including Boris Becker and Steffi Graff to parade their trophies – officers necessarily maintain a high physical presence. They secure the entrance and prevent any unauthorised access to what is a highly exclusive, members-only area.

The players aren’t exempt from security checks, by the way. Oh no. It’s important to ensure that neither players nor their guests bring any prohibited items into the grounds. There are physical bag searches at the players’ dedicated entrance. Perhaps the officers who’ve checked Roger Federer’s bags this year can confirm or deny whether or not he carries a Superman costume around with him!

Preventing incursions to the field of play

On court, the G4S officers have a vital role to play in stopping unwanted incursions. We all remember the horrific knife attack on Monica Seles some years ago, and a repeat of that incident must certainly be avoided. Thankfully, the super smart G4S officers monitor audience activity throughout every match, ensuring also that players and officials may access and exit the courts in a safe and timely manner.

All competitors are also afforded a personal protection team to make sure they can get around the place without too much hassle from the autograph-hunting public. Typically, two females playing in the Women’s Singles Championship will be escorted by four male or a mixture of male and female officers.

As you can imagine, vehicle searching is of paramount importance. Random checks of vehicles that enter the car parks within the grounds are carried out by officers who look inside engines, boots and, importantly, examine the undersides of vehicles. The latter check is conducted thanks to mirrors attached to long poles, and is designed to seek out anything like a bomb that may have been strapped or stuck to the vehicle.

Remote vehicle searching is also carried out. All deliveries are thoroughly checked at an off-site location. The contents of vans or lorries will be passed through X-ray scanners, and then the vehicle searched from top to bottom. Only when it and its contents receives a clean bill of health will the vehicle be allowed to proceed inside, and even then a G4S officer will be beside the driver to escort him or her onto the premises. This leaves nothing to chance.

Dealing with consumption of alcohol on site

G4S Events' security officers operating at The Championships were called upon to enforce the AELTC’s regulations regarding the consumption of alcohol on the Wimbledon site. The rules state that acohol may be brought into the grounds, but is limited to the equivalent of one bottle of wine or two 500 ml cans of beer per person. One visitor attempted to enter the event with seven 50 ml bottles of gin, four of vodka and two of whiskey, alleging it was all for their own consumption.

Unfortunately, a minority of event-goers still failed to heed warnings about leaving their belongings unattended. On each day of The Championships, at least three or four packages had to be removed by security staff.

In addition to searching for sharp and dangerous items such as knives, G4S staff have also had to remove other seemingly innocuous items from event-goers who often do not realise that such items are prohibited from entering The Championships because they could be used inappropriately, and with a more sinister purpose. As well as items such as corkscrews and screw drivers, hair brushes with long metal spiked handles could easily be used as offensive weapons, to stab or wound somebody. Members of the public are also prevented from bringing in heavy duty padlocks, which could cause serious injury if used as a weapon.

While the public may remonstrate that these items serve a legitimate purpose, to ensure Health and Safety for all and to prevent unwanted incidents these items must be checked into cloakrooms at the site perimeter for collection at a later juncture.

Mark Hamilton commented: “The majority of visitors who have alcohol confiscated at Wimbledon are those who have unwittingly attempted to enter the site with too much wine or beer, or high strength spirits, which can present a Health and Safety issue. We understand this is frustrating for some people, but in order to ensure the well-being of everyone on site G4S is obliged to ask visitors to check additional alcohol into the left luggage area. Ensuring the Health and Safety of visitors to The Championships is a top priority, so it is vital bags are checked before ticket holders are granted access."

It’s a model worthy of replication

The last word on Wimbledon 2009 – and, more specifically, G4S’ participation – fittingly goes to Doug Hewitson, the group managing director at G4S Secure Solutions (UK).

Hewitson told SMT Online: “Mark [Hamilton] prides himself on attending as many of the events that G4S provide services to as possible. This approach ensures that he fully understands the customers’ needs, and that his operation is reflective of our focus on ensuring that senior managers engage in all aspects of a project. We encourage all of our senior executives to familiarise themselves as best they can with the needs of clients. Donning the officer uniform is a great way of achieving that.”

One wonders how many chief executives and managing directors will look at G4S’ model and copy it? If they have any kind of savvy about them, the answer ought to be quite a few. If you don’t understand what your people do then you don’t understand the business of security. It’s as simple as that.