Griffin turns guards in guardians

Security personnel from across the capital have been enlisted in the fight against terrorism in an initiative called Project Griffin. Building upon on-going work with the security industry , the City of London and Metropolitan Police pioneered Project Griffin to further raise awareness of counter-terrorism measures during a series of one-day seminars.

The basic principle of Project Griffin is to train security officers from the major City organisations, Westminster and Canary Wharf, in various disciplines so that these staff are better equipped to be of assistance to the police in the event of a major incident.

Project Griffin has three strands:

Firstly, a training day for the security officers. This includes input on the current terrorist threat and an overview of the differing threat from other non-terrorist groups given by the City of London Police Special Branch; presentations from Metropolitan Police explosives officers. The day’s training covers other key areas such as; emergency services command and control; conflict resolution; hostile reconnaissance; terrorist planning; as well as cordons and associated powers.

The second strand is a ‘bridge call’ facility for security managers. This is a conference call with information from the City of London Police Force Intelligence Bureau each Friday evening, updating security officers on the current threat, recent and current crime trends and forthcoming events.

The third strand, although it is hoped it will never be used, is the deployment of security officers to work alongside police officers on cordon control in the event of a major incident.

A pilot scheme featuring five one-day courses was introduced in Summer 2004 and more than 500 security officers were trained and presented with a Project Griffin certificate. Each trained security officer is provided with a high-visibility fluorescent tabard, supplied and funded by the Corporation of London, the local authority for the City. These are for use when employed on Project Griffin duties and they have space for their own company logo.

Project Griffin is an example of effective partnership working. The course has been designed in conjunction with the other emergency services, the main security industry bodies – SITO and JSIC – and the Sister Banks organisation. It is supported by the security industry, City businesses, and the Corporation of London.

The initiative is a great success and has generated interest throughout the UK and overseas, particularly in the United States. The City of London Police will continue the Project Griffin and have opened the doors to the entire City security industry, with a series of training days planned, once a month, over the coming year.

City of London Police is keen as many members of the security industry as possible to receive this training because it provides a great deal of information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Feedback from security officers who have attended Project Griffin training show that they took a lot from the training, feel more valued and now feel part of the wider police family.