The nature of convention center
security has undergone dramatic change over the past two
years. Whereas protecting property and deterring theft used to be
the primary goal of facility security, the specter of terrorism has
created new and critical priorities.
“Convention and exhibit centers are public-assembly venues and
high-profile targets of opportunity,” says Fred Costello, director
at New York City-based security firm Kroll Worldwide. “Centers have
special requirements, and that’s what we have to consider
first.”
In January, the Coppell, Texas-based International Association
of Assembly Managers released Convention Center Best Practices
guidelines to address the new realities of keeping facilities
safe.
It’s about time, says Greg Forehand, security director at the
newly expanded Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
“Everything has changed, and now the focus is more on security,” he
notes.
In response to mounting demands for safety, a bevy of
technological and mechanical devices are being used in increasingly
creative ways.
Smile: You’re on camera
Advances in digital camera and recording technology represent a big
step up from the analog devices of earlier years.
“After 9/11, I put in digital color cameras,” says Greg
Forehand in reference to his Orlando facility’s newer North/South
Hall, with its one million square feet of exhibit space. “Before,
we just had regular VCR cameras, but now we can zoom in on meeting
room doors, and we have motion detectors in the hallways.”
The Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu also has undertaken a
major upgrade. “We’ve gone from black-and-white analog to color
digital, and all of the cameras have VCR recording,” says general
manager Joe Davis. The system also includes motion sensors. “If the
camera sees something in a corridor and there’s motion, it’ll
record it,” Davis explains.
Increasing the number of cameras helps keep track of who
enters what parts of the building, agree security managers. “In the
past, we mainly would have cameras on a ramp, a loading dock or
maybe the front doors,” says Lewis Dawley, senior vice president,
convention center operations and business development for SMG, a
Philadelphia-based facility management firm. But now, he adds,
centers are studded with electronic “eyes” watching areas ranging
from doorways to electrical and water systems. The equipment is
very expensive, he notes, and for maximum effectiveness, security
staff need to keep tabs on the camera feed on a regular basis.
Loud and clear
In the event of an emergency, being able to communicate with others
both inside and outside a facility is paramount, says Craig Park,
vice president, professional products group, for Northridge,
Calif.-based Harman International. Park works on developing and
installing high-tech sound systems that let staff and emergency
workers be heard.
“Our major concern is high-quality articulation and
intelligibility,” Park says, explaining that although the typical
fire alarm systems are very loud, they generally produce poor sound
quality. “They aren’t good for relaying directions. Centers need a
component that gives fire marshals and authorities the ability to
direct people and be understood.”
At San Francisco’s Moscone Center, Park worked with
contractors, consultants and others to develop the audio system in
the new West Building. He used high-grade loudspeakers and designed
the layout to ensure clear sound quality throughout the hall.
Access denied
Convention centers are mirroring the changeover that
occurred years ago when hotels switched from metal keys to
electronic key cards to secure guest rooms. So-called electronic
proximity cards are preferable to regular keys, say experts,
because they cannot be duplicated, and they can be deactivated in
the event they are lost or stolen.
The cards also allow security staff to monitor movement around
the building by those using the cards, notes SMG’s Lewis
Dawley.
The old paradigm of access control is evolving into one of
access management, adds Fred Costello of Kroll. “Pre-9/11, the
concept of access control meant controlling who was going in,” he
says. “Now there’s also a need to know where certain people are,
and if and when they left. It’s about access, whereabouts and
exit.”
Security also is being stepped up when it comes to ID badges.
Orlando’s Greg Forehand has hit on a solution to keep temporary
badges issued to contract workers from disappearing. “I take their
driver’s license or passport as collateral,” he says, “and now we
get every single badge back.” Forehand also has drastically cut
down on center employees’ requests for replacement badges by
charging a fee for a new badge.
Urban planning
For many downtown convention centers, the central location
while perhaps a boon for attendees can be a challenge from a
security point of view. A suburban facility can erect protective
fences around the perimeter of its property, but at a downtown
center, this usually isn’t possible, says Costello, since “the
sidewalk is the property perimeter.” Smart facility owners can
install “commercial-grade, high-impact ballards,” he adds. These
reinforced posts act as a barrier if someone tries to drive a
vehicle into the building itself.
The truck stops here
While securing the loading dock of a convention center for
theft prevention always has been vital, a new movement is under way
to ramp up scrutiny of trucks as they enter.
“Our facility is so large, and we have a myriad of trucks
coming through,” notes Greg Forehand of the Orlando center, “so
down the road, we’ve got a capital improvement project to implement
a device that can detect if there are explosives inside a
vehicle.”
Forehand hopes to have this car/truck bomb-screening system in
operation by February. It will be imbedded in the road to scan the
insides of all vehicles that are driven within a perimeter
surrounding the center. The device will be unobtrusive, to avoid
unnecessarily alarming the public, and “it will be in a space where
we have plenty of time to turn [a vehicle] around or call law
enforcement.”
A breath of fresh air
The Hawaii Convention Center’s design created a special
challenge for securing the ventilation system, says Joe Davis.
While most convention centers have their air-intake systems on the
roof, where they cannot be reached without difficulty, the Hawaii
center’s intake apparatus is at ground level, where someone with
intent to contaminate the air inside could get to it.
“We’ve put motion detectors out there that will activate a
camera and a silent alarm,” says Davis. The alarm alerts security
personnel, who “have the ability now to press a button and shut
down the system so anything would get trapped in the filters.”
Are such measures really necessary in an island paradise? Says
Davis, “Here in Hawaii, we’ve got the challenge of balancing aloha
with the need to conduct a safe and secure operation.”