Page 22 - the SyI Quarterly 10

Our Membership
Safer Places: Taking a Person-Centred
Approach to Risk Management
- Chris Dowen MSyI
The first Manchester Arena Terrorism Attack Inquiry report, published in
June 2021, identified several missed opportunities to intervene on the
night, and concerns relating to the management of the event, including
inadequate plans, and outdated risk assessments not covering Counter
Terrorism (CT) threats.
The Protect Duty, which is due to be enshrined in law during 2022, is a
direct result of the Manchester Arena attack, but will have much wider
and far-reaching implications. It is anticipated that the legislation will
not only impact owners and operators of large venues, but also large
organisations, and those responsible for public spaces and publicly
accessible locations. It will require them to consider terrorist threats
and implement appropriate and proportionate organisational and
protective security measures. This for some organisations, such as local authorities and large corporate
organisations, will be a significant undertaking unless they utilise a risk and intelligence led approach that
enables them to implement the principles of major incident and event management approaches for each
location, in a way which is agile, dynamic, and appropriate and proportionate for each location.
The legislation is also significant for the Risk and Security Sector, who organisations will turn to for advice,
guidance, and inspiration. It is therefore incumbent on us as a community to work together to meet
these challenges, to provide services that these organisations and their communities deserve, and to
consider how traditional approaches and methods can be used as the bedrock of an approach that can be
industrialised to meet their needs.
To do this we need to use the learning from the Manchester Inquiry and other similar Inquiries to create
an approach, and most importantly environment, that can deliver what is needed. The answer I believe
is to create Risk Management practices that have a “Person-Centred” approach based on three key
principles: the AURa Risk Management models and principles, “Simple In, Simple Out”, and “Getting Digital”.
So, what is a Person-Centred Approach?
People are the core of any Risk or Security management plan, from the people tasked with implementing
it, through to the people they are designed to protect, but how many of our plans and procedures are
specifically based upon how people think and act? How many of our plans recognise that frontline staff
are likely to have different mindsets and priorities to the risk managers who design the approaches, or the
decision makers? How many of our approaches recognise that different types of events are likely to attract
different groups of people, but that not all the people at that event will be, or act, the same?
Being Person-Centred is about building individuality into our approaches. It is about enabling staff to
recognise and react dynamically to different environments and people. It is about recognising that peoples
instincts and experiences drive their actions and reactions, and about creating an environment that
enables Organisational and Protective Security objectives to be delivered in a way which is individual and
bespoke.
So, how do the three key principles help?
The AURa Risk Management models and principles, “Simple In, Simple Out”, and “Getting Digital” together
enable us to create an agile and dynamic approach that maximises the skills and knowledge of the people
tasked with creating safe spaces and events, whilst also allowing the people attending the events to help
achieve this.
The AURa Risk Management models and principles couple a range of bespoke risk models with the creation
of an environment that is Active, seeks to Understand, and then Responds. This ensures that people
are actively engaged with managing the event, and that the processes and practices are current, agile,
and improved based upon learning. When this is coupled with “Simple In, Simple Out” Gateways (image
below) between Risk Managers and Tactical Advisors centrally, and the frontline staff and decision makers
tasked with delivering the event, this allows complexity to be managed and reviewed centrally, and then
communicated to frontline staff and decisions makers in a way which is clear, simple, and relevant to the
circumstances and their role
The final piece is the “Get Digital” principle that builds on technology already available such as the PROTECT
UK App and ACT e-learning. It is recognised within our community that “Communication, Communication,
Communication” is one of the key factors to effective Security and Event Management, so we need to
maximise technology to enable everyone involved to deliver what is required. This can be achieved by using
apps on mobile devices to both share information in real time with frontline staff, decision makers, and
people attending the events, and to “nudge” desired positive responses from them. It would also enable
responses to be refined in real-time based upon information being fed back into the system.
Summary
The tragic events of the Manchester Arena bombing led to the recognition that changes needed to be made
to both legislation and to the way organisations manage and respond to events in public places. I believe
that we can play a major role in creating Safer Spaces if we couple traditional approaches and learning
with a Person-Centred approach that utilises the AURa Risk Management models and principles, “Simple
In, Simple Out”, and “Getting Digital”. Through this we can create an and effective response that allows
everyone to be part of the solution, enabling us to meet the challenges of the impending Protect Duty.
Chris Dowen is Operations Director (Risk & Intelligence) for MoRServ Ltd. He was formerly the creator
of NPCC MoRiLE programme, which designed bespoke risk models for Law Enforcement, and is a PhD
candidate at Liverpool John Moores University researching Risk Management for modern day Crime &
Safety challenges.