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Our Membership

The Power of Police &

Security partnerships

- Ray Marskell MSyl

Firstly, can I thank the Security Institute for affording me
the opportunity to author an article for this magazine. As
lead for partnerships at the City of London Police and as
a member of the Institute, I can say with confidence that
I have been impressed by the willingness of our security
industry partners to support us. Policing works with a
number of partners across various sectors, but I feel the
partnership with the security industry is a key ingredient
in building community resilience. We can achieve this
by sharing information, supporting each other around
operational activities, testing and exercising our response
to incidents or events and sharing knowledge and
experience through training. We (police and security) are
here for the shared purpose of keeping people, places and
infrastructure safe, which is why our partnership is vital.

As a partnership in the city, we have run numerous ‘Hi-
Viz’ days across the Square Mile. These days see police and security partners working together to
reassure our communities that we work as one to keep them safe. It is a great sight to see so many
police officers working side-by-side with security colleagues, all in high-visibility jackets, engaging
with our communities. We have run several of these days, with more planned. The days have quickly
become an integral part of our operational calendar, with real benefits for both the public we serve
and those taking part. Additionally, we often see a reduction in crime on the day and the days
following it, which goes some way to demonstrate how important it is to be present and visible across
the city.

Following on from the ‘Hi-Viz’ days, we have created an initiative to improve our response to major
incidents such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters. The Major Incidents, Joint Emergency Services
Interoperability Principles (JESIP) and Reception Centres: Joint Response Training is designed to boost
awareness of procedures and encourage collaboration between private security firms and the police.
The aim is to raise awareness and standards of security in the industry and to apply the training
proactively, rather than learning after the next major incident. The training builds on JESIP, established
in 2012 to ensure the blue-light services (police, fire, ambulance) are trained to work together in
response to major incidents. The programme covers various areas of response to major incidents
involving mass fatalities, including Survivor Response Centres (SRCs).

Supported by the City Security Council we have also implemented the CityINTEL platform. This
platform gives us the opportunity to collaborate closely with our communities and security partners
across the City. The platform is an important way for us to gather intelligence and share information
to enable faster crime prevention and detection and engage with our contacts on the ground more
efficiently.

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