A Review of Security & Counter Terror Expo 2017 at London Olympia

The terrorism landscape has changed greatly in recent years, with determined extremists finding fresh ways of causing harm and disruption across the globe. Attacks are no longer limited to accustomed methods such as improvised explosives, suicide belts and aircraft hijacks. In the latest wave of violent attacks across Europe, everyday items such as cars, trucks and knives have been used by deluded radicals and anarchists, whether as lone wolves or as part of a local or international terror network.

The Show
So, against that background, 9850 security professionals from some 115 countries travelled to the Olympia Exhibition Centre in West London over the two days 3^rd to 4^th May 2017 for the 9th annual Security & Counter Terror Expo (SCTX). Two co-located Exhibitions and Conference programmes, similarly under Clarion Events, were Forensics Europe Expo and Ambition – the event for the emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) community, tackling different scenarios of mass casualty response through technology and multi-agency coordination.

Show organisers Clarion Events reported that the total number of visitors was up 3% on the 2016 event, with one in ten representing a police or counter terror force. Covering over 15,000m² in the Grand Hall of Olympia, the Show’s footprint also increased by 7%, enabling over 350 companies to showcase their latest products, technologies and services alongside nine conferences, two live demonstration areas and the World Counter Terror Congress.

David Thompson, Event Director of the Security & Counter Terror Expo, explains the context: “The recent attacks in London, Manchester and Paris have highlighted the vital importance of ensuring that nations, security professionals and the public are fully aware of the best way to tackle terrorism. This year the programme was specifically developed to inform and educate visitors on the most effective strategies to protect the public and infrastructure.”

One of the central attractions at this year’s event was the World Counter Terror Congress, attended by well over 1,000 delegates including diplomats and high-ranking police officers. Covering policy and strategy in a number of key areas, such as de-radicalisation and preventing attacks, the Congress featured dozens of world-renowned speakers, including Rob Wainwright of Europol, Lucy D’Orsi, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police and Richard Walton, former Head of Counter Terrorism at the Met.

In her presentation Lucy D'Orsi addressed the threat posed by both international and home-grown terrorists, stating the importance of educating children in schools. Rob Wainwright meanwhile spoke about the use of the "dark web" and how extremists can buy a British passport for as little as £750. He went on to condemn the encrypted Russian messaging app Telegram, with its refusal to cooperate with the authorities in discovering and preventing attacks before they happen.

Richard Walton declared: “The biggest change we’ve seen from terrorists over the past year is the move towards simplifying their attacks as much as possible. This has completely changed the goalposts in how we must prepare and try to prevent these atrocities from happening. Motor vehicles are now one of the most common weapons of choice – which presents a completely new challenge for security professionals to face.”

In addition, SCTX provided a series of free-to-attend Conferences on the themes of: Cyber Threat Intelligence; Critical National Infrastructure and Business Resilience; Border and Transport Security; Advanced Technologies. Located on the Show floor, the sessions were at full capacity on both days, with visitors keen to hear the latest thinking from recognised experts.

The Border and Transport Security Conference focussed on airport security, anti-trafficking, customs and immigration. For example, Atatürk International Airport in Turkey and both Brussels Airport and Metro Station have been subject to terrorist attacks recently. Transport links are increasingly a target for terrorists, with aircraft, mass transit buses, rail terminals, ports, vehicles and transport facilities all facing the risk of future attacks.

Exhibiting
The event at Olympia showcased a wide range of practical solutions, including a host of genuine product innovations, from exhibitors. Accordingly we have picked out below 10 of those technologies at SCTX which particularly attracted our editorial interest, featuring them alphabetically for your ease of reference.

We start with Avon Protection (www.avon-protection.com), part of Avon Rubber plc and a global market leader in advanced CBRN respiratory protection systems. With a pedigree in mask design dating back to the 1920s, these products are used worldwide as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
At SCTX Avon Protection demonstrated its TT-Type thermal imaging camera and MP-PAPR respirator in flexible chlorobutyl rubber, alongside Morgan Advanced Materials’ new Silverback 4020 Elite bomb suit. The demo on May 3^rd proved how effective this combination of products can be for counter IED and search operations.

Next, under the banner “Protecting your World”, Frontier Pitts (www.frontierpitts.com) displayed its Anti Terra range of hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) and pedestrian equipment, showing visitors impressive footage of IWA-14 and PAS-68 impact tests.
The company’s Terra 180° counter-terrorist swing barrier is a lightweight, bi-directional, manual HVM barrier which is easy to install and operate. The Terra 180° can secure entrances up to 6m wide. It is suitable for access points which need to be secured with occasional access, out-of-hours security, or remote locations with power supply restrictions. The new Terra Ultimate model has been successfully impact-tested to the latest international IWA crash rating, stopping a 7.2t vehicle travelling at 80kph (50mph).
Also from Frontier Pitts, the UK Government CPNI-approved Terra Diamond turnstile holds LPCB LPS1175 approval at security rating 3 and 4, successfully resisting an intensive programme of attack tests using a wide array of handtools and battery-powered tools.

Garrett Metal Detectors of Garland, Texas (www.garrett.com) majored on its multi-zone PD-6500i walkthrough metal detector: the unit runs on steel castors and is simplicity itself to set up and operate. Being easily moved by one person, its versatility and flexibility allow it to be quickly deployed in any vulnerable security environment – for mass transit, sports and entertainment venues, schools and colleges, places of worship, courts, prisons and more. Garrett also demonstrated to stand visitors its Super Scanner V handheld metal detector, a high-tech wand relied upon around the World for checks at entry points.

The specialist Issee consultancy (www.issee.co.uk) offers a fully immersive training experience of the power and threat of explosives and firearms as used by many terrorist organisations and also the specialist responses required to react to finding a suspicious device, including evacuation, cordon and liaison with the emergency services. Vital work!
This training is suitable for all security managers and workers, and also staff members who work in public areas such as railways, hotels, large and small corporate institutions and large shopping areas. Courses are designed to meet customer requirements and can be delivered at the ISSEE’s own residential facility at the Centre for Homeland Security, Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire.

Morse Watchmans (www.morsewatchmans.com), a leading US manufacturer of security management systems based in the UK at Nottingham, was demonstrating its KeyWatcher system, described as the ultimate tool for key control. Keys and other assets are housed in a secure, alarmed environment. Events are logged and accessible from anywhere on your network, whilst the modular design allows for customisation and expandability.

For more than 40 years, Sälzer GmbH (www.saelzer-security.com) has provided security glazing solutions to protect us against terrorist and criminal attack. Now this German manufacturer has enhanced its famous S4 steel door and tested it successfully to the highest security level RC6.
The European Standard for forced entry resistance EN 1627-1630 assumes, at its highest resistance level RC6, that an experienced and professionally prepared criminal is committing a burglary. It is presumed that the burglar will deploy power tools such as power drill, jigsaw and angle grinder, in addition to the usual kit he carries of crowbar and hammer. In the tests per the European Standard, the number and effectiveness of the tools used increase gradually with each resistance level – from RC1 up to RC6. Furthermore the testing time increases gradually with each security level, up to a total test time of 50 minutes at the RC6 level.

Teledyne e2v was promoting its engine immobilisation technology RF Safe-Stop. It is a non-contact engine jamming system capable of bringing to a controlled stop moving vehicles or small craft that pose a threat, at a safe distance away and without collateral damage. It transmits a non-lethal microwave energy pulsed beam, which couples into the target’s electronic systems to confuse its engine management system, temporarily deactivating the engine. Go to www.e2v.com/products/rf-power/rf-safe-stop for further information!

Next up, mainland China drone manufacturer Yuneec, partnered with Intel Corporation, is an international leader in multirotor drones and UAV developments. Yuneec’s products cover all sectors of aerial surveillance, monitoring, mapping and thermal imaging. Its UAV features include Intel RealSense anti-collision technology, motor redundancy and autonomous flight modes. In the UK, the company, based at New Barnet, North London, has a demonstration flight and service centre for users (https://yuneec.uk).
During both days of SCTX, Yuneec was flying and demonstrating the capabilities of its latest commercial UAV hexacopter, the H520. With flight times of up to 30 minutes, the Yuneec H520 comes with an ST16S groundstation, an Android based controller powered by an Intel processor.
Featuring a low-glare 7in HD LCD touchscreen with video downlink for realtime flight footage, the ST16S groundstation also has an HDMI output, supporting the use of additional monitors without compromising image quality. Because of its modular design, the H520 is compatible with a wide range of cameras and optional sensors.
The E50 camera is optimised for cinematic and industrial inspection use, while the CGO-ET dual-sensor, daylight-thermal camera can capture and record thermal infrared and residual light video streams simultaneously. The optional Intel RealSense sensor scans the environment in 3D, providing intelligent obstacle navigation and avoidance.

On the subject of physical security, Zaun, founded in 1996, is the sole remaining manufacturer of mesh fencing to produce its entire mesh fencing system in the UK. Zaun makes the mesh, fencing panels, posts, clamp bars and fixings at its state-of-the-art, five-acre production facility at Wolverhampton, West Midlands (www.zaun.co.uk).
Returning to SCTX after a year’s absence, the Zaun Group, whilst best known for its design, manufacture and installation of such perimeter protection solutions, showcased four new and very varied security products:

• CorruSec SR4 – a high-security fence from Zaun that resists more than 10 minutes of sustained attack with specialist power tools.
• HiSec Plus – a new flat-panel mesh security fence variant of Zaun’s original “358” panel, designed specifically for a large Middle East contract.
• EyeLynx EPR-500 perimeter protection radar – able to identify predatory vehicles at up to 700m, with onsite demonstrations of a portable unit able to be set up in the site operators’ own environment.
• Victrix Vault – a safe from the systems integrator Crime and Fire Defence Systems Ltd of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that is approved by the UK’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and incorporated into the outer fence line of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sites.

The final innovation to catch our eye was the Zepcam T2 “capture-and-go” bodycam (https://t2-bodycam.zepcam.com). This camera system has been developed in the Netherlands for all-round professional use in providing video evidence when incidents occur. It is compact and easy to deploy. The integrated backend for video offload and video management makes the T2 bodycam a complete and robust solution. The ruggedised system is ideal for use typically by the police, security officers, first responders, paramedics, gatekeepers and public transport staff.

Zepcam also provides an easy solution for charging and downloading all the videos from T2 bodycams. While docked, the T2 recharges and downloads video to a secure server: videos are transmitted securely to the Zepcam cloud, or your own server. Furthermore Zepcam provides its own video management software for control rooms, although can also integrate with third party software.

Conclusion
And so a very broad array of product offerings for visitors to take in! They will now want to diary the next Expo at London Olympia from 6^th to 7^th March 2018 branded as UK Security Week, again comprising the Security & Counter Terror Expo, World Counter Terror Congress, Forensics Europe Expo and Ambition EPRR Expo.

In conclusion, Event Director David Thompson sums up the thoughts of many: “Our 2017 Show was highly successful, and we aim to build on that next year by providing a Conference Programme and Exhibition that ensures the World’s security professionals can source innovations and identify new tactics and strategies. We look forward to working with all our key partners over the coming months to develop an event that serves the needs of all our stakeholders.”

For all exhibitor enquiries, you need to contact Sophie McKimm, Event Manager on +44 (0)207 384 7894 or by email sophie.mckimm@clarionevents.com.

www.counterterrorexpo.com

www.forensicseuropeexpo.com

www.ambitionexpouk.com