Niall Griffin, a former police Inspector and Counter-Terrorist Security Co-ordinator (CT SecCo), is backing Martyn’s Law, a campaign set up in honour of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of the suicide terror attack at the Manchester Arena in May 2017.
Taken up by the Home Office and given the formal name of the Protect Duty, a proposed UK-wide piece of legislation aims to create a proportionate approach to protective security in ‘publicly accessible locations’ (PALs, the new jargon word for crowded places). Such a law for providing counter-terrorism protective security or preparedness outcomes for publicly accessible locations, would make security more like health and safety.
Proposed are a requirement:
1. that spaces and places to which the public have access engage with freely available counterterrorism advice and training.
2. for those places to conduct vulnerability assessments of their operating places and spaces.
3. for those places to have a mitigation plan for the risks created by the vulnerabilities.
4. for those places to have a counter-terrorism plan.
5. and for local authorities to plan for the threat of terrorism.
Niall, as a former Sussex Police man was responsible for the deployment of the government’s National Barrier Asset (NBA). He said: “The proportionality part of Martyn’s Law is very important – not all sites and venues are the same, so a blanket approach would be counterproductive.
“This must be proportionate with individual business models, but there is no reason why anyone who runs any sort of event that welcomes people in at a publicly accessible location wouldn’t have to comply with this.”
Now employed by the security barrier supplier, Hardstaff Barriers, based in Nottinghamshire, which supplies the NBA, Niall has been interviewed about Martyn’s Law and other key counter-terrorism issues in recent years.
Niall added: “There is no doubt that the ‘Protect Duty’ is a huge step in the right direction and one which the security industry has been crying out for. Much of the detail is still yet to be ironed out and published, though what is currently available is very promising. The success of the bill will very much depend on a framework being laid out for those affected.”
Pictured; Fishmongers Hall, beside London Bridge, scene of November 2019 terror attack.
