Keep You And Your Family Safe
This is a follow on blog post from a Youtube video I did last week and last weekends workshop on the terrorist threat to Christmas Markets in the UK. Looking at your personal security and specificall how you should be conducting the following:
* Reconnaissance
* Sitiational Awareness
* Evacuation or Dispersal
At the begining of December the UK FCO put out a terrorist alert for British people visiting Christmas Markets in Germany and Belgium due to the high threat of a terrorist attack and also at this time a illegal Iraqi islamist was arrested planning a terrorist attack at a Christmas Market in the Baviarian town of Augsburg. He had been conducting hostile recconassance of the market and talking with the Islamic State about the use of a vehicle as a weapon. He planned on driving a vehicle into the market to mow down pedestrians.
At the same time Christmas Markets in the UK have been cancelled due to the terrorist threat and armed police have been patrolling the more high profile markets. Though the government have not indicated any specific threat, so make up your own minds on that one!!
So what should you do?
Recce
Much like the terrorist conducting hostile recce to see if the target is viable and is what we call a soft target, a target that is open to attack due to the lack of security in place. You will be conducting the same thing but only with regards to your own safety and security while visiting the market. You can do this as an in-depth activity as a security professional or as a citizen justcover as much as you can in relation to your knowledge base.
Here are some basic tips on what you should be considering:
* Parking - Where will you park so as not to get blocked in if an attack does happen and surrounding
roads are cordoned off to stop vehicles leaving the area.
* Public Transport - Buses and trains. How busy will the buses and trains be and how busy will the
walking routes be to the market.
* Access & Egress - Are there dedicated entry and exit point or can you just wander into the market
from any point. If there are dedicated security checks then what do they consist
of? Has there been any online information regarding prohibited items?
Are there any of the following at the entrances or leadup to the entrances?
Vehicle Mitiigation Bollards VMBs
Security arches, airport style explosive or metal detectors
Physical or wanding bag or body searches
Police vehicles, ambulances or paramedic vehicles
What if the market you are going to has fewer or even none of the above, what does that tell you?
And this can be a bit of a conundrum for the average citizen, which will be safer, a hard target that is maybe too difficlut to attack with lots of security in place, or a soft target with little or no security in place? So which would a terorist choose to attack and which would you choose to visit||?
Inside the Christmas Market or Fair
Some points to consider:
* Inside The Market, Are There?
Armed police patrols
Police sniffer dogs
Security Patrols
* How is the market set out, does it look ad-hok as if its just been thrown up, is it circular, box
shaped or set out in a grid pattern?
* Where are the most popular areas, the most congested area or the busiest queues and how do people move around these areas?
* Are there tented or hutted areas where you have to walk inside to see an event or bar or shops,
Santas Grotto, how many exits, what is the set up inside?
* As there will be lots of eateries and it will more than likely be cold, there will be lots of heaters with live flames which means lots of propane tanks to provde the fuel. They can also be an onsite in
place means to add fuel to an attacl
Situational Awareness
Before we know what to look out for we need to have a baseline of activity. Firstly what is the demographic of people visiting the market, ages, ethnicity, gender etc. Are there more families or couples,groups of friends and how many individuals are there? What are the general activities of the visitors?
Once we know that then we can look out for those people who are not doing what everyone else is doing, or trying to blend in by pretending to do what everyone else is doing. This is how new people who come into the surveillance industry get caught out, tryng too hard to blend in, looking stiff and out of place and not relaxed. Possibly staying in one place too long, texting periodically after observing an area, the favoured method of communications. There is much much more to this.and this is a skill which needs to be learned but your gut instinct can make up for this to a small degree.
When we look at a even a basic number of issues as above we look at clusters. Clusters are numerous signes grouped together. One sign on its own may not mean anything, but put three, seven, ten signes together and they may point in the direction of possible bad intent. The signs we look at though all have to give off signals which connect them together.
Evacuation / Dispersal
If there is an attack then how are you going to get yourself and your family out of the immediate and then the general area?
We have seen many people injured and killed due to panic in a crisis situation. My advice is do not follow the crowd. Depending on the market layout you can decide how to get out of or away from an attack in various areas. If there is only one way in and out then look for alternate routes, those used by store holders to get their kit and other utilities into the site. What might you need on your person to effect an escape from the area, would you need to cut your way out, break your way out, is there sufficent lighting to see where you are going, there is much to think about.
I covered more during the weekends workshop such as:
Spatial awareness
first aid kits
kit to carry - individual and family kit
RV points
And I didnt even scratch the surface of what we need to know or be aware of.
If you are interested to learn more then check out the dates on the course dates page to get yourself booked on a workshop.
Hope to see you there.
Oh and just for your information! last weekend on Sunday 15th December 2025 a man was taken to hospital after he was hit with a bottle containing an alkaline substance at the Winter Wonderland Fair in Hyde Park London.
Stay Dangerous
Rock
* Reconnaissance
* Sitiational Awareness
* Evacuation or Dispersal
At the begining of December the UK FCO put out a terrorist alert for British people visiting Christmas Markets in Germany and Belgium due to the high threat of a terrorist attack and also at this time a illegal Iraqi islamist was arrested planning a terrorist attack at a Christmas Market in the Baviarian town of Augsburg. He had been conducting hostile recconassance of the market and talking with the Islamic State about the use of a vehicle as a weapon. He planned on driving a vehicle into the market to mow down pedestrians.
At the same time Christmas Markets in the UK have been cancelled due to the terrorist threat and armed police have been patrolling the more high profile markets. Though the government have not indicated any specific threat, so make up your own minds on that one!!
So what should you do?
Recce
Much like the terrorist conducting hostile recce to see if the target is viable and is what we call a soft target, a target that is open to attack due to the lack of security in place. You will be conducting the same thing but only with regards to your own safety and security while visiting the market. You can do this as an in-depth activity as a security professional or as a citizen justcover as much as you can in relation to your knowledge base.
Here are some basic tips on what you should be considering:
* Parking - Where will you park so as not to get blocked in if an attack does happen and surrounding
roads are cordoned off to stop vehicles leaving the area.
* Public Transport - Buses and trains. How busy will the buses and trains be and how busy will the
walking routes be to the market.
* Access & Egress - Are there dedicated entry and exit point or can you just wander into the market
from any point. If there are dedicated security checks then what do they consist
of? Has there been any online information regarding prohibited items?
Are there any of the following at the entrances or leadup to the entrances?
Vehicle Mitiigation Bollards VMBs
Security arches, airport style explosive or metal detectors
Physical or wanding bag or body searches
Police vehicles, ambulances or paramedic vehicles
What if the market you are going to has fewer or even none of the above, what does that tell you?
And this can be a bit of a conundrum for the average citizen, which will be safer, a hard target that is maybe too difficlut to attack with lots of security in place, or a soft target with little or no security in place? So which would a terorist choose to attack and which would you choose to visit||?
Inside the Christmas Market or Fair
Some points to consider:
* Inside The Market, Are There?
Armed police patrols
Police sniffer dogs
Security Patrols
* How is the market set out, does it look ad-hok as if its just been thrown up, is it circular, box
shaped or set out in a grid pattern?
* Where are the most popular areas, the most congested area or the busiest queues and how do people move around these areas?
* Are there tented or hutted areas where you have to walk inside to see an event or bar or shops,
Santas Grotto, how many exits, what is the set up inside?
* As there will be lots of eateries and it will more than likely be cold, there will be lots of heaters with live flames which means lots of propane tanks to provde the fuel. They can also be an onsite in
place means to add fuel to an attacl
Situational Awareness
Before we know what to look out for we need to have a baseline of activity. Firstly what is the demographic of people visiting the market, ages, ethnicity, gender etc. Are there more families or couples,groups of friends and how many individuals are there? What are the general activities of the visitors?
Once we know that then we can look out for those people who are not doing what everyone else is doing, or trying to blend in by pretending to do what everyone else is doing. This is how new people who come into the surveillance industry get caught out, tryng too hard to blend in, looking stiff and out of place and not relaxed. Possibly staying in one place too long, texting periodically after observing an area, the favoured method of communications. There is much much more to this.and this is a skill which needs to be learned but your gut instinct can make up for this to a small degree.
When we look at a even a basic number of issues as above we look at clusters. Clusters are numerous signes grouped together. One sign on its own may not mean anything, but put three, seven, ten signes together and they may point in the direction of possible bad intent. The signs we look at though all have to give off signals which connect them together.
Evacuation / Dispersal
If there is an attack then how are you going to get yourself and your family out of the immediate and then the general area?
We have seen many people injured and killed due to panic in a crisis situation. My advice is do not follow the crowd. Depending on the market layout you can decide how to get out of or away from an attack in various areas. If there is only one way in and out then look for alternate routes, those used by store holders to get their kit and other utilities into the site. What might you need on your person to effect an escape from the area, would you need to cut your way out, break your way out, is there sufficent lighting to see where you are going, there is much to think about.
I covered more during the weekends workshop such as:
Spatial awareness
first aid kits
kit to carry - individual and family kit
RV points
And I didnt even scratch the surface of what we need to know or be aware of.
If you are interested to learn more then check out the dates on the course dates page to get yourself booked on a workshop.
Hope to see you there.
Oh and just for your information! last weekend on Sunday 15th December 2025 a man was taken to hospital after he was hit with a bottle containing an alkaline substance at the Winter Wonderland Fair in Hyde Park London.
Stay Dangerous
Rock
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