Martyn’s Law, also known as the Protect Duty, is a proposed legislation in the UK named after Martyn Hett, who tragically lost his life in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. The law is aimed at enhancing the security and safety measures in public places to protect against terrorist attacks.
Although it is expected that the legislation to establish Martyn’s Law will be introduced in 2023, many organisations are already starting to implement their own security measures, including:
- consideration of risk assessments leading to a range of emergency plans and procedures being in place
- undertaking staff training and awareness raising
- employing security systems, processes and measures to mitigate threats.
All such efforts are welcome and encouraged to create a culture of security.
Martyn’s Law would require businesses and organisations to implement specific security measures to mitigate the risk of terrorist incidents. The law may impact businesses or organisations in the following ways:
- Risk Assessment: Businesses and organisations would be required to conduct thorough and regular risk assessments to identify potential security vulnerabilities. This includes assessing the risks posed by terrorism and implementing appropriate mitigation measures.
- Security Measures: Martyn’s Law would demand businesses and organisations to implement effective security measures based on the risk assessments conducted. This may include physical security measures such as CCTV cameras, access control systems, security personnel, training programs, and emergency response plans.
- Collaboration: The law emphasises the importance of collaboration between businesses, organisations, and local authorities in sharing information and coordinating security efforts. This may involve sharing intelligence, participating in training exercises, and communicating suspicious activities or threats.
- Training and Awareness: Martyn’s Law highlights the need for staff training on security protocols and the importance of maintaining a high level of awareness. Employees may receive training on recognising suspicious behaviours, responding to emergencies, and understanding evacuation procedures.
5. Compliance and Reporting: Businesses and organisations may be required to adhere to specific compliance measures and report their security measures to the relevant authorities. Compliance monitoring and auditing may be introduced to ensure ongoing adherence to the law’s requirements.
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It’s important to note that the specific impact of Martyn’s Law will depend on the final legislation and the regulations put in place once it is enacted. If you are a business or organisation operating in the UK, it would be advisable to closely monitor the development of Martyn’s Law and seek professional guidance to understand the potential impact on your operations.
Martyn’s Law will follow a tiered model linked to activity that takes place at a location and its capacity, aimed to prevent undue burden on businesses.
A standard tier will apply to locations with a maximum capacity of over 100 which can undertake low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve preparedness. This will include:
- training
- information sharing
- completion of a preparedness plan to embed practices (such as locking doors to delay attackers progress or knowledge on lifesaving treatments that can be administered by staff whilst awaiting emergency services)
An enhanced tier will focus on high-capacity locations in recognition of the potential consequences of a successful attack. Locations with a capacity of over 800 people at any time, will also need to undertake a risk assessment to inform the development and implementation of a thorough security plan. Subsequent measures could include:
- developing a vigilance and security culture
- implementation of physical measures, like CCTV
- new systems and processes to enable better consideration of security
The government will establish an inspection and enforcement regime, promoting compliance and positive cultural change, and issuing credible and fair sanctions for serious breaches.
Dedicated statutory guidance and bespoke support will be provided by the government to ensure those in scope can effectively discharge their responsibilities. Even small venues will be able to benefit from this and take voluntary action. Expert advice, training and guidance is available on the online protective security hub, ProtectUK.
Martyn’s Law will extend to and apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. The government will publish draft legislation in the early spring to make sure the law stands the test of time.
For more information and the requirements for each tier, visit GOV.UK – Martyn’s Law factsheet.
Consider what you and your colleagues can do to make it harder for a would-be terrorist to carry out a successful attack, by:
- being alert to suspicious behaviour and activity in and around your site, such as people loitering or displaying an unusual level of interest in asking questions, filming, or photographing.
- assessing the possible vulnerabilities of your site to various attack methods and taking suitable measures to mitigate the risks.
- being security-minded in your communications, particularly online.
- encouraging and enabling a security culture at your event and in the workplace, ensuring that any concerns can easily be reported and will be acted upon
- considering how you and your staff would respond to an incident occurring inside, outside, or near to your building or site.
Businesses can greatly benefit from close protection operatives who have undergone specific training as tactical commanders, where security threats are dynamic and ever-evolving, businesses, therefore, require expert advice and guidance to ensure the safety and protection of their assets, employees, and customers.
Close protection operatives with tactical commander training are valuable in providing such guidance for several reasons:
Enhanced leadership skills: Close protection officers trained as tactical commanders gain valuable leadership skills. They learn how to effectively manage and coordinate a team of security personnel during high-pressure situations. This training helps them develop the necessary command presence and decision-making abilities to lead tactical operations.
Specialised knowledge: Tactical commanders receive training in areas specific to tactical operations. This includes understanding advanced threat assessment techniques, risk management strategies, operational planning, situational awareness, and tactical communication protocols. This specialized knowledge equips them with the skills needed to effectively handle complex security situations.
Adaptability to diverse environments: Tactical commanders undergo training that prepares them to operate in diverse environments. They learn how to adapt their tactics and strategies to different settings, such as urban areas, remote locations, or confined spaces. This adaptability is crucial in the ever-changing landscape of close protection, where each assignment may present unique challenges.
Collaboration with other agencies: Tactical commanders often work in conjunction with other security agencies or law enforcement organizations. Specific training prepares close protection officers to effectively collaborate and integrate their operations with these entities. They learn how to establish clear lines of communication, share information, and coordinate actions, ensuring a cohesive and efficient response to security threats.
Mitigation of risks: Training as a tactical commander equips close protection officers with advanced skills for risk mitigation. They learn how to identify potential threats, assess vulnerabilities, and proactively implement security measures. By having a thorough understanding of operational planning and risk management, they can effectively protect their clients and personnel under their command.
Overall, undertaking specific training as tactical commanders allows close protection officers to gain the necessary skills, knowledge, and expertise to excel in high-risk security operations.
In response to the evolving security landscape and the growing demand for specialised skills in close protection operations, MEP (Minerva Elite Performance Ltd) launched the Tactical Commanders Course for Close Protection Officers. This ground-breaking training program aims to equip close protection officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel as tactical commanders in high-pressure security environments.
The role of a tactical commander in close protection operations is pivotal in ensuring the safety and security of clients and personnel. By undergoing this comprehensive training program, close protection officers will enhance their leadership abilities and gain further specialised tools required to effectively plan, coordinate, and execute tactical operations.
Led by a team of seasoned industry professionals, the Tactical Commanders Course offers a unique blend of practical exercises, theoretical knowledge, and real-life case studies. Participants will delve into advanced threat assessment techniques, risk management strategies, operational planning, situational awareness, tactical communication protocols, and collaboration with other security agencies.
Key Highlights of the Tactical Commanders Course and what you will learn:
- Interpret information to develop awareness and assess risk in dynamic situations.
- Identify objectives and priorities to resolve dynamic situations.
- Evaluate options and respond to dynamic situations, write a tactical strategy.
- Demonstrate standard and informal techniques for communicating information.
- Develop teamwork and leadership skills to collaborate in response to dynamic situations.
To ensure personalised attention and effective learning outcomes, enrolment for the Tactical Commanders Course is limited. Interested close protection officers are encouraged to register early to contact us for further information.
For more information about the Tactical Commanders Course for Close Protection Officers, please visit Tactical Commander Training or contact Craig Smith.
ACT Awareness will provide nationally recognised corporate counter terrorism guidance to help people better understand, and mitigate against, current terrorist methodology.
The following eLearning modules are available:
- Introduction to terrorism
- Identifying security vulnerabilities
- How to identify and respond to suspicious behaviour
- How to Identify and Deal with a Suspicious Item
- What to do in the Event of a Bomb Threat
- How to Respond to a Firearms or Weapons attack
See, Check and Notify (SCaN) aims to help businesses and organisations maximise safety and security using their existing resources. Your people are your biggest advantage in preventing and tackling a range of threats, including criminal activity, unlawful protest, and terrorism.
SCaN training empowers your staff to correctly identify suspicious activity and know what to do when they encounter it. The skills your staff learn will also help them to provide an enhanced customer experience. It helps ensure that individuals or groups seeking to cause your organisation harm are unable to get the information they need to plan their actions.
See – Be aware of what’s happening around you and trust your instincts. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
Check – You can make a real difference through vigilance and good customer service. Friendly engagement and eye contact can help disrupt a hostile, while improving the customer experience. Do not underestimate the power of saying ‘Hello, can I help you?’. Your intervention may save lives.
Notify – Find out and learn your site’s security procedures. If you do not know how to report suspicious activity, ask your supervisor.
SCaN modules
SCaN is free and has 6 modules, delivered by qualified trainers.
Sign up for SCaN!
SCaN is not about spending more money on security measures or employing more security staff. It’s about making simple changes and using the resources you already have more effectively. The enhanced customer experience will benefit your organisation, and this training could be the difference between your organisation being a target or not.
For more information on SCaN, visit the National Protective Security Authority.
The challenge faced in countering terrorism is most effectively managed when planning, event management, incident response safety, security, and service are reviewed together.
Event organisers have an obligation under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to provide a safe place for their employees to work, and for the visitors to their attractions and events.
Consideration of the risk posed by terrorists must form part of the considerations under this act. It is essential, for corporate governance, to ensure that all threats have been considered, and appropriate measures implemented to manage the exposure to risk. It must be recognised and understood that assessing general event risk is different to assessing security risk. It is essential that the person carrying out this task is competent.
When developing a proportionate plan for an event, it is essential to understand the principles of protective security. The measures should cover the deterring, detecting, delaying, mitigating, and responding to an attack. It is not always appropriate to consider all of these aspects, but an understanding of how these aspects do work together is essential.
Deter involves discouraging adversaries from conducting an attack by making each element appear too physically or technically difficult to achieve. An example of this could be highly visible security patrols around the outside of the event.
Detect involves being alert to potential attack behaviours at every stage, from planning and reconnaissance to deployment. The deployment of behavioural detection operatives or encouraging staff to be aware of hostile reconnaissance behaviour are examples of detection methods.
Delay involves implementing measures that increase the time it takes for attackers to get to the location of vulnerability once the attack starts. This could be ensuring that the right type of perimeter fencing is used to ensure it is harder to penetrate.
Mitigate involves the use of measures to minimise the impact of an attack. The use of a hostile vehicle mitigation system to prevent vehicular access and provide appropriate stand-off is an example of this.
Respond involves ensuring that measures are in place to respond to an incident. This is crucial in ensuring that harm is kept to a minimum. Appropriate training of response staff and a credible response plan are key to ensuring that any incident is dealt with professionally.
The government has announced that places of worship will receive £28 million in funding to help keep them and their attendees safe. The funding is available this year through 2 schemes, with applications now open.
The funding is part of the government’s commitment to ensure that faith communities in England and Wales are protected from the threat of hate crime and terror attacks and can practise their faith freely and without fear.
The Home Office will provide funding for physical protective security (such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure fencing) to be installed to help protect mosques, churches, temples, gurdwaras and other places of worship. Mosques will also be able to access a new security guarding scheme later in the year.
To apply for funding, applicants should submit evidence of their vulnerability and experience of hate crime. The application window is open until 15 August 2023, and the Home Office will notify successful sites from November 2023.
The London Shield app provides up-to-date information from the Counter Terrorism Protective Security Operations team at the Metropolitan Police Service.
Through the development of close partnerships between London-based businesses and the Met, the app can keep you informed and engaged with events, news, and terrorism-related information from across the capital.
The London Shield app is available to download from: