Managing high-risk protest activity in the energy sector
Power stations across the UK face a growing, credible threat from a variety of pressure groups, highlighted in October 2009 by the 'Great Climate Swoop' at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire
The ongoing debate around climate change, international political uncertainties, and increased opportunities to mobilise and publicise events through social networking sites have all affected the attitudes of UK citizens. As a result, protest action is more likely and accessible to the masses. No longer just a potential conduit for terrorist expression, the disruption and even dismantlement of energy plants themselves has become a goal for a number of single-issue activist groups.
It was in this context that 2009 saw the well-publicised 'Great Climate Swoop'. As part of an ongoing environmental campaign, protesters from a wide range of pressure groups met with the avowed intent of disrupting power generation at the site, with other power stations throughout the UK at risk of solidarity actions.
E.ON has been well-versed in dealing with protest actions against its sites, although given the size and nature of the threat was looking for an enhanced security partner to plan and execute tasks with military precision, to ensure the safety of everyone on site and help the team to keep the plant operational.
E.ON required the provision of a sizeable security presence for the build up and duration of the protest, available to respond to incidents at short notice, and work closely with their in-house security team and the police to forge a cohesive security plan. With a workforce made up of specialist security personnel (including a high proportion of ex-Gurkha soldiers), and managed by former British Army Officers well versed in public order exercises, G4S Gurkha Services was appropriately positioned to fulfil such a brief.
G4S Gurkha Services assisted E.ON with its own security planning, deploying suitable officers, creating assignment instructions, rehearsing alongside other stakeholders and arranging accommodation and transport within very tight timescales. G4S's security officers were stationed within the Ratcliffe-on-Soar facility alongside E.ON personnel, ensuring a 100 per cent guaranteed quick reaction force that was able to augment the on-duty provision instantaneously.
The remit of the security operation was to maintain the integrity of the power station, whilst facilitating peaceful protest. Tasked to "deter, detect and deny" attempts to infiltrate the site, personnel were on hand before and during the event to remove suspicious-looking equipment, including poles, ladders, bolt cutters and an array of other tools designed to sabotage the operations. Warranted police officers were thereby provided with additional security and released to undertake the duties that they were best suited to as part of a proportionate policing response, including arrest where necessary.
The threat to security now stems not only from the radicalised fringe but also from groups mobilised en masse within the public domain. These groups do not fit the traditional mould of an extremist threat. Many are led by activists whilst being made up largely of everyday people passionate about the issues which they aim to publicise, and the response of both the public and private sectors must adapt accordingly.
It is clear that those who marched on Ratcliffe-on-Soar were intent on shutting down energy production at the plant and securing maximum publicity for their actions.
Thanks to a joined up, cohesive approach between all parties involved, business continuity was maintained in the face of widespread, violent protest action. According to Barrie Millett, Head of Business Resilience, E.ON UK: "The G4S team was extremely professional throughout and their meticulous planning paid real dividends over the weekend. A great job all round."
John Whitwam, managing director of G4S Gurkha Services, www.g4s.com/uk-gurkha_services
