Frontline
Ten minute traffic security deployment By Greg Hamm Delta Scientific, Vice President-Marketing and Sales
14 | Australian Security Magazine
O
n December 19, 2016, the news exploded with information about a vehicle attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed at least 12 and injured more than 50. Less than a month before, the U.S. State Department had warned about such attacks in public places throughout Europe, saying that extremist groups including the Islamic State and Al Qaeda were planning to focus on such locales during the Holiday Season. Indeed, both terrorist groups have called on followers to use trucks in particular to attack crowds. On July 14 (2016), a truck plowed into Bastille Day vacationers in Nice, France, killing 86 people. Four months later, on November 28, 2016, a car ramming attack and mass stabbing occurred in the United States at 9:52 a.m. EST at Ohio State University's Watts Hall. The attacker, Somali refugee Abdul Razak Ali Artan, was shot and killed by the first responding OSU police officer and 13 people were hospitalized for injuries, nine of them struck by the vehicle. Luckily, nobody was killed. With vehicles used at weapons becoming a popular terrorist strategy, how can security management control traffic at a temporary event with certified crash equipment that can be simply towed away when the occasion is over – from protecting farmers’ market shoppers from an errant vehicle or a political event from car and truck bombers? Today, that question can be answered simply – with portable barriers. Moveable self-contained barricades can be towed into position to control vehicle access within 15 minutes to answer the need of organizations that quickly require a temporary barricade system to address a specific threat or secure a facility during special events. They were created for military checkpoints in Afghanistan and Iraq to provide another level of force protection. Three lengths -12, 16 and 20 feet – have been built over the years. These mobile deployable vehicle crash barriers carry a M40 rating, stopping 7.5 ton vehicles traveling 40 mph. No excavation or sub-surface preparation is required. Once towed into position, the portable barricade uses DC-powered
hydraulic pumps to unpack and raise and lower itself off its wheels. There is no hand cranking. Wheels are stored along the sides and the vehicle ramps fold out, completing the implementation. To move the barrier from that spot to another, the procedures are just reversed. Who in law enforcement uses mobile, temporary barriers? Today, over 1,000 of the mobile deployable vehicle crash barriers are being utilized throughout the world. Many of the MP5000s are being used in the Middle East to protect US troops from truck bomb attack. However, it didn’t take long for municipal law enforcement to discover them. Within months of introduction, the Los Angeles Police Department obtained the barriers for a host of duties. During heighted security threats, the MP5000s can easily be installed to create a safe zone at the outer areas surrounding the Parker Center headquarters. They are also used for special events, such as Hollywood awards ceremonies including the Academy Awards, major sporting contests, high-profile trials, or in the potential event of riots or natural disasters such as earthquakes to provide extra security where it is needed. Ordered by the Secret Service and provided through Global Access Control Systems (Pittsburgh), certified crash barriers also protected attendees at both the Republican and Democratic Conventions this past summer in Cleveland and Philadelphia. The fact that these barriers were ordered well in advance of the tragedy in Nice is indicative of the great foresight and planning that is undertaken by the United States Secret Service. Portable barriers were also at both political conventions in 2012 in Tampa and Charlotte as well as at the Presidential Inauguration events January 21, 2013, to aid police and military officers in protecting the president, congressional leaders, judges, journalists, other attendees and onlookers.