Kiwi firms slammed for 'very low' security standards at stadiums

BY JONATHAN MARSHALL

New Zealand's private security industry has low standards and will struggle to deal with the responsibilities of next year's Rugby World Cup, according to a former Diplomatic Protection Squad officer who guarded Helen Clark.

The comments from Carlton Ruffell, currently employed by Parliamentary Security, have surfaced a week after the Sunday Star-Times exposed a lack of security at sporting venues which will host next year's rugby tournament.

In the course of the investigation, Star-Times reporters were able to:

Enter Auckland's Eden Park during a cricket international without tickets or ID by dressing as construction workers;

Move around restricted areas at Waikato Stadium and get into the players' tunnel during a Super 14 international match;

Take toy explosives into AMI stadium in Christchurch, and Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, without being searched.

Nigel Cass, general manager of tournament services for Rugby NZ 2011, said information contained in the Star-Times' expose "has been fed into an ongoing RWC security planning process", and some of the issues highlighted in the story "are certainly worthy of consideration by those experts working on the RWC security planning project".

In his report entitled Rugby World Cup NZ 2011, an Intelligence-led approach to Security, Ruffell is critical of the "very low" standard of private security companies, saying they are often unskilled and selected on price rather than competency.

Private security firms will provide the bulk of security for Rugby World Cup matches. Among the companies bidding for that work are some of the same ones which were on duty at sports fixtures visited by the Star-Times.

Red Badge guards were on duty when Star-Times reporters visited stadiums in Hamilton and Christchurch.

Red Badge director Andy Gollings said despite the Star-Times expose the company remained hopeful of securing the Rugby World Cup security contract, but was yet to file a bid. He said the firm "played a big part" during the 2005 New Zealand Lions' tour. Gollings said "whoever [gets] the [Rugby World Cup] job will have a very busy time and will need to do a lot of preparation for it".

A spokesman for Rugby World Cup 2011 said plans for securing private security staff at each stadium were well advanced, and he was confident those arrangements would help ensure the event would be "safe and secure".

Ruffell's report, published in this month's Security Today industry magazine, says the quality of private security firms' work was debatable. "The current model of private policing practised in New Zealand provides a very low standard of security. There are low barriers to entering some areas of the private security market, meaning companies in non-specialised roles, such as manned guarding, compete on price alone."

The report records Rugby World Cup chief executive Martin Sneddon's opinion that "the security industry in New Zealand, as it currently stands, is not equipped for the event". A spokesman for Sneddon said that quote dated back to 2008.

Although some critics derided the Star-Times' sting because New Zealand was unlikely to ever be at risk of international terrorism, Ruffell – who recently spent three years working in the Middle East for a major British risk consultancy – believed we should not be so blase.

His report said stadiums had the potential for "mass casualties" and "should receive and warrant the best security planning and resources". Auckland International Airport, SkyCity, the United States Embassy and Parliament were prone to invasion by terrorists because "attacks on these installations would demonstrate a weakness in the security of the nation and show the resolve of the attacker".

Ruffell said international politics would need to be considered – particularly involving those participating in the tournament and in Afghanistan and Iraq military operations. "High-profile media events involving these countries [are a] more desirable terrorist target."

He added: "Other countries competing have their own internal activist communities which may exploit this opportunity to achieve worldwide media exposure."

Ruffell's report also suggests that cyber-terrorism during a large event like the Rugby World Cup can pose a "disproportionately negative effect on those attending major events". Event management computer systems – such as ticketing – could be hacked.

Last week is was revealed New Zealand's most secret intelligence agency, the External Assessments Bureau (EAB), had been renamed the National Assessments Bureau (NAB), and given a mandate to consider threats to security not only abroad, but within New Zealand.

Reports said the Wellington-based agency, with an annual $3.5 million budget, was preparing for the Rugby World Cup by assessing potential disruption sparked by local or international radicals.

WHAT WE DID... AND WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED

ACCORDING TO KEN DUNCAN, A PRIVATE SECURITY CONTRACTOR

Got into Eden Park posing as construction workers, without tickets and at no point asked for identification

"Anyone entering should be challenged and asked for identification or a ticket regardless of whether they are contractors or spectators. This is basic security."

Moved freely around Waikato Stadium, into restricted areas like the players' tunnel, players' bench and the VIP corporate boxes

"Again this is basic access control. Someone should be checking entry points. Entry to a players' area should require a special pass and anyone without one should not be allowed in."

Took alcohol and toy explosives in a backpack into Waikato Stadium and AMI Stadium. Bags weren't searched

"The bag at Christchurch was patted down from the outside rather than inspected because of fears the guard would be accused of theft. This is nonsense because the guard can ask the spectator to open their own bag, hold it open or take everything out. It seems security companies have gone all touchy-feely and don't like getting into a spectator's personal space. While the Rugby World Cup is 18 months away, the guards need to be getting Kiwis used to more rigorous searches."

Ken Duncan had 14 years in the New Zealand Army as a section commander in a regular force infantry battalion. Since 1997 he has being doing private security throughout New Zealand and in Iraq. He owns Christchurch security company Red Diamond Security Services Ltd.

- © Fairfax NZ News