Project Griffin was developed by the City of London Police (and formally introduced as a joint venture between the City and Metropolitan Police Services) to advise managers, security officers and employees of large public and private sector organisations in the Capital on security, counter-terrorism and crime prevention issues.
Being a self-contained policing area, Gatwick Airport is an ideal location for introducing Project Griffin as all of its members of staff are working towards the same goal – maintaining the security and efficient running of the airport. The project will be launched with an Awareness Day related to the running of the airport, and aimed squarely at equipping members of the community with the necessary knowledge and information which will help them to work with the police on detecting and deterring terrorist activity and/or crime.
The Project Griffin Awareness Day
The Awareness Day is designed to introduce the Griffin concept and establish relationships and networks. The focus is on how to recognise, respond to and report on any suspicious activity and behaviour. It also helps participants think about their own local procedures for dealing with certain types of incident and emergencies.
Speaking about the Gatwick decision, superintendent Robin Smith – the divisional police commander for Gatwick Airport – told info4security: “Project Griffin is the very embodiment of the partnership approach to protective security. We are extremely keen to support what has quickly become an international initiative designed to assist the fight against terrorism and criminality.”
Project Griffin’s principal aims are to: raise awareness of current terrorist and crime-related issues, share and gather intelligence and information, build and maintain effective working relationships and seek solutions to defeating terrorism and crime, maintain trust and confidence in the police and other authorities and empower people to report suspicious activity and behaviour.
In addition to the aforementioned Awareness Day, the operational framework of Project Griffin consists of three main strands: an online refresher module, ‘bridge’ calls and emergency deployments.
The online refresher module is an informative, interactive and easy-to-follow package developed to help participants in remaining engaged and informed. Successful completion of the module also formally recognises their participation. Most participating police forces employ a system of regular ‘bridge’ calls, whether conducted by conference call, SMS, pager or e-mail. These ensure individuals and groups are always aware of current information and intelligence, as well as issues or incidents affecting their particular area.
Although the primary role of Project Griffin is to focus on community awareness, surveillance and reporting, additional procedures might be activated in times of emergency. Using civilian powers, police services might seek to deploy Project Griffin-registered personnel for activities such as setting up cordons or high-visibility neighbourhood patrolling.
Who is involved?
Singapore is also about to ‘go live’ with the scheme, while Lothian and Borders is the latest police service north of the border to join the aptly-named ‘Griffin Family’. To date, the police services involved also include: the British Transport Police, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Bedfordshire Police, Cleveland Police, Derbyshire Constabulary, Dorset Police, Grampian Police, Greater Manchester Police, Gwent Police, Hampshire Constabulary, Merseyside Police, Northamptonshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police, South Wales Police, South Yorkshire Police, Staffordshire Police, Strathclyde Police, Surrey Police, Sussex Police and the West Midlands Police.
For its part, national training and education body Skills for Security is proud to have played its part in helping to mak the initiative such a resounding success, and is continuing its association into Phase 2 – the e-based ‘refresher’ learning package. The London Stock Exchange was the first organisation to implement Phase 2, with its security guarding solutions provided by Knightsbridge Guarding.
