The Bunker was considered “ideal” for use as a training facility by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Firearms Unit due to the “uniqueness” of its layout and physical security infrastructure.
The Metropolitan Police Service began its training programme there in the first week of January, and will continue once a week, practising different scenarios at The Bunker facilities for several months.
A senior firearms instructor at the Met’s Firearms Unit commented: “Using The Bunker’s site with its complex security systems and unusual layout enables us to practise realistic training scenarios. Having the use of such a superb venue also enables us to develop rigorous and challenging training for our officers.”
The instructor added: “The Bunker’s security staff are extremely professional and knowledgeable which assists us tremendously in the preparation, planning and execution of tactical scenarios.”
Role-playing recreates real world scenarios
One scenario of the training exercise is that members of staff are taken hostage by terrorists inside a data centre. The Metropolitan Police Service would then use a tactical insertion to search and clear the area, disable the terrorists and rescue the hostages safely without affecting the operation of the data centre itself.
Realism is brought to the exercise by using non-operational areas of The Bunker’s data centre and volunteer staff acting as hostages.
The Bunker’s security team are part of the exercise, working with the Metropolitan Police Service and enhancing their own skills.
Indeed, the security team prides itself on being the best in the business, and is made up of ex-military personnel with numerous years of experience and unparalleled levels of training. In short, security is their passion.
A training exercise like this broadens the Metropolitan Police Service’s awareness on how the national infrastructure will be affected if these scenarios happen in the real world, and highlights the significance of data centres to the economy.
Paul Lightfoot, chief technology officer at The Bunker, told SMT Online: “I’m delighted The Bunker has been chosen as a training site for the Metropolitan Police Service’s Firearms Unit to practice scenarios, including data centre takeover situations. It underlines The Bunker’s strong security credentials and reinforces the fact that The Bunker is second to none in terms of security.”
For Lightfoot, the partnership now in place between the Metropolitan Police Service’s Firearms Unit and The Bunker also illustrates Best Practice and the impeccable level of security governing its sites.
“It bolsters our already impressive collection of security accreditations,” continued Lightfoot. “These include ISO 27001 and PCI DSS. We look forward to continued working with the Firearms Unit in the future, and exploring the partnership in different areas of our business.”
What’s The Bunker all about?
The Bunker delivers ultra secure co-location, managed hosting, outsourced IT and other data centre solutions from within Europe’s most secure data centres.
Those centres, which are outside the M25 yet within easy reach of London, are military-grade nuclear bunkers purpose-built to house the UK’s air defence systems.
Operations are run on a 24/7/365 basis. The National Operations Centre monitors systems both nationally and internationally, and is staffed around the clock by system and network engineers and security staff.
As stated, The Bunker is ISO 27001 and PCI DSS accredited and follows ITILv3 Best Practice as well as PRINCE 2 project management standards.
Clients includee financial services organisations, technology companies, local Government bodies and other regulated businesses that value a premium service built around security.
For more information visit the website (a dedicated link is provided on the right hand panel of this page)
