loss prevention

As I indicated in an earlier blog, there have been some serious concerns about the strength of security at World Cup events. Just today, the game between Italy and Paraguay was nearly canceled after security stewards (that must be what other people in the world call officers) walked off the job because of pay disputes, according to this article. Walking out on game day forced South African police to take control of security at the stadium.

But this wasn't the first big issue involving security and police. On Sunday, stewards stationed at a different stadium (but who were employed by the same security company, Stallion) clashed with riot police also over wage issues. And it gets worse:

Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to break up a protest by around 400 stadium staff protesting what they said was a pay cut from 250 rand ($A39) to 190 rand per day.

So now police resources are being used to fight security officers? You're suppose to be on the same team, remember?

Here's a statement from Rich Mkhondo, head of communications for the local World Cup organizing committee, who said the protest did not impact on security at the match (uh huh):

"Two hours after the end of the first match at the Durban stadium last night, there was an internal pay dispute between the principal security company employed by the organizing committee and some of the static security stewards employed by the company at the match," Mkhondo said in a statement e-mailed to the AP. "Police were called on to disperse the protesting stewards."

Attempting to secure an event like the World Cup is not exactly easy. There are a lot of logistics involved, including efforts to coordinate multiple entities who likely have not worked together in the past (read all about these challenges in this SDN article). While I empathize with the workers who are allegedly being screwed by their security employer, game day is not the time to make one's point (although it is certainly effective at drawing attention). Security is too important at this event and there are too many lives at stake for such disputes. I'm assuming police forces are taxed at the moment and they certainly don't need to be spending resources to battle the people who are suppose to be their partners.

This Sunday will be one of the most highly-watched sporting events of the year: The Super Bowl. I would never consider myself a die-hard sports fan (I just lost a bet with one of my male friends that the Washington Wizards were based in Washington State and now I'm down a case of beer), but I do like to watch a good game. If I'm a fan of anything, it's basketball, but I must say football has grown on me this season. I think it's largely a combination of one of my friends purchasing a large-screen HD television (the same friend who now has a case of Sierra Nevada on me) plus those fancy cameras they now have that makes me feel like I can reach out and touch the quarterback.

But I digress. This blog post isn't about the actual game of football, but rather all the security measures that go in place to protect players and fans on game day. A few weeks ago I spoke with a company that provides GPS tracking capabilities to team owners and police to track team buses and other assets to ensure everything goes as planned. (For some PR
reason, the company wouldn't allow me to use their name in print, which, frankly, is bad PR in my opinion, but that's a whole other issue).

I just read this CBS article about some of the other security measures in place, and, as you might guess, there are a lot of agencies involved in this initiative. Sixty-four, so says the article and more than a 1,000 officers:

Across South Florida Coast Guard fast boats patrol the waterfront, while Homeland Security choppers and military fighters scan some 50 miles of coastline. On game day, they'll enforce a 30-mile "no-fly" bubble around Sun Life stadium.

In addition to things like snipers and SWAT teams, the various agencies will also deploy canine units to sniff for explosives, which are the greatest threat to the event.

And everything will be coordinated from a central command center, where more than 100 agents review intelligence, track leads and use high tech tools "like a magic cyber wall." What? A "magic" cyber wall? I've never heard anyone in the industry use the term "magic" to describe anything dealing with security and it's my understanding that all these technological advances are, well, fairly scientific. Even though I can't tell you exactly how anything from my watch to my cell phone actually works, I'm fairly confident that magic isn't involved. And, if you're going to use magic on anything, perhaps someone should put a spell on Peyton Manning to keep him from blowing the Saints out of the water (but not literally, of course).