It’s that time of year when many people are planning to host or attend an outdoor event. The beautiful weather, fresh air, and sunshine are all too good to pass up when you have the option to hold an outdoor event instead of an indoor event. These events can hold more people, more vendors, more performances, and are just all-around bigger! These events are really exciting for everyone involved, but they are also prone to certain security threats that need to be addressed before the event is held to ensure the safety of all staff, guests, and attendees.
Make it a Priority
A major outdoor event requires an extensive amount of planning that often takes months. Securing an area, bringing in performers and vendors, and planning activities for your target audience require a lot of work. Of course, running a successful event requires all of these important components, but security needs to be a top priority. It doesn’t matter how good your performers are or how delicious the food is if your event experiences a serious security breach.
Risk Assessment
The first step to quality event security is a risk assessment. There are a lot of factors to consider: cultural factors, controversial content or performances, high-risk guests or events, the sheer number of people, who will be attending, and where vulnerabilities are located. It might even be best to have a professional security consultant help perform this assessment for the most thorough sweep with appropriate security suggestions to handle any glaring issues.
Focus On Deterrence
Do not hide the security measures at your outdoor event. The first job of any security measure is deterrence, and having visible security can be all that you need to make someone second-guess their intentions to cause trouble or even cause harm. Security guards posted at access points are one of the best ways to deter potential issues and make it clear that your event is taking security seriously.
Access Control
Security guards at access points are also important for access control. At outdoor events, access control can be especially difficult. There will be a lot of ways for people to attempt to slip into the area unnoticed, which means it’s incredibly important that every accessible area has appropriate security stationed there to ensure that no one obtains unauthorized access.
Have an Emergency Plan
Even with the best security measures in place, the bottom line is that an emergency is still a possibility. Make sure you have emergency plans put in place for your event and that your staff and security personnel are briefed and trained in the appropriate emergency response procedures.
CES is Dedicated to Serving Our Community
Since opening in 1975, we have been committed to serving businesses in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Our values include proactive communication, honesty, reliability, and quality. We also believe in paying unparalleled attention to detail, no matter which service you require us to provide.
Our services include the following: professional security teams for permanent, temporary, emergency, and rapid-response support; around-the-clock patrols and management attention; concierge and hospitality staffing; and a dedicated mobile patrol service with associated staffing. Contact us for a free professional consultation today! Call 443-471-7000. Don’t forget to follow us on social media through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!