Physical Security: Islamabad Hotel Bombing

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Security Management
Physical security
Threat Assessment
Case Study: Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing
Conclusion
References

Abstract

In this modern-day, there are many risks and threats that are involved in the world. There is a heightened level of insecurity and much as we would like to depend on the government’s forces to provide security, sometimes they are not the only solution to the insecurity problem. It is in this respect that various entities have to step up security arrangements in their capabilities. This is because there are numerous threats that are associated with day-to-day activities in the modern world. It is in this respect that these entities need to come up with good threat assessment and security management systems so as to ensure the safety of the people as well as the assets. Acts of terrorism have heightened the levels of insecurity in the world. Terrorists have claimed a lot of lives as well as destroyed assets and property worth billions of shillings. It is important to note that these losses could have been avoided if some of the terrorist’s targets had taken the best risk assessment and security management that is offered by experts in the world. Apart from terrorists, risks have also arisen from the rising crime rates in the world. These have also brought about a lot of losses to various organizations in terms of loss of lives, assets, and property. This study will look into threat assessment, security management and a case study of a terrorists attack in Islamabad Pakistan. All this will be put in the context of physical security (Patterson, 2004).

Security Management

Security management is a broad field that covers the fields of asset management, human resource functions of safety, and physical security. It encompasses the use of mechanisms and systems which identify an organization’s asset of information and the various developments, policy implementations, documentation, guidelines, procedures, and standards that an organization uses in managing its security (ASHRAE, 2004).

Physical security

This term is used in describing all the measures that are used to counter, deter and prevent attacks from various fronts in accessing an entity. This entity can be a facility, information storage system, or resource. It is mainly involved in designing mechanisms that are capable of resisting hostile’s activities as well as hostile individuals. It varies in degrees and can range from the simple and traditional locking of a door to more elaborate and state of the art technology of security systems or a system of guards and placement of guardhouse (Smilowitz, 2005).

Security engineers have determined various elements in which physical security can be enhanced. These elements include protection against explosions and explosives, obstacles that are very helpful in deterring and frustrating attackers, and also very helpful in delaying access to serious attackers so that protective steps can be undertaken. There is also the system of lighting, alarms, closed-circuit cameras, and also a mechanism enhanced by security guards. Finally, there is the element in which a well-organized response team is put in place and it is mandated to catch, repel and frustrate attackers when they are detected. In a well-designed security framework, these features must aid each other in ensuring the safety of the premises (Purpura, 2002).

Security engineers have also identified four layers which are very essential enhancements of physical security. One of the layers is the environmental design which plays a very important role in the enhancement of physical security. These include such things as electric fencing, concrete bollards, warnings, and signs. This layer is very important in warning potential attackers that the resources used in breaking into a premise are far expensive than what they will get when they have broken into a premise. Others include vehicle height restrictions, metal barriers, site trenches, and site lighting (Patterson, 2004).

The other layer is the access control by mechanical and electronic mechanisms. This includes such details as locks, doors, and gates that fall under the mechanical access control. In recent years, keys have posed a serious threat to physical security because it was easy for the keys to be forged as well as the locks being picked. This brought about the necessity of using electronic access control which is also apt in controlling large populations of users. This is because electronic access control also has a mechanism in which computers are used to record various users’ access points and times. This is very important because it can set a particular user point of access and time of access hence enhancing the physical security of the premises (FEMA, 2007).

The other layer is intrusion detection which mainly involves the use of systems that detect intrusion and also alarm systems. Its main purpose is to monitor for attacks from hostile parties. It can be termed as more of a response security measure than a preventive security measure although some security engineers have termed it a deterrent measure. One of the setbacks of this layer is that there have been numerous cases of false alarms and hence many law enforcers will not take this as a serious threat to a premise (Garcia, 2001).

The fourth and final layer is video monitoring. It follows some aspects of intrusion detection and it does not offer much help in deterrence. This layer is much more helpful in the analysis of the incidence in terms of time and history and is also used to verify alarms. It is also very helpful in apprehending the attackers in cases where the attackers did not have access to the video system. This is because when the attackers have access to the system, they tend to destroy it hence ensuring that there is no evidence against them. The most common video surveillance is the closed-circuit television but this is being phased out by other systems which are computer-based. It is also being changed periodically by the advancement of information technology and in this respect, it is being changed from monitoring to analysis instrument (ASHRAE, 2004).

Threat Assessment

It is important to enhance a premise’s physical security. However, many entities recognize this fact as to when the threat has already done substantial damage to the premises. This is why it is important to invest in threat assessment and also in threat planning because it is an important feature in any organization and also as its design in the building. Safety and security are both related to risks and threats but they do not mean the same thing. Security means the requirements that should be implemented to inhibit, prevent, deter and mitigate threats. Safety, on the other hand, means the provisions which aim to reduce the occurrence of risk which could be death, loss, or injury which are rooted in natural causes or accidents. In this respect, security aims at risk reduction, and risks include injury, death, or loss which is rooted to man intentional activities. Physical threats can be categorized into two main categories which include protection of cash assets and protection of non-cash assets (Kovacich-Halizobek, 2003).

The protection of cash assets mainly includes locking cash in various secure areas like safes, vaults, and teller drawers. In the same respect, all doors and windows should be locked and there should be an alarm system that is set to trip if the doors and windows are tampered with. The alarms should be used in alerting security personnel in case of a break-in. There should also be motion sensors that should alert the security personnel in case of an activity that is not authorized in secured premises (Garcia, 2001).

On the other hand, the protection of non-cash assets is considered by many security experts to be the most important because the non-cash assets are the most valuable in an organization. One of the non-cash assets is the paper negotiable which includes such things as postage stamps, money orders, traveler’s checks, and others. These things are usually held safely in vaults and safes during the nights. However, many organizations fail to notice the threat associated with these things during the daytime and also during business hours. Criminals can be aided by modern technology can produce paper materials that can be identical to an organization and this will either result in other organizations and individuals casting doubt in any paper instrument from your organization or to losses to your organization. This can be very harmful in cases where reputation and image need to be saved to the public (Fennelly, 1999).

Personnel, members in an organization, and clients are deemed as one of the greatest risks in an organization. During a hostile activity, the actual loss of assets through a robbery can not be compared to the medical costs that would be attributed to the actual event of hostility. Personnel, members of the organization, and the clients can cost an organization a lot of money in legal and medical costs which would be brought about by injury or death of the people in the organization. It is in this respect that physical security experts have advised that organizations should have policies implemented so as to cater to this threat (FEMA, 2007).

Equipment, buildings, and furniture can contribute to losses when they are vandalized or are stolen, or are consumed in fire, floods, and accidents. They can also bring about a lot of insurance claims if they are not safe, they are not well maintained or they are utilized in the wrong way. This is because they can hurt people and hence they should be considered also as a threat unless they are well secured and also well utilized (ASHRAE, 2004).

Case Study: Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing

On 20^th September, 2008 a dump truck detonated in front of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in Pakistani. The dump truck was filled with explosive materials and the terrorist act claimed more than fifty lives and injuries more than two hundred and fifty people. Apart from that it causes a big devastation to the hotel and left huge crater in the hotel. The people who were killed were mostly Pakistanis but there were a number of foreigners who were also killed in the terrorist attack. The Marriott was the capital’s most prestigious hotel and due to this it was very popular with international foreigners as well as Pakistani elites and leaders. It is also located in the vicinity of the government buildings and the vicinity of the diplomatic missions in the country. This was not the first terrorist attack on the hotel because a suicide bomber had also attacked the hotel in 2007 and in the process killed another person (Associated Press, 2008).

The attacks on this hotel have provided other organization on the basis on which they can step up the security of their organizations so that they can avert such occurrences from their organization. The hotel security management was put under scrutiny and many security experts have claimed that the attacks would have been averted if the standard procedures in the security management had been fully employed. This means that the losses which were subjected to the owners of the hotels would have been averted as well. The most important part was that the lives of the people and the welfare of those injured during the attacks would have been saved or other would have been saved from their injuries. The various organizations can learn a lot from these attacks (Associated Press, 2008).

One of the lessons that the attacks can contribute very much to other organization is the environmental layer of physical security. The hotel failed in deterring the attackers from entering the premises of the hotel. This could have easily been countered if the hotel had put in place good environmental design to deter the truck and its load from accessing the premises. This could have been achieved by ensuring that vehicles that were not authorized did not access the premises. This could have been helped if the premises had put in place some barriers that prevented unauthorized vehicles to access the premises (Fennelly, 1999).

The other lesson that other organizations would have is to enforce mechanisms that would detect explosives from a distance and also how to counter these explosives from reaching their targets. The Marriott hotel failed in this endeavor and that is why it was a victim of terrorist attacks. This means that the hotel did not have enough mechanisms to counter such an attack. As a result it lost a lot of resources not mentioning the number of individuals who died and who were injured. This shows that the mechanisms of any organization to handle these kinds of threats can play a very important role in ensuring that the organization does not incur losses brought about by terrorist activities (Kovacich-Halizobek, 2003).

Another important lesson is that organizations should invest in mechanical as well as electronic deterrence mechanisms. This is because had the hotel invested in such mechanisms, then the attack would have been averted. This means that the hotel would have put in place mechanisms which would prevent access to the hotel facilities by unauthorized vehicles which could bring about threats to the facilities. This would have been achieved if the hotel had used such things as gates which had locks and can only be opened by the security personnel to authorized people only. However, lack of these mechanisms contributed largely to the fact that the hotel was attacked by a suicide bomber who had unauthorized entry into the hotel in the first instance. This brought about losses to the hotel and also contributed largely to the fact that many people lost their lives and many more were injured. This can bring the hotel to public criticism as well as people not having faith in the hotel. A hotel of that stature should at least have some barricades to ensure that only threat free people and vehicles entered the premises (ASHRAE, 2004).

Another important lesson for organizations from The Marriott Hotels attacks is that they should have intrusion detection surveillance and this should also include explosives detection surveillance. This means that organizations should put in place mechanisms which can detect intruders and especially the intruders who bring about weapons of any sort especially weapons of mass destruction. This means that the hotel should have countered the attack on the basis that it would have detected that something illegal was being handled in front of the hotel and that it could cause a lot of damage to the hotels and that it could also bring a lot of deaths and injuries on the people. This means that organizations should invest in such mechanisms that can prevent such attacks in the future (Garcia, 2001).

Another lesson that organizations should learn from this attack is that they should take care of their non-cash assets and should deem this assets as the most valuable of the entire assets. This is because the hotel lost a lot of assets when it was bombed and this can be seen by the fact that the hotel was closed for several months before it could reopen again. This means that the hotel suffered losses which accrued from the bombing itself as well as losses which were accrued from the reconstruction of the hotel. It also incurred losses from the fact that for the months that it was closed, it had lost some of the sales (FEMA, 2007).

Another lesson from the hotel bombing is that organizations should deem people as the most important assets for any organization. This can be seen from the fact that the organization lost a number of employees as well as many clients through the deaths. The hotel also suffered a lot because of the fact that the people who got injured have the right to sue the hotel for damages as well demanding the hotel to take care of their medical bills. This can also bring about litigation directed towards the hotel. This means that the hotel can incur a lot of losses from the fact that it did not take enough measures to ensure security to the people within the premises. This means that the organizations can learn from this and ensure the safety of all people within the organization at all times (Fennelly, 1999).

Conclusion

Every organization has a responsibility of ensuring that its safety measures are well taken care of at all times. This will help the organization in ensuring that there are not losses incurred due to the hostile activities which have become so prone in the modern world. There are various threats and risks that are related to any organization in the world and it is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that enough measures have been put in place to counter this threats and risks. The world today is dotted with numerous sources of threats and this includes terrorists and criminals. It is important for the organization to ensure the security of its information, cash based assets and non-cash based assets.

References

ASHRAE, (2004). “Homeland Security for Buildings,” ASHRAE Satellite Broadcast, ASHRAE, Inc., Atlanta, GA.

Associated Press (2008): Suicide attacks kill 1,188 in Pakistan since ’07. Web.

FEMA, (2007). Site Urban Design for Security: Guidance Against Potential Terrorist Attacks, Publication 430, FEMA, Washington, DC.

Fennelly, Lawrence J., (1999). Handbook of Loss Prevention and Crime Prevention, Stoneham, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Fennelly, Lawrence J., (2004). Effective Physical Security, Third Edition, Burlington, MA, Elsevier Inc.

Garcia, Mary Lynn, (2001). The Design and Evaluation of Physical Protection Systems, Stoneham, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Kovacich-Halizobek, (2003). The Managers Handbook for Corporate Security, Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, pp. 186-206.

Patterson, David G. III, CPP, CFE, CHS, (2004). Implementing Physical Protection Systems: A Practical Guide, USA, ASIS International.

Purpura, Philip P., (2002). Security and Loss Prevention, An Introduction, Fourth Edition, Woburn, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Smilowitz, Robert, (2005). Retrofits to Resist Explosive Threats, prepared for the National Institute of Building Sciences, 2005.

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