Introduction: The Changing Event Security Landscape
The recent assassination by shooting of political influencer Charlie Kirk at a university campus speaking event in the USA clearly demonstrates that tragedy can strike at any time. The world has become a much more troubled place recently, and the event security risk associated with holding a large event has intensified. Event organisers and their security contractors are fighting back by adopting the latest technology to work alongside security guards to keep ahead of these changes and protect performers and attendees.
With more people than ever attending festivals, corporate events, political rallies, and major sporting and entertainment occasions, the risks have become increasingly complicated and the root causes of extreme actions more difficult to understand and anticipate. For example, commentators are tracing the motivation of the shooter of Charlie Kirk to the often malign influence of social media.
Organisers now face a variety of more sophisticated threats, ranging from tech-savvy ticket scammers to the challenge of managing combined physical and digital threats.
Choosing and deploying the right guards and integrating the latest security technology only works well when it is understood how to combine them effectively. This is key to protecting everyone and everything at an event while keeping the experience enjoyable.
The Essential Role of Security Guards
Even with technological advancements, nothing replaces the presence of a trained security professional at an event. Security guards bring the flexibility that comes from instinct, experience, and judgement, as well as the ability to act swiftly in ways machines can’t match.
Their roles have expanded to include working with security technology for improved awareness and faster decision-making. The right guard-to-attendee ratio and specialised training tailored to the event type prepare them for challenges like crowd control and dealing with emergencies and incidents appropriately.
A visible human presence brings trust and reassurance to performers and attendees, creating a safer and more reassuring environment that technology alone can’t deliver. Security guards remain essential to keeping events safe and enjoyable.
“Only a trained, licensed security guard can exercise judgment, flexibility, and physical intervention when an incident occurs. No camera can comfort a lost child, calm an aggressive individual, or make the split-second decision to initiate an evacuation”
Blending Human Expertise and Technology for Event Security
The secret to future-ready event security is combining skilled and experienced security guards with cutting-edge technology into a seamless strategy, but how does that work in practice?
Here are five ways security guards and technology can combine to strengthen event security:
- Real-Time Alerts and Response: Security guards equipped with mobile apps or wearable devices receive instant notifications from AI-powered surveillance cameras or crowd analytics systems. These alerts highlight suspicious behaviour or potential risks, allowing guards on the ground to react swiftly based on the alerts they receive. By combining tech’s speed with human judgement, potential incidents can be neutralised before they become serious or disruptive.
- Drone-Assisted Patrols: Drones with thermal imaging or automated patrol functions cover large or hard-to-reach areas of an event venue. Guards and technicians can monitor live drone feeds and direct their movements to cover areas of concern and allocate response teams to attend.
- Smart Access Control: Guards oversee access points where smart systems like ticket scanners, RFID badges, QR codes, or biometric scanners verify the identity and authorisation of attendees. Technology enables quick and accurate entry checks, while guards handle exceptions by verifying identities in person and managing crowd flow to prevent bottlenecks.
- Central Control Centres: Guards work alongside tech operators in centralised hubs that integrate data from surveillance, access control, and cybersecurity systems. Event security guards can respond to threats flagged by control room specialists with coordinated, real-time action.
- Augmented Reality Training: Guards can use augmented virtual reality tools and simulations to prepare them to handle tech-driven security scenarios. This equips them to work effectively with the technology available to them and ensures that they are fully proficient and prepared for the live event.
Preparing and Planning for Event Security is Key
Risk Assessment
Successful event security starts well before the doors open. A comprehensive risk assessment tailored to the specific venue, audience, and event format is an essential starting point. Emergency evacuation procedures and communication protocols should be pre-planned and can be tested and reinforced by pre-event training sessions and live drills to ensure security guards and event staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities. From there, all relevant internal and external factors listed further down should be considered and accounted for in the plan.
Planning and Strategy
Security plans should clearly define guard roles and the numbers needed for adequate coverage. They should identify formal and informal access points that need to be covered and indicate where admission checkpoints will be situated.
Ticketing and Admission Control
Embracing technology to add a layer of security to ticketing and admission control is the most effective way to ensure admittance is restricted to authorised attendees. Checking paper tickets before admission might suit some smaller events, but access control is one area where technology can be of assistance for larger, higher-risk occasions. Embracing technology like RFID and QR code scanning or even biometric identity verification ensures that the security team can verify everyone before allowing them to enter the venue.
Liaison and Communication
Pre-event working groups can bring together the various agencies and services that need to be involved and have input at the planning stage. A typical working or safety advisory group might consist of:
- Representatives of the Local Authority: The Local Authority will often assume responsibility for coordinating the Safety Advisory Group (SAG)
- Lead Security Coordinator (Internal or Contracted): Oversees all physical security planning, access control, crowd management strategies, and coordination with law enforcement.
- Local Law Enforcement/Police Liaison: Essential for traffic management, public order, and a coordinated response to criminal activity or major security threats.
- Fire/Rescue Services Liaison: Focuses on fire safety, venue capacity, clear entry and exit routes, and emergency evacuation procedures.
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Liaison/Lead: Plans for on-site medical staffing and first aid stations and coordinates with local hospitals for serious incidents.
Calculating the Security Guard to Attendee Ratio
Although in general there is no legally mandated security guard-to-attendee ratio for all events, official guidance emphasises a risk-based approach, meaning the required staffing levels must be determined by a detailed risk assessment of the specific event.
Main Considerations
- Type of Event: A rock concert or political rally is a higher risk than a family fun day.
- Duration of the Event: Will the event be held over a few hours, or, in some cases, like music festivals, several days?
- Presence of Alcohol: Events serving alcohol require a higher ratio of security guards to attendees. For example, if alcohol is available at an event, organisers might halve the guest count per guard (e.g., use a 1:50 ratio instead of 1:100). This effectively doubles the number of security guards needed
- Crowd Demographics: Age, known history of behaviour, and size of the crowd should be taken into account when calculating the number of guards needed
- Venue Layout: The complexity, size and physical layout of the site, number of entrances/exits, restricted areas, and the space available for attendees to circulate.
- Security Roles: The ratio must account for different or specialist roles, such as baggage and body searches, VIP protection, access control, general patrolling, and incident response teams.
Some event organisers might consider the security guard-to-attendee ratio an area where costs could be cut. This is not a smart move; it could put people at risk and may even fall foul of event licensing regulations, insurance clauses and other local conditions.
Always assign security personnel to the most important and higher-risk locations: entrances, exits, stage areas, changing rooms, VIP green rooms, high-footfall zones, and emergency routes.
The table below gives an indication of proposed minimum starting levels for security staffing, but it must be emphasised that actual levels should be based on a thorough risk assessment and the recommendations made by the inter-agency event safety working group.
| Event Type | Risk Level | Guard-to-Attendee Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business Meeting | Low | 1:150 |
| Medium Conference | Low | 1:100 |
| Trade Show | Medium | 1:75 |
| Sports Event | Medium | 1:75 |
| Music Festival/Open Air | High | 1:50 |
| VIP/Political Event | High | 1:50 |
| Large Crowd / Alcohol Served | High | 1:50 |
| High-value Asset Exhibition | High | 1:25 |
| Outdoor Event (Dense Area) | Medium/High | 1 guard/10–15 sq.m |
The Role of Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs) in Large Event Security
The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) features a useful section on event safety and security. The role of a Safety Advisory Group is clearly explained, but here is a summary of the important points:
Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs), are normally coordinated by local authorities. They play a key role in ensuring public safety at larger events. These groups bring together a forum of representatives from the local authority, emergency services, and other relevant bodies, including event organisers and security contractors, to facilitate discussion and cooperation around event safety planning.
It’s worth noting that SAGs do not have statutory or enforcement powers. Their function is to examine all aspects of event pre-planning, provide advice and recommendations on all aspects of event safety, such as crowd management, emergency procedures, and the impact on local infrastructure and services. The primary legal duty for public safety always remains with the event organiser and those running the event.
Attendance at SAG meetings is voluntary but strongly encouraged for higher-risk events, as it fosters early engagement and more effective safety planning. While SAGs can raise concerns and suggest action, any enforcement or decision-making authority, such as the police or local authority departments (for licensing or road closures), remains outside the SAG itself.
A SAG should not be overlooked when planning more complex or higher-risk events. It ensures that all relevant agencies are involved from the outset. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) may provide advice to SAGs on specialist activities, but does not participate in the authorisation or direct approval of event safety plans.
Post-Event Reviews
Whether safe and successful or affected by incidents, any large event can become a learning experience for everyone involved. A post-event review is an important way of identifying areas for improvement. It sets event organisers and their security contractors on a path to continuous improvement, ensuring that any future events are even safer than the previous ones.
Data and footage collected by technology can be analysed for incident reviews, and security officers and other event staff directly involved in dealing with an incident can be de-briefed. Using post-event reviews, regular event organisers can sharpen future security strategies and resource allocation.
By staying current with evolving threats and emerging technologies, security professionals and event organisers can adapt quickly, making continuous improvement a cornerstone of event safety management for future events
Key Observations from this Post
- The challenge of modern event security for larger events is a race against global instability and the rapid evolution of digital threats. Planning a major event today is far more complex than it was a decade ago, but the goal of protecting the safety of people remains the same as it always has.
- Global events, including recent tragic incidents and high-profile assassinations, emphasise the need for extra vigilant security. Social media and digital platforms have created a dynamic where security threats are harder to predict. For example, a viral post on a social media platform can become a threat to a planned event almost instantly.
- Security guards are much more than visible deterrents. They are highly trained, adaptable professionals now working closely with sophisticated surveillance tools, mobile communication apps, and central control rooms.
- There is no one-size-fits-all approach to event security and safety. Working out the right security guard-to-attendee ratios and training requirements should be based on the recommendations of a multi-agency safety advisory group tasked with exploring all aspects of ensuring that the event runs smoothly and safely
- To stay ahead of emerging security challenges, event organisers must commit to continually evaluating emerging threats, technological advances and the latest ways of training refreshment for staff to work effectively with the technology.
- Post-event reviews, backed by data from surveillance and incident reports and staff debriefs, ought to be standard processes that drive continual improvement in event safety and security.
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