Terrorist threat: Certis Cisco should not add to the confusion .
[Image: Chicken-Little-on-CNN.jpg] pict sauce: http://www.davidmcelroy.org/?p=18926

We all know why the sportshub is searching patrons for water bottles and food items, that along with a no re-retry to venue policy, is ment to keep patrons at the MERCY of in-venue based F&B kiosks to charge $$$ as they please with Singapore Sportshub Pte Ltd. (SSHPL) probably getting a large cut of profit.

Certis Cisco as a professional security agency should thus avoid getting caught up in the ruse and compromise their professionalism towards being pro F&B sales kpi since this does nothing to ensure spectator safety but adds to the unease as concert goers are bombarded with questions and surveillance targeted at CONFISCATING private/ personal food and and drink items.

A sufficiently irritated elderly concert goer is ought to retort that he has a bomb on him when sufficiently agitated by security staff's misplaced focus on boosting in venue F&B sales, the concert entry ticket having been not cheap to begin with, why should attendees of an event at a premium world class venue be subject to the humiliation of having their private food and drinks confiscated from them but for security and fellow patron's consideration but for the extremes of food options e.g. curry can stain seats, durian stinks, metal cans are projectile hazard and clear liquid can be flammable substance. However, 600ml clear EMPTY plastic bottles should be encouraged for patrons to hydrate themselves at FOC water dispensers in venue and the security staff should emphasize the these rules whilst conducting physical bag checks and being unnecessarily accusatory to patrons concerned.

Local measures to diffuse a misunderstanding with patrons agitated by the less than focused ground crew (who may assume that their salaries are linked to F&B sales KPIs) should be intervention by professional security companies like Atos and Certis Cisco to properly assess and MANAGE any security threat locally with proper procedures: pte room, interviews and strip search with consent if necessary, warnings against unruly behaviour, expulsion from venue etc and only request Singapore Police Force assistance where a GENUINE THREAT exists to minimise abuse of limited public resources.

Certis Cisco should also have experienced police investigators on its management board so that ground staff training can include proper terror threat assessment and response, inter-personal communication skills, crowd control and public education etc and not immediately call for police assistance each time they hear the 'bomb' word uttered, even if it was a joke by an elderly citizen feeling humiliated like a F&B cheat; like kids being examined for for hidden sweets when exiting a candy store.

It should be the capability of Certis Cisco to provide the said irritated elderly with the proper education, apology and calming measures and the conduct of detailed security checks if Sportshub staff had been over zealous in promoting venue F&B sales and only escalate issues to police intervention if the patron is an obvious security threat, uncooperative or disruptive to the concert or its security operations. Certis Cisco guards on the ground out to be professionally trained to exercise discretion, otherwise a simple robot would be more than sufficient to replace Cisco staff on the ground.

We all know that the SSHPL costs an exorbitant S$1.3b to build and that some management focus on recuperating original investment costs may be foremost on their minds. However, as a professional private security organisation, Certis Cisco should be ABOVE being in cahoots with such private business interest unless it is a mafia/ gangster organisation: professional security companies should above all, serve the public good.

The genuine bomb carrying terrorist never reveals his bomb much less talk about it and people who joke about bombs are more than inconvenienced by venue entry delays, detailed interviews and physical searches and the potential for police intervention in the event of non-compliance with security procedures.

The security threat is real and present and does not need to be proven by trumping up the arrest numbers of innocent citizens irritated by misplaced event venue business interests resulting in the Singapore Police having to rush to petty complaints by Certis Cisco staff sucked into client business interest and thus unable to professionally handle jokes from a stressed up concert goer without police intervention. The treating of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) by Certis Cisco like a sugar daddy, like Chicken Little who thinks the sky is falling, does not give me much confidence in the SPF to combat GENUINE terrorist threat to Singapore.

The Chicken Little story: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henny_Penny
========

Frustrated elderly concert-goer makes false bomb threat during security check
Source
TODAY
Date 28 Aug 2017
A 60-year-old man has been arrested by the police for making a false bomb threat at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday (Aug 26), the second such incident within a week.
The police said in a statement on Sunday that they were alerted by a security personnel at the Singapore Indoor Stadium at 7.32pm that a man had been detained after claiming he had a bomb with him.
TODAY understands that the man was going through a security check before attending a Wakin Chau concert with his wife and his friends.
During the security check, the suspect was asked if he had a water bottle with him. In response, the man said he had a bomb.
TODAY also understands that a Cisco security officer overheard the conversation and questioned the man as to why he made that comment, to which he replied that he was joking and was frustated that he could not bring water in.
The statement added that officers from the Bedok Police Division responded to the incident and arrested the suspect.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the suspect had no intention or means to carry out his threats.
The police said that man was arrested under Regulation 8(1) of the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations, which states that it is an offence for a person to communicate or make available by any means any information which he knows or believes to be false to another person, with the intention of inducing in him or any other person a false belief that a terrorist act has been, is being or will be carried out.
If found guilty, the suspect is liable to be punished with a fine not exceeding S$100,000 or with jail of up to five years, or both.
This is the second time in a week that a false bomb threat was made.
On Wednesday (Aug 23), a teenager was arrested by the police for claiming that he was a terrorist armed with a bomb, which caused a commotion at the Boon Lay bus interchange.
The incident came to light when a video of the 17-year-old's act surfaced on Facebook. In the video, he was heard screaming “I am a terrorist” and “I want to die”.
The police confirmed on Friday night that the teen had been arrested for causing a public nuisance.
TODAY understands the teenager is mentally unwell.
Copyright 2017 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved