Impact of international terrorism on security for world class venue

Introduction

The Premier Facility holds meeting whose attendance includes high profile individuals with large security needs.  The security needs arise from the increased threats of domestic and international terrorism activities that affect the security of attendees of the events being held frequently at the venue.  The devastating attacks carried out in major cities such as Paris and shootings in California indicate the level of threats that the facility is exposed to and which need to be addressed. The threat level is increased by lack of adequate training of security personnel to deal with the emerging issues.  These attacks threat the performance of the facility as a preferred venue. 

Impacts of domestic and international terrorism on the facility

The domestic terrorism threats are perpetrated by people or groups that are associated with major local based movements that embrace various extreme religious, political, social or racial ideologies. For example two law enforcement officers were murdered after being ambushed in a restaurant with the culprits being a couple that were opposed to the government and their intention was to use the incident as a starting point for new resolutions.  Such threats from domestic terror groups are persistent where culprits defy the Frist Amendment to the constitution where personal rights are connected (Jenkins, Liepman & Willis, 2014). They commit such crimes with an aim of furthering a different political agenda.  The venue is exposed to Homegrown Violent Extremists, groups that consists of individuals who are sympathizers and who can be used to carry out terrorist attacks on people holding various events in the venue. Such people have been radicalized within and their aim is to carry out attacks from within.  They would aim at attacking places that are frequented by high profile persons so that their actions can be highlighted and capture the attention of the entire public. There are also large numbers of military veterans who came back from wars in place such as Iraq and are dissatisfied and are willing to embrace the extreme ideologies (Jenkins, Liepman & Willis, 2014).  The difficult economic situations bring about various groups in the country that are ready to engage in violent rhetoric and instigate actual violence. These individuals may target places where they feel are associated with high profile individuals whom they consider to be privileged in the society.  Since the facility holds such large and high profile conferences and meetings, any lax in security may give these groups an opportunity to carry out their actions.

 In recent times, many attacks and confrontations have been carried out by lone persons with political zeal, and these have led to questions regarding their mental health. Some of the ideologies are spread through the internet platforms such as social media which are likely to feed a mental disturbance or extremist inclination that were pre-existing (Kurzman, Kamal & Yazdiha, 2017). They can be radicalized so that they act out of desires that have cautiously been considered to farther some broader cause.  In addition, white supremacist or jihadist may be behind he increased cases of mass killings, with their actions driven by their ideologies.  The radicals may be driven by ideologies such as Christian Identity which empowers them to perceive themselves better and other racist to evil (Kurzman, Kamal & Yazdiha, 2017).  A great threat emerges from leaderless resistance where individuals work alone, and such a terrorism model lacks the control that a wider movement or group can exert over the actions of the person.  Such individuals may perceive some incidents such shooting of innocent people as moral mistake and set out to correct them through vengeance. These individuals can easily enter the facility in case of security negligence and unleash attacks on unsuspecting people in the facility.  Individuals who are possession of ammunitions such as guns can disguise as being among the individuals holing their events at the center and then attack from within.

The international terrorism poses a major threat to the security of the facility given their experience and expanded global reach that enables them to carry out large scale attacks.  The terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and Islamic states have managed to radicalize citizens of different countries which they use to unleash their terror on public places (Hoffman, 2016).  In the past , conventional wisdom held that violence instigate by these groups would be contained only to the volatile areas and that threat to the Western countries would be random and isolated attacks carried out by “lobe wolves” without directive from any organizations . However, such wishful thinking has been swept aside by a series of attacks especially a major one in 2015, which caught the security organs unawares.  There was no any warnings of the attack and the terrorists defied the then prevailing assumption that groups such as Islamic states were not keen on  carrying out external attacks , and that they did not have capacity to do so(Hoffman, 2016). The fact that the leader of the operation managed to travel to Syria from Belgium, get radicalized and then back in spite of him being among the most wanted individual is a sign of the level of threats exposed to installations in the Western countries (Hoffman, 2016). This should raise the alarm over the idea that security personnel guarding the facility have in regard to complete understanding of the capabilities of international terror groups.

 Given that the facility holds important high profile global events, the management is confronted with a major security environment since threats emanate from at last two large terrorists movements.  The major groups specifically Islamic State can be seen to be present in the international scene in the likely future (Hoffman, 2016). It has established external operations in many Western countries that are likely to remain unnoticed until their carry out an attack. Such was the case for Paris Attacks where the Islamist lived within the country and carried out the attack without being identified by intelligence and security organs (Hoffman, 2016).  The management of the facility can be caught unawares if such terrorist manage to infiltrate inside while various events or meetings are being held in the compound. Such possibilities cannot be wished away given the information about the group’s activities in the country. Defense officials and intelligence in United States have revealed important information regarding Islamic State deployment of many operatives who are likely to find their way into the country and cause security breach in various infrastructure and population (Hoffman, 2016). The situation is made worse by the involvement of foreign fighters who have returned home and in plotting for attacks which improves the effectiveness of their planned attacks (Hoffman, 2016). These individuals can target the facility since no one will be suspecting their plans especially if they happen to be among those who have been hired for management of various events. The security risk increases if these individuals are operating as lone wolves.

Planning for events involving high profile individuals in the facility is, therefore, greatly affected the activities of the terrorist groups.  Domestic and global terrorism as totally curtailed the carefree operations of any event planners and even people way of life.  The management has to prove to the interest stakeholders including the government security organs and attendees that security has been bolstered to prevent cases of terrorist attacks and related threats. Many people may have the fear of attending events such as meetings and conferences since it can attract terrorists who wish to disrupt such an event to make a strong statement (Skoll & Korstanje, 2014).  The global terrorism related disruptions may take different forms including protesting specific operations of parties that have been associated with events being held. This is especially true if such events involve individuals who are leading fights against terrorism and whose fear include being target in their way to the facility. For example, a meeting involving government agencies presents a higher risk since its likelihood of being targeted is greater and this represent a security challenge to the management. In addition, events that are viewed as highly important are more likely to be targeted by both domestic and global terrorists (Skoll & Korstanje, 2014).  The terrorists are also likely to attack foreigners who may also be tourists attending various events or meetings in the facility. They can target the major events so tat to cause fear among the attendees, so that they can send a statement to others who are planning to hold such events. This means that by targeting the facility and other individuals can desist from holding events or meetings in that place which will negatively impact the business.  

The facility is associated with tourists and travellers and as destination for holding national and global conferences, which makes it a target for tourism and an attack on the facility can hurt its positive public image. The management of the facility has to incur huge costs in installing security systems that will ensure that any suspicious activities are detected before any terrorist attacks can take place.   The managers have to employ every reasonable measure that will provide a safe environment for the staff and the attendee especially where the events to be held are big.  This involves employing a security contractor who can be trusted to provide the confidence that is needed by event organizers and the attendees and thus maintain good performance of the facility.  The best security providers are not likely to be cheap and their demands in terms of payment may be higher (Skoll & Korstanje, 2014).  The management may also be required to install systems that will capture anybody that comes in. The attendees may be required to provide their details while undergoing thorough frisking which may not sit well with some people.  In this case, having intelligence organs in the facility may also be part of the strategy that will cost much resources for the facilities.  Improved security will ensure good business for the firm but any terrorist attack may damage the facility’s image.

Conclusion

The facility faces terrorist attacks from both domestic and global extremists which have great impact on its performance in terms of business. The domestic terrorist may carry out attacks on events that concern political or social issues and perpetrators may be lone wolves. The international terror groups may carry out large scale attacks on high profile individuals which can hurt the image of the facility as a safe place.

References

Kurzman, C., Kamal, A., & Yazdiha, H. (2017). Ideology and Threat Assessment: Law Enforcement Evaluation of Muslim and Right-Wing Extremism. Socius, 3, 2378023117704771.

 

Hoffman, B. (2016). The Global Terror Threat and Counterterrorism Challenges Facing the Next Administration. CTC Sentinel, 9(11), 1-7.

 

Jenkins, B. M., Liepman, A., & Willis, H. H. (2014). Identifying Enemies Among Us: Evolving Terrorist Threats and the Continuing Challenges of Domestic Intelligence Collection and Information Sharing. RAND NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INST SANTA MONICA CA.

 

Skoll, G. R., & Korstanje, M. E. (2014). Terrorism, homeland safety and event management. International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management, 1(1), 95-110.