City Security Council prepares to launch Incident and Crisis Management platform

As well as real-time reporting of incidents such as missing persons, suspicious vehicles and changes in security alert levels, the new platform will provide the police service with the ability to galvanise support to help quickly set up cordons or organise mass evacuations.

The software for the Incident and Crisis Management platform will be created by Zinc Systems, a UK-based digital technology company specialising in the creation of business intelligence, incident management and communications platforms. The platform will be ready to be delivered and deployed in Q2.

Commenting on the news, Neill Catton (chair of the City Security Council) stated: “The City Security Council’s members have been instrumental in driving this initiative forward. The collaboration between all organisations has been excellent and demonstrates the passion for creating a unified approach towards securing the City of London. The Council would like to welcome other security stakeholders to be part of this fantastic initiative and to promote the professionalism of our security teams.”

David Ward, founding member of the City Security Council and immediate past chair) added: “This new communications platform was a key part of our original strategy when founding the Council and I’m delighted to see that vision now become a reality. The platform will allow us to share intelligence extremely quickly and the police to call on our support. This will help us work even closer in support of the City of London Police and facilitate our security officers becoming even more effective in their role to help provide a safe and secure environment in London.”

Collaborative vision

Joe Zielinski, CEO and founder of Zinc Systems, enthused: “We’re delighted to be a part of such a collaborative vision that will see the City of London Police and security companies join forces in support of the City. Our Synapse platform will be the engine of the Joint Contact and Control Room and, in working with all of the City Security Council’s members, it will drive proactive intelligence sharing and yield a rapid response towards incident and crisis management.”

Ian Dyson, Commissioner of the City of London Police, observed: “This unique and innovative initiative is one that I’ve always been supportive of since its inception. It’s excellent news to see the next stage unfold. In this day and age, it’s vital that we further develop our already excellent private-public partnership collaborations. The City Security Council platform will bring many additional real-time benefits to further enhance the safety of all who visit, live and work in the City of London. With many thousands of additional security personnel to call upon in support of our officers, this is going to be a real game-changer in terms of how we can respond to an incident.”

Richard Woolford from the City of London Corporation concluded: “The City of London Corporation is looking forward to supporting the City of London Police and the City Security Council with this new solution that merges the public and private sectors in responding to incidents and crises. This new system will be an invaluable resource and one that will further ensure that the City remains a safe and secure place for workers, residents and visitors alike.”

Partnership supporters

The current City Security Council members supporting this partnership are Allied Universal, Amulet, Axis Security Services, CIS Security, City Security Services, Cordant Security Services, Corps Security, Frankton Group, ICTS, ISS, G4S, Kingdom Security, Mitie, Bidvest Noonan, Profile Security, Savills, SecuriGroup, Securitas, SmartSec Solutions, Trigion, Unitrust Protections Services, Universal Security and Ward Security.

*For more information about the City Security Council visit www.citysecuritycouncil.co.uk