Overview   Risk mitigation

Attacks on people exercising their fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship continue to occur with dreadful consistency across Europe. Nice, Paris, Hanau, Bayonne, Copenhagen, Baerum, Rouen and Halle are the most recent additions to the increasing list of terrorist attacks on places of worship. This article looks into the aspects that need to be considered when planning the physical protection scheme of places of worship.

Would you like to tell us what you know about the concept of security by design? Would you like to share your experience with us? We can use your project as a case study in the forthcoming virtual book on Security by Design for the Protection of Public Spaces from Terrorist Attacks. Take a few minutes to fill in this survey and share your experience with us: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/SecurityByDesignBook

The workshop focused on discussing challenges, opportunities and ideas about potential ways forward in developing harmonized generic models for use across the EU.

The European Commission is launching a technical working group to support a voluntary scheme for performance requirements of detection equipment used in public spaces outside areas where aviation standards apply.

The European Commission is organizing an EU Digital Autumn School which will offer specialized workshops on a broad spectrum of topics related to the protection of public spaces.

Schutz vor Anschlägen mit Fahrzeugen

The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has published a guideline document with practical advice on the selection and installation of elements that are able to stop and/or deter potential terrorist attacks.

Our aim here is to review considerations which may be helpful to the security operator or the urban civil servant in the practical terrorism risk assessment for public spaces. We also introduce the EU Vulnerability Assessment Checklist for Public and Security Authorities. Assessing terrorism risk in a systematic manner is conducive to the implementation of tailor-made solutions for more effective, resource-efficient and proportionate protection.

With this article we aim to open up a debate into the lessons we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the protection of our public spaces. Here we would like to raise questions and concerns. The answers will take time, common effort and concerted action.

LETSCROWD helps law enforcement agencies by enabling the creation of signals, the modelling of venues and incidents, as well as by including relevant information such as voice recordings, images, and videos.

The harmonisation of vehicle barrier testing standards across the EU will ensure common performance and security levels and will enhance the single market for security products. Harmonization can be assisted through the use of numerical methods. Numerical simulations are cost-efficient and can be used to assess different impact scenarios (changing the vehicle’s velocity, its type or its angle of impact). Numerical testing methods will also open the way to creativity and the development of innovative protective structures which are integrated to the urban aesthetics and cultural character of the surrounding area. Guidelines for the use of numerical tools can be placed at the disposal of urban authorities and security operators for the assessment of ad-hoc security solutions.

The guideline "Selecting proper security barrier solutions for public space protection" presents how protection against vehicle-ramming attacks can be designed. The guideline is available in English and now also in French and can be requested via JRC-PUBLIC-SPACES@ec.europa.eu.

This technical guide provides an overview of a design procedure for structures under blast loading. It is addressed to design engineers offering ways to estimate blast loading on structures and on their response under such types of actions.

Researchers look into the design of meandering access control zones inside or in close proximity to buildings in view of the risk of internal explosive events. The numerical models demonstrate that properly installed meandering walls limit the consequences of an internal blast and guarantee that the produced blast wave does not propagate into vulnerable areas.

Standardisation is at the core of European competitiveness as a global economic power. Common standards contribute to the safety, quality, environmental sustainability, interoperability, compatibility of products and processes and security. Importantly for the field of protection of public spaces, standards can enable companies to comply with relevant laws and regulations . For the protection of public spaces, there is an array of active and passive, digital and physical protective measures. Standards which specifically address certain types of protective measures are often missing, which leads to the lack of minimal requirements for testing, installation and/or product safety.

The second issue of the Protection of Public Spaces Newsletter focuses on the topic of standardization in the field of protection of public spaces. European harmonized standards which specifically address protective measures are often lacking and the European Commission is looking into addressing this gap and fostering harmonized standards for testing, installation and/or product safety.