Diplomatic, Government

What we can do for you

Government buildings are one of the most common targets for terrorist attack as the targets fit many of the criteria seen by terrorist organisations as key (eg. iconic buildings, critical infrastructure, significant casualty, disruptive etc.). This is especially true of diplomatic missions overseas where the structures are often the only link between the host and parent countries.

Protection of assets and personnel overseas is often seen as more important than within the originating country as there is little control over or guarantee from the remote security forces and the diplomatic post is effectively an isolated island in an overseas territory.

Many of the diplomatic sites are relatively small and cannot afford substantial standoff so much of the protection lies either in the access point control or (as is becoming more common) in area protection by the creation of diplomatic compounds and the control of access to the vicinity as well as the individual site.

Our involvement in the protection of diplomatic and government sites is significant with hundreds of government installations completed around the world.

Avon Barrier understand the special considerations needed to provide protection to these vulnerable sites and are best placed to provide guidance.

Identifying the threat

Most diplomatic sites have a hard perimeter already in place with the main risk areas being the points of access.

While the access points should be kept to a minimum in both number and road-width, consideration to the consequences of an attack on a point of entry should be carefully assessed.

Examples of threats:

• Hostile vehicle attack (with Improvised Explosive Device)
• Mass attack gunmen
• Small explosive device (suicide bomber or satchel bomb)

Priorities for protection would include:

• Attacks on high profile staff
• People
• Critical infrastructure
• Operational processes
• Information

Solutions

While many diplomatic missions are at severe risk of hostile vehicle attack, some of the individuals within or operating from the missions are also individually at risk and measures put in place for protection must encompass as many areas of exposure as possible.

Sally port entry points provide dual levels of entry control enabling the checking and approvals of vehicles and personnel entering the site while maintaining the security line. These are common layout designs for diplomatic missions however they can slow down vehicle throughput with potentially high risk results.

Consideration of the operational and throughput design of the system would be paramount to ensuring a workable and safe solution to access point control and equipment design specifications would form a significant part of this consideration.

Our consultative approach to business enables us to provide advice on what can be done and we can help consider not only the layout design and costs but also the operational and logistical impact of the introduction of protection measures (a key element in ensuring the correct solution).

We are committed to continuing to provide a specialist solution to these risks.