If you are hosting your own event, you will be juggling a whole host of different thoughts and questions about the best way to make it a great success.
One thought that may have crossed your mind is whether or not you need to hire professional security guards, or consult with a professional security company, to help keep your guests safe.
If you are hosting a large event with many guests, VIPs, and performers (a concert, festival, or sports match for example) the answer to this question is undoubtably yes. Only a professional security team can be relied upon to keep a large crowd safe during an event. The consequences of not taking your security obligations seriously simply don’t bear thinking about, and given the current climate it is always better to err on the safe side when gathering a large number of people into a single place. However, if you are only hosting a small event for a few people and the risk of disruption is low, there is probably no need for a professional security presence.
This is a difficult balance to find, when does a small event become medium-sized, etc. and finding the perfect combination can certainly be difficult for event organisers.
This blog is designed to help you to do just that, determining how much, or how little, security is required at your event to maximise guest safety.
Here are some of the most important things to consider:
How large a crowd is coming?
Probably the main determining factor as to how many event security guards you need and if you need to hire a professional security company for events is how many people you expect to be in attendance at your event.
In general, the more people who will be attending, the more security will be required, but this isn’t a standardised system. Some security firms advise that the 50 attendee mark is the point at which it becomes essential to have a manned guarding presence involving multiple security guards, and also the dividing line between a ‘small’ and ‘large’ event.
If your event is below 50 attendees, you can probably get away with a single security guard, but this isn’t always the case, and it will depend on the nature of your event.
What type of event are you hosting?
The nature of the event in question, and the expected behaviour of the guests at said event is another key determining factor in the level of security that will be required.
Even smaller gatherings, like the conference of a big business or a political speech may well require a large presence of security guards, for example, if protests are expected to take place. Similarly, all sports events tend to need security guards and stewarding, but if it is a big match between two local rivals, additional guards and stewards will be required and the police may well wish to liaise with them.
Will alcohol be served?
You probably don’t need us to tell you that if alcohol will be served at your event, there is a chance that things will get a bit more rowdy and a larger security presence might be a good idea. Alcohol and large crowds is a pretty potent combination and depending on the nature of the event, it won’t take much for joviality and good natured bantering to turn ugly. In fact, security industry experts actually recommend doubling your security guard for event presence if you intend to serve alcohol, in comparison to the same even without, it really does make that much of a difference.
Where is the event being held?
The location of the event venue will determine a huge amount of your overall security strategy, not only how many security guards will need to be on site. If you are holding an event at an out of town arena, without a huge amount going on around the perimeter, keeping it secure should be pretty straightforward, whilst inner city locations with a huge amount of passing traffic can be a bit more complicated.
What time of day is it?
The darkness of night does make things that little bit more complicated when it comes to event security, offering would-be intruders the coverage that they need to get closer to the venue without detection. Professional event security companies are more than used to assisting with events held at night, but they may well recommend a few additional security measures to be take such as temporary lighting around the venue and station a few additional guards around the perimeter.
One good way to prevent unauthorised individuals from reaching the event venue that your security team may recommend is establishing several checkpoints at various distances from the entrance that all visitors must pass through in order to gain access.