NATIONAL SECURITY SPECIAL EVENTS
National Security Special Events
National Security Special Events (NSSEs) are major events – such as sporting events, inaugurations, elections, and international summits and conventions – that face significant security and safety risks and therefore require special strategic planning and coordination among many agencies.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton approved a proposal from his counter-terrorism and security coordinator Richard Clarke, now chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, for the concept of and procedures for designating, supporting, and managing National Special Security Events (NSSE) in the United States. Clarke supervised NSSEs including Olympic games, political conventions, international summit conferences, and a variety of high profile sporting events.
The NSSE concept is now widely used throughout the world to address the emergency and security planning requirements for major public events, particularly international sports championships. The range of countries hosting major international events is growing – recently for example, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were awarded the 2022 World Cup and the under-17 World Cup, respectively – and more countries and cities are recognizing that hosting international events is a major development opportunity that often brings prospects for large-scale urban investment and funding from international financial institutions. They also recognize that hosting these events in a safe and secure manner is essential to their domestic and global reputations. To this day, the NSSE remains the leading mechanism to ensure that the appropriate coordination is conducted between safety and security agencies and that the appropriate funds and resources are allocated to the city or cities holding major events and the agencies providing their security.
Services and Approach
Good Harbor develops safety, security, and emergency management solutions for cities, countries, and planners hosting National Security Special Events using an inclusive approach that considers the overall sustainability and success of the event and its hosts.
Good Harbor is vendor-neutral, so when we recommend solutions or technologies, our clients know they are getting an unbiased solution that will work best for their needs. We have chosen to remain a small, specialist consultancy to better dedicate ourselves to our clients and honor commitments in a timely and discreet manner. We provide resilient, cost-effective solutions for risk mitigation that are tailored to each client based on their specific threats, vulnerabilities, and needs.
Our approach emphasizes knowledge transfer: throughout the event cycle, from conceptual planning through design, implementation and operations, our subject matter and technical experts work closely with governments, security agencies, partner agencies, and event planners and operators. By working closely and collaboratively with our clients, we gain a better understanding of their operations, philosophies, and risk profile. Through effective knowledge transfer of expertise, we help organizations enhance their ability to operate their safety and security programs independently.
Strategic Consulting Services
Good Harbor specializes in advising national and local governments, as well as event planners, on how to plan for and conduct safe, secure and successful special events. Good Harbor draws on a multi-disciplinary team that provides expertise in all areas necessary for a safe and secure event, including the following:
- Coordination between police, intelligence services, and security partners
- Organizational design for safety and security: recommending roles, structures, and responsibilities for security agencies and security partner agencies
- Cyber network security
- Master planning for safety and security for the event district
- Counter-terrorism
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear risk management
- Maritime, aviation, and surface transport planning
- Security staff training
- Crisis and emergency management planning
- Venue and facilities design and design review
- Threat, vulnerability, and consequence risk analysis
Case Studies
Good Harbor has proven experience managing diverse National Security Special Events in situations with significantly varying risk profiles, as the following case studies demonstrate.
London Olympics 2012
In July and August of 2012, London will fall under the international spotlight that accompanies hosting the Summer Olympic Games (in 2008, the Beijing Summer Olympics drew a television audience of over 4.5 billion viewers, and the Summer Olympics are host to nearly 20,000 of the world’s top athletes). Good Harbor staff have provided their transport security expertise in support of the London Games, including managing strategic planning, organizational design, and stakeholder engagement with the aim of delivering safe and secure transport for the Games. To achieve these objectives, Good Harbor staff have contributed to the following services, as a result of which the transport security work is now seen as best practice in the Olympic Security Directorate:- Set the initial strategic transport direction and developed the Transport Security Strategy and framework
- Designed and gained stakeholder agreement on the governance and organizational structure
- Produced security management delivery plan with stakeholder consultation (transport operators, Metropolitan Police, Home Office, British security services, and others)
- Provided comprehensive risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis for ministerial approval
Arab Gulf Football Championship 2010
In December 2010 Yemen, challenged by two insurgencies and specifically targeted by the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, successfully hosted the 2010 Arab Gulf Football Championship without major safety or security incident. Good Harbor provided multi-disciplinary National Security Special Events support in advance of and during the games to help the hosts prevent adverse incidents and be ready to respond effectively to incidents that might have occurred.
Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix 2009, 2010
In 2009, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, hosted its inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix race at the newly constructed Yas Island Marina motor speedway. Abu Dhabi hosted the event safely and successfully for the second consecutive year in 2010. In both years, Good Harbor provided training and crisis management support.
The Good Harbor Team
Good Harbor's strength is the perspective and experience of its team: we are led by partners and principals who have managed some of the most pressing safety and security issues of the day, among them crisis response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Our team includes security strategy and operations specialists, emergency managers, disaster planners, architects, Certified Protection Professionals, Physical Security Professionals, and degreed and board certified engineers. Our security professionals have demonstrated experience in the private sector and in local, state, and national government across a range of disciplines: crisis and emergency management; disaster field operations; evacuation planning; interoperable communications systems; stadium and hotel safety and security; business continuity; urban planning; infrastructure protection; cyber security; public transport; commercial and corporate security risk management, loss prevention, and insurance; and engineering, including management of large-scale engineering service projects and security systems (e.g. access controls, perimeter intrusion detection systems, barriers/fencing, video surveillance and assessment, lighting upgrades, and communications and power systems).
As a measure of our success, we are frequently asked by our clients to implement the strategies that we have helped develop, resulting in our teams forming long-term partnerships with our clients as we build capacity for them, and with them.
