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The City of Ottawa must hire more security guards or install an electronic system to lock down its Laurier Avenue West headquarters in an emergency similar to last year’s shooting rampage at the nearby National War Memorial and Parliament Hill, says security reviews conducted weeks after the Oct. 22 event.
The reviews were made public Tuesday after Metro newspaper complained to the province’s information commissioner that the city was being stingy about releasing the reports, which include dozens of recommendations.
They also offer a more nuanced and critical take on how well the city responded to the crisis, compared to an internal report, which, in one part, says: “The City managed this public safety-terrorism situation, demonstrating that the integrated and comprehensive Ottawa Emergency Management Program is effective and efficient.”
A report produced by Lansdowne Technologies focused on the city’s overall performance, while a more in-depth review by Security Through Safe Design Inc. looked at the effort and cost required to enable an automated lockdown in an emergency.
In addition to a shortage of security guards, the second report highlighted what it characterized as numerous gaps or shortcomings, including:
• limited safeguards to control public access to semi-private and private areas.
• poor structural condition of security doors (exterior and interior) and door closers which could affect the ability of doors to close and/or be secured.
• lack of and/or improper use of surveillance cameras.
Three guards are too few
The Security Through Safe Design report says it isn’t possible for the three security guards who work at city hall during the day to “conduct a quick and effective lockdown” of the building. Once city officials ordered the lockdown on Oct. 22, bylaw officers who happened to be in the building were tasked with assisting the security guards. But the report notes those officers can’t — or shouldn’t — be counted on for future situations.
“Even with the additional resources, the time it took to lock down the facility was considerable and access control was dependent on the effectiveness of the person guarding each access point,” the report says.
It recommends increasing the number of guards on duty by a minimum of one during the day and after hours.
Lockdown rethink
The report says it’s not practical to conduct a lockdown of Ottawa City Hall and the attached heritage building with the existing physical conditions and resources. At more than 763,000 square feet, the complex is much larger than its counterparts in other cities (Toronto City Hall is 600,000 square feet).
As such, the report recommends either installing an automated electronic locking system or substantially increasing the number of guards on shift to conduct a manual lockdown.
The first option would mean a significant capital cost, but the return on investment would soon be recognized compared to increased guard contingency, the report says.
Some cameras not working
An inventory found that some of city hall’s 76 cameras weren’t functioning and others captured images that were poor or average. Others were positioned too high to capture a person’s face or aimed at the floor.
The report recommends adding new cameras at all main entrances, elevator lobbies, corridors that lead to public washrooms and the exterior plaza.
How Ottawa compares
Security Through Safe Design surveyed Toronto, Mississauga, Vancouver, Halifax and eight other cities about security and lockdown procedures.
Nine have lockdown procedures; Ottawa does not. In fact, five can fully lock down their facilities electronically, while the others use a combination of electronic and manual means to lock down city hall.
Meanwhile, of the 11 cities surveyed that employ security guards at city hall, only four have fewer guards than Ottawa — and their respective city halls are less than one-quarter the size of Ottawa’s city hall.
Further recommendations
The Lansdowne Technologies report calls for periodic lockdown training and exercises based on increased threat level scenarios. It noted that the security guards on duty and other city staff took 24 minutes to secure the building.
The report also said internal communications to staff and occupants were slow and inconsistent, and did not give clear instructions or directions.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
The reviews were made public Tuesday after Metro newspaper complained to the province’s information commissioner that the city was being stingy about releasing the reports, which include dozens of recommendations.
They also offer a more nuanced and critical take on how well the city responded to the crisis, compared to an internal report, which, in one part, says: “The City managed this public safety-terrorism situation, demonstrating that the integrated and comprehensive Ottawa Emergency Management Program is effective and efficient.”
A report produced by Lansdowne Technologies focused on the city’s overall performance, while a more in-depth review by Security Through Safe Design Inc. looked at the effort and cost required to enable an automated lockdown in an emergency.
In addition to a shortage of security guards, the second report highlighted what it characterized as numerous gaps or shortcomings, including:
• limited safeguards to control public access to semi-private and private areas.
• poor structural condition of security doors (exterior and interior) and door closers which could affect the ability of doors to close and/or be secured.
• lack of and/or improper use of surveillance cameras.
Three guards are too few
The Security Through Safe Design report says it isn’t possible for the three security guards who work at city hall during the day to “conduct a quick and effective lockdown” of the building. Once city officials ordered the lockdown on Oct. 22, bylaw officers who happened to be in the building were tasked with assisting the security guards. But the report notes those officers can’t — or shouldn’t — be counted on for future situations.
“Even with the additional resources, the time it took to lock down the facility was considerable and access control was dependent on the effectiveness of the person guarding each access point,” the report says.
It recommends increasing the number of guards on duty by a minimum of one during the day and after hours.
Lockdown rethink
The report says it’s not practical to conduct a lockdown of Ottawa City Hall and the attached heritage building with the existing physical conditions and resources. At more than 763,000 square feet, the complex is much larger than its counterparts in other cities (Toronto City Hall is 600,000 square feet).
As such, the report recommends either installing an automated electronic locking system or substantially increasing the number of guards on shift to conduct a manual lockdown.
The first option would mean a significant capital cost, but the return on investment would soon be recognized compared to increased guard contingency, the report says.
Some cameras not working
An inventory found that some of city hall’s 76 cameras weren’t functioning and others captured images that were poor or average. Others were positioned too high to capture a person’s face or aimed at the floor.
The report recommends adding new cameras at all main entrances, elevator lobbies, corridors that lead to public washrooms and the exterior plaza.
How Ottawa compares
Security Through Safe Design surveyed Toronto, Mississauga, Vancouver, Halifax and eight other cities about security and lockdown procedures.
Nine have lockdown procedures; Ottawa does not. In fact, five can fully lock down their facilities electronically, while the others use a combination of electronic and manual means to lock down city hall.
Meanwhile, of the 11 cities surveyed that employ security guards at city hall, only four have fewer guards than Ottawa — and their respective city halls are less than one-quarter the size of Ottawa’s city hall.
Further recommendations
The Lansdowne Technologies report calls for periodic lockdown training and exercises based on increased threat level scenarios. It noted that the security guards on duty and other city staff took 24 minutes to secure the building.
The report also said internal communications to staff and occupants were slow and inconsistent, and did not give clear instructions or directions.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
