Project Griffin at East Midlands Airport
Project Griffin
Businesses based at East Midlands Airport are being asked to join a project which supports the police in their fight against counter-terrorism and crime.
‘Project Griffin' was developed by the City of London Police in April 2004. Its remit is to enlist the support of managers, security officers and employees of large public and private organisations and advise them on security, counter-terrorism and crime prevention issues. It has been identified nationally as good practice and is now well established in a number of Police Force areas around the country.
Police at East Midlands Airport consider the site in Castle Donington an ideal location for Project Griffin because staff work towards the same goal of maintaining the security and efficient running of the airport. It is being launched at an all day seminar on Wednesday 25 February 2009 and will be followed up by a series of bi-monthly training days.
Project Griffin aims to encourage members of the community to work in partnership with the police to deter and detect terrorist activity and crime. This is achieved by working with the community to:-
- Raise awareness of current terrorist and crime issues;
- Share and gather intelligence and information;
- Build and maintain effective working relationships;
- Seek solutions to defeating terrorism and crime;
- Maintain trust and confidence in the Police and other authorities;
- Empower people to report suspicious activity and behaviour.
All key businesses and airlines based at the airport have been invited to the launch as have representatives from the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) and the Chamber of Commerce. Delegates will hear from specialist staff on topics such as the national terrorist threat, explosives, terrorist planning, evacuation plans and cordon management.
Inspector Tony Marson, from Leicestershire Constabulary said; "Project Griffin is about creating a partnership between the police and members of the community to work together in the fight against terrorism and crime. It is not being launched in response to any specific threat but we cannot afford to be complacent. The effectiveness of Griffin is recognised across the country and it will give us more ‘eyes and ears' in the local community and give people the confidence to recognise and report suspicious activity and behaviour. This will be the key to success of the Project.
"We hope the awareness day will show senior representatives from local businesses the benefits of being part of the scheme and they will show their support by sending members of staff on the training days to help us fight the threat of terrorism together."