SCALE system

SCALE originated in the aftermath of the Lindt Café Siege and the need for a method to assess the vulnerability of commercial businesses, public places and major events to terrorism.

SCALE is a system developed in Australia for the assessment of terrorism risk and vulnerability. SCALE is an acronym for Security, Control, Attention, Location and Environment and is designed to be a means to assess and quantify the vulnerability of a site to terrorism to allow for effective risk management and security planning.

History

Following the Lindt Café Siege in November 2014, many commentators and owners/operators of critical infrastructure, businesses and major events in Australia identified an urgent need to improve preparation and planning for terrorist attacks in Australia.[1][2][3][4]

The SCALE system was a joint project led by Superintendent Craig Sheridan APM, former Commander of State Planning Unit Major Events & Incidents Group for the NSW Police Force, drawing on experiences with security planning for major international events including the 2014 G20 Summit, AFC Asian Cup 2015 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The underlying aim of the project was to create a tool to assess vulnerability to terrorist attacks and assist in the planning and preparation of terrorism preparedness strategies and measures.

The need for risk and vulnerability assessments for soft targets such as public places and events has been highlighted by attacks such as the November 2015 Paris attacks on the Bataclan Theater.

Whilst there were existing systems for the assessment of risk and vulnerability such as CARVER, the SCALE system was specifically developed to assess and manage the threat posed by terrorist attacks against non-strategic, soft targets such as businesses, public places, venues and major events where there is high potential for mass casualties as demonstrated in the attack on the Bataclan Theatre.[5]

SCALE has recently been employed as part of the risk assessment conducted for the Vivid Sydney 2016.

The SCALE system has recently been used in risk assessments for Vivid Sydney 2016.

How SCALE works

The system works via the addition of the first four metrics Security, Control, Attention and Locality, which is then multiplied by the final metric Environment.

Security refers to the extent of security measures which regulates access in and out of the site. Control refers to the degree of control that a perpetrator will be able to exercise over the environment upon entering or accessing the target site, allowing them to sustain the attack and maximising casualties or take hostages. Attention is the degree of which a target site possesses characteristics which would attract attention within its surrounding environment. Locality refers to the difficulty of accessing the site in relation to remoteness, accessibility via public transportation or major roads and how widespread knowledge of the location of the site would be amongst locals and non-locals. Environment refers to the factors that lie beyond the inherent characteristics of the target site itself such as the relevant terrorism alert level issued by government and police, or events such as a recent terrorist attack or threat made against the site.

Once calculated, a higher SCALE score will correspond to higher vulnerability of the site to terrorism.

An example of SCALE applied to a major event is outlined in the table below:

Metric Score Comment
Security 2 Security measures in place though distributed unevenly across the site. Entry denial and police presence concentrated around specific areas and buildings within the site. Some control over the entry of vehicles into parts of the site via car barriers and restricted parking. A very high degree of free movement and entry into the site and within the site itself.
Control 1 Large and open site with many possible points of egress and evacuation. Regular presence of armed police near busy tourist areas and iconic buildings. Capable of emergency notification. Security guards patrolling the site trained in facilitating emergency evacuation procedures.
Attention 3 The site is a world-renowned area and is a major tourist area containing multiple iconic buildings and attractions. Site is also located near points of critical infrastructure including transportation hubs.
Locality 3 Located within the CBD area of a major city and is readily accessible via multiple means including public transport. Is a high-traffic site whole location and set out would be familiar to locals and visitors alike.
Environment 1.1 At the time of assessment, the National Terrorism Threat Level was ‘probable’. Intelligence indicates that there have been previous plans or threats against the site or buildings within the site and suspicious behaviour has been investigated by police on prior occasions.

Further reading

Newman, Graeme R. and Clarke, Ronald V. (2008) Policing Terrorism: An Executive’s Guide.

RAND Corporation (2005), Estimating Terrorism Risk, Centre for Terrorism Risk Management Policy.

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office, UK (2009) ‘Counter Terrorism Protective Security Advice for Major Events’.

References

  1. ↑ "Do you have a terrorism plan?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  2. ↑ "Military medical experts urge better preparation for terrorist attacks". ABC News. 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  3. ↑ "Sydney is still recklessly unprepared for a terrorist attack". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  4. ↑ "Australia could be the next Paris, terrorism expert warns". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  5. ↑ "Growing terror threat on Aust soft targets". News. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
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