Barriers to protection

Two senseless vehicular attacks to round out 2024 and usher in 2025 made for anything but a happy holiday season for the families impacted by the death and destruction created by two perpetrators with intent to kill.

The German Christmas market attack on Dec. 20 killed six people and injured more than 200 in the city of Magdeburg, while a suspected terrorist drove his pickup truck onto Bourbon Street in New Orleans and slammed into revelers on New Year’s Day morning, killing 14 and injuring dozens more.  

Of course, when these tragedies and other mass casualty incidents happen, the first question that comes to mind is “Why?” Why do certain individuals believe that it’s okay to get into their cars and run over large groups of people with no remorse?

And perhaps, more importantly, what steps can be taken to prevent these types of vehicle attacks from taking place?

Well, to put things into perspective, I reached out to Rob Reiter, former chair of the Security Industry Association’s (SIA’s) Perimeter Security Subcommittee, and Jake Parker, SIA’s senior director of government relations, to get feedback from both a physical security and legislative standpoint on what measures should and are being taken to thwart potential attackers from storming through mass gatherings with their vehicles.

From Reiter’s perspective, the reason why attackers can simply drive their vehicles into large crowds is just that – it’s simple to pull off.

“The reason it's so easy is because it is,” he explained. “The vehicles are used as a weapon, they’re readily available, and it doesn't take a lot of training.”

Well, if it’s so easy to cause such mass destruction and chaos, why don’t more cities in North America and abroad take a proactive stance and invest in bollards and other anti-vehicle barriers to help prevent vehicles from running through crowds in public spaces?

In fact, Reiter pointed out that these vehicular attacks “aren't that hard to prevent. If you go to Disneyland and if you go to airports and so forth, these places have done it. It’s not that hard.”  

When it comes to how much of an investment it would take to implement perimeter security measures such as bollards, Parker noted, “Compared to other types of security measures, the cost is not insane.”

If cost is not an issue, then why aren’t more cities and communities across the country and around the world taking the necessary perimeter security measures to prevent what happened in Germany and New Orleans? Are they just waiting for a vehicle to come plowing through crowds of people at a parade, or a concert, or a flea market before they react and say, “Gosh, we should have had barriers in place beforehand. Maybe we should invest in them going forward.” Too little, too late.

Meanwhile, SIA continues to advocate for federal assistance for perimeter security projects. Parker noted the association’s efforts to support the Stopping Threats on Pedestrians (STOP) Act, a grant program that supports the installation of bollards, but has yet to have direct funds appropriated by Congress.

SIA has also scheduled a Perimeter PREVENT conference in June in Washington, D.C., during which policymakers, federal agency personnel, architects, engineers and security solution providers will engage on critical issues related to perimeter defense for physical environments.

As SIA continues its efforts to support the protection of crowded spaces, critical infrastructure and government facilities, one comment that Reiter posted on his LinkedIn account in the aftermath of the Germany and New Orleans tragedies really resonated with me.

“Any community or event venue or tourist destination with crowded spaces that has not yet had a deliberate vehicle attack, or an accidental vehicle incursion has either invested in strong protective measures or simply been very lucky,” he stated.

Sadly, for these two communities, their luck ran out because of their failure to be proactive. Not the best way of thinking when the safety and security of people’s lives - especially in large, public spaces - are at stake.