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Security Update


jakeblue
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I've personally contacted crew at the venue and requested that they speak to someone from venue security.

The venue security has done a number of events. So while I don't know their routine for bag checks I am sure they were following one. But yes, with tonight's incidents I am pretty sure this routine has now gone out of the window anyway and they will be a lot more strict tomorrow.

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10 hours ago, clairemellisa said:

My mum and I got there at (slightly) different times - me about 9:20, her about 9:30. Bags were being checked when I went in, none being checked when she went in. Agree with a previous comment that bags weren't being checked when re-entering the event. Hope this helps!

You know that never occurred to me but I left and went back in. Whilst I was checked first thing I was never checked on re entry

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Ohhh I will have a big suitcase at London con in a few months (never checked in a big case before at a con), so watched this subject closely at this con as it is a big one.

I will have my case and backpack all open and ready for anything they want to do. Go for it I say :-) 

 

I was patted down,  bags on floor open for search and had sniffer dogs at the Suicide Sqaud Premiere in London last year, so nothing is to much I say. Its a few minutes at most :-)

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I arrived at around 1pm today, had my ticket scanned and walked straight in without any security checks (I had 2 bags on me). 

Apart from a sniffer dog & police officer doing the rounds inside the venue, I didn't see any security on the door, only Showmasters staff/volunteers.

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Yesterday we arrived around 9.30 with a bag each and went in without any bag checks, we then went in and out during the day, at no point did anybody look in or even glance at our bags as far as I could tell. 

Today the bags were glanced in briefly when we arrived and I saw a sniffer dog, however later when we left and returned to the venue after picking up items from the car there was no bag check.

Overall I thought the weekend was excellent but I was surprised at the lax security.

There was also an incident before one talk when a storm trooper came in with a fairly realistic plastic gun - it was sunny in there and hard to see clearly that it was plastic - and he stalked silently along the front row stopping and pointing his gun at people who were clearly uncomfortable and staring at them for some moments with the gun poised. It felt quite threatening especially as he was masked and I didn't appreciate it especially considering the events the night before in London. I am surprised anyone thought it was appropriate. Gotta say I'd prefer if security had requested people not bring in guns in the current climate.

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24 minutes ago, crazyminx said:

Yesterday we arrived around 9.30 with a bag each and went in without any bag checks, we then went in and out during the day, at no point did anybody look in or even glance at our bags as far as I could tell. 

Today the bags were glanced in briefly when we arrived and I saw a sniffer dog, however later when we left and returned to the venue after picking up items from the car there was no bag check.

Overall I thought the weekend was excellent but I was surprised at the lax security.

There was also an incident before one talk when a storm trooper came in with a fairly realistic plastic gun - it was sunny in there and hard to see clearly that it was plastic - and he stalked silently along the front row stopping and pointing his gun at people who were clearly uncomfortable and staring at them for some moments with the gun poised. It felt quite threatening especially as he was masked and I didn't appreciate it especially considering the events the night before in London. I am surprised anyone thought it was appropriate. Gotta say I'd prefer if security had requested people not bring in guns in the current climate.

I guess stopping all replica weapons would have been a step too far but you'd have thought people would have more sense  than to do this kind of thing especially if it was clear it made some people uneasy 

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We have had all kind of questions about guns even before this. Like bringing air guns, a revolver and lots of other *real* weapons. Questions I never ever would have thought of.

When someone went "umm..." the reply most of the time was "oh, I won't bring ammunition of course."

Sometimes I was tempted to answer "try bringing that across to the SWAT team that will bring you down."

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Absolutely loved the event.  Cannot say enough good things at all...

But in regards to security it was very lax. I got there early to join the queue for standard entry on Saturday and was probably about 100/150 in the queue. 

When the doors opened at 11am we went straight in. 

I had 2 bags. ..both small but still neither was checked and I didn't see a single person in front of me stopped.

Someone in front of me had a huge suitcase.

As I said event was amazing and had a great day. ..but in this climate everyone was expecting to be searched and I would have been happier if I had been!

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Yeah security needed to be better. Bag was glanced at in morning but I went bk to car to drop stuff off and I walked straight in. I saw kiss the other week in glasgow and we were all patted down then wand and a bag search.

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Arrived on Sunday morning and was shocked at how lax the security was. The small bag I was carrying was opened and glanced in but nothing more and then we were allowed straight in.

No pocket search, pat down, metal detection, or dogs. All standard things considering recent events.

People were allowed in with huge suitcases and bags, and allowed back and forth to the car park without being searched.

I didn't want to come across as negative as I thought the event was great otherwise, but it's something I feel needs to be addressed before LFCC next month.

Once inside I did noticed the suited security were walking around and appeared to be checking everything out. In one of the lines one of them was asking people to open any jackets.

 

 

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Well my bag was checked every single time we re-entered the NEC area.....all 4 of us had handbags, rucksacks and the NEC staff checked it every time...we also had two handstamps and those were checked by CMania volunteers..

 

The sniffer dog was bloody gorgeous ....:wub:

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25 minutes ago, discodiva said:

Well my bag was checked every single time we re-entered the NEC area.....all 4 of us had handbags, rucksacks and the NEC staff checked it every time...we also had two handstamps and those were checked by CMania volunteers..

 

The sniffer dog was bloody gorgeous ....:wub:

Maybe you looked less trustworthy :)

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17 minutes ago, discodiva said:

I know..same as my dear old dad...every. single. time. through. customs....got pulled over for looking dead "dodgy"...either that or he was asked "you Old Bill?" :ph34r:;)

Same when I stlll had the DSLR before the one I currently have. Every single time at security check at the airport I was pulled for extra tests. Every single time. My friend had huge equipments in rucksacks, I had my small bag - who got pulled out, me. :lol:

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Security is only as good as its weakest point. on leaving the hall and getting a handstamp returning back into the hall during the day nobody was checking bags or if you were bringing in anything new into the venue. No sniffer dog on view, no NEC security except one guy standing well away from the re-entries and the couple of blue shirts were just checking hand stamps but not the bags. oops! came into the venue 3 times this way having gone to the cash points, the newsagents and the pub and nobody searched me. In fact  the last time i came back in nobody even looked at me as the blue shirts were chatting to each other and somebody else they knew.

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1 hour ago, loveamyadams said:

Security is only as good as its weakest point. on leaving the hall and getting a handstamp returning back into the hall during the day nobody was checking bags or if you were bringing in anything new into the venue. No sniffer dog on view, no NEC security except one guy standing well away from the re-entries and the couple of blue shirts were just checking hand stamps but not the bags. oops! came into the venue 3 times this way having gone to the cash points, the newsagents and the pub and nobody searched me. In fact  the last time i came back in nobody even looked at me as the blue shirts were chatting to each other and somebody else they knew.

The Crew are not supposed to check bags. They have no legal authority to do so. This is what the venue security is there for. The Crew is checking handstamps and of course they are to report suspicious incidents.

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Amazing event but the lack of security really did concern me, I appreciate this is not Showmasters fault and is more the venue, I really hope it is stricter at the London venue for London Film and Comic Con.  

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The people in charge of security are the experts, not any of us. They'll have looked at the events on site at the weekend and evaluated the measures needed. They deal with hundreds of events at the nec every year. 

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