Page 107 - Security Today, July/August 2022

"Increasingly often, opposition groups conduct demonstrations and make demands on the front lawns of executives’ homes, in restaurants, at third-party events and more."
available to you, and are the necessary contracts and agreements in place to activate quickly?
From there, take a deep dive on opposition groups. Ask the follow- ing questions and document the answers.
• Which groups are most likely to oppose this project?
• Which local groups are allied with national-level organizations that
can invest financial, logistical and media support?
• What can history tell us about all groups’ go-to tactics?
• Through what channels do these groups communicate their point of
view and plans to act?
• What systems does our company have in place for monitoring social
and traditional media?
• Who gets alerts, and when, about conversations relative to our site,
project or industry?
Get Good Information Out Ahead of Misinformation
After taking inventory of the risks, preventative and response capabili- ties, and the nature and tactics of your opposition groups, turn to developing your story. Knowing the project inside and out, the impact- ed communities and the invested opposition groups will help you drill down on the most favorable way to talk about the site or project in hopes of minimizing or even eliminating opposition. Address:
• Why it exists or is being built.
• What public good it will deliver (in terms of services, economic
growth or tax revenue).
• When it will be operational.
• What safety measures are being put in place to protect the environ-
ment, community, water supply, etc.
With the overarching narrative locked in, more detailed questions
will arise and need to be addressed before getting out in the community to tell your story in advance of detractors. Plan to have a living, breath- ing FAQ document so that you can be nimble in response when chal- lenges arise. Open dialogue and transparency pay dividends with com- munity members who will perceive the operator more favorably based on their willingness to engage in a conversation on all project risks.
Connect with Supporters
Identify individuals and groups likely to have your back. Rank them in terms of level of influence. Have one-on-one meetings with influ- ential elected officials, stakeholders, business owners and individuals. In those meetings, be transparent about the projects’ risks, as well as benefits. Have a discussion on potential pushback, and get local com- munity leaders’ feedback on how best to navigate it. Ask these leaders of the community to host meetings with larger groups of citizens. Build a coalition of support before engaging in more broad commu- nity meetings.
By engaging the community or communities most likely to be impacted by the infrastructure, you’re demonstrating respect for them, good intentions, transparency and honesty. It’s part of posi- tioning the company to earn the trust and support of community members so that, if hard times come, you have someone to speak positively on your behalf.
By Tim Foley and Katy Hancock
Evolving Tactics of Opposition Groups
Activists today have well-developed coalitions, communications channels and playbooks for shutting down production sites, supply chains, power plants, pipelines—and now, even renewable energy developments. The old tactics are still there. Protestors still arrive at informational meetings, uninvited, chanting and making impas- sioned and disruptive pleas and chain themselves to equipment or lodge themselves within a pipeline. But they’ve added some new tac- tics to the playbook, too.
Activists now not only direct their ire at the company developing the project, but also the banks, insurers, subcontractors, government officials and others who provide funding, approvals and play any role in the project. Employees wearing company logo apparel or driving company trucks are subject to harassment out in public. Increasingly often, opposition groups conduct demonstrations and make demands on the front lawns of executives’ homes, in restaurants, at third-party events and more.
Finally, and most powerfully, the intersectional alliance of social causes has fused groups together to build strength in numbers rallying against infrastructure projects, making developing and protecting crit- ical infrastructure more challenging than ever. Intersectional organiz- ing creates solidarity across what once seemed to be disparate causes, creating more conflict, a wider range of social issue challenges, greater numbers of protestors and more complex security challenges.
Responding
When it comes to infrastructure security, using local security resourc- es pays dividends. Residents inclined to protest see a neighbor and that sends a strong, tension-diffusing signal. Also, local police officers know the community, including the good and bad actors. They have ears and eyes trained on what’s happening on the ground and can help create the most effective response that leans heavily into de- escalation to prevent an incident from escalating to a crisis.
More aggressive, wide-reaching tactics employed today by opposi- tion groups are challenging corporate security...stretching teams to be in more places, maintaining robust security details well beyond com- pany-owned locations. Many large enterprises are turning to off-duty officers for security “bench strength”—without the commitment of a full-time hire—to supplement security teams, provide a local presence and ensure the infrastructure site and community surrounding it are safe from harm. Managed services providers like Summit Off Duty Services help bring local officers on board and coordinate their sup- port, making it easy for infrastructure developers and operators to have a local presence to protect their ability to operate.
Tim Foley is a retired U.S. Secret Service Agent, attorney, former head of security for a Fortune 500 energy company, and a consultant to Sum- mit Off Duty Services, specializing in physical security assessments, protest management and security management. Katy Hancock is a public relations and communications professional with a long history of supporting new infrastructure developments through strategic commu- nications, stakeholder outreach and media relations.
JULY/AUGUST 2022 | campuslifesecurity.com 31