Lock your gate BEFORE the horse bolts!
On Saturday night I had a security team looking after an 18th birthday near Berwick (in Melbourne’s outer east).
The event, for 70 guests, was on a big property on an unmade road.
My crew initially controlled BYO alcohol entering the property by helping parents organise a central bar and serve all drinks in plastic vessels.
Meanwhile, down the 1 km driveway, other family members were checking names at the front gate and only admitting those on the guest list.
So far so good. The plan was to for my people to head down there and take over.
But before this could happen, at about 9 pm, a white utility with red P plates (registration XFP 105) turned up at the gate. It was relayed to me that the two men in the ute had been drinking.
The men gave a photocopied invitation to the family member at the gate – who denied them entry as they weren’t on the guest list.
The family member then contacted my team (who were still helping with the alcohol) and told Glenn (my supervisor) that the ute had headed towards the dead end part of the road.
Glenn walked around the property and found two men hiding behind a tree in the middle of a paddock. He asked what they were doing.
They said that because the inside toilet was occupied, they were using the tree.
By speaking with them further, Glenn ascertained that the men did not have the requisite entry stamps issued by crowd control.
He was thus able to ask them to leave.
They got back into their vehicle and drove off.
A short time later, my crew was staffing the gate. Once again, the two men turned up in the ute. This time, two guests from the party got into the vehicle with them.
One in the cabin.
And one in the back tray.
With all four drinking, the ute sped off down the dark, winding, gravel road.
A recipe for carnage.
The Police arrived soon after – unfortunately just missing the hoons.
This is a good example of how effective crowd control can be at a rural property.
- The guest list worked.
- The gatecrashers were detected.
- The missing security stamps proved them to be uninvited.
Giddy up!
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
