Securing Public Spaces – An interview with Jeremy Milton of J & S Franklin
In the light of the recent appalling atrocity in Nice we asked Jeremy Milton of J & S Franklin, manufacturers and suppliers of specialist defence and national security equipment for more than 70 years, for his views on the best way to secure public spaces.
“We have been serving customers in the defence and national security sectors for decades supplying protection equipment (both personnel and property) to organisations like the UN, numerous armed forces, governments, law enforcement agencies and critical infrastructure operators worldwide.
We have made it our business to understand the protective needs of our customers’.
Based on that experience we started manufacturing our own specialist barrier system Defencell in 2007 but where we have identified a need that was not met by Defencell we have also selected specialist products by other manufacturers to help our customers.
The ideal scenario in any public space is of course to deny access of all vehicles to any area where the public gather in numbers, so permanent or semi-permanent barriers are required. For this we developed the Defencell range of products, which is a geotextile, cellular, containment system which, when filled with locally sourced or selected fill materials, can be used to create a wide variety of unobtrusive barrier structures which can be grassed or planted, enabling it to blend quickly into the surroundings, offering inconspicuous protection.
Another option are especially manufactured planters, street furniture and bollards. For this we offer the Securiscape range of products. They are engineered with a steel interior which will stop a truck but can be covered with decorative and practical finishes in steel, timber, stone or even bronze. Installation is quick and easy being surface mounted with only 150mm ground fixings. They can then be planted with flowers to trees so the general public are none the wiser.
Of course complete denial of access to vehicles is rare because businesses and homes need deliveries, so channelling access through a combination of the methods described into choke points where access can be controlled through the use of pop-up bollards or gate systems is the most practical option.
For purely temporary deployment we supply the Archer Portable Vehicle Barriers from Meridian Rapid Defense (MRDG) Group in the United States .
Archer Portable Vehicle Barriers offer a complete range of “Drop and Stop” Modular Barrier Systems that are engineered for speed of deployment, retrieval and relocation making them ideal for temporary physical security requirements.
They are simple to deploy by only two people with no need for electrics or hydraulics, making Archer ideal for large public events. Manufactured from dual-wall, high strength bullet-resistant ballistic rated steel, the Archer also provides ballistic and HVM protection.
Nice has shown any would-be terrorists that you don’t need explosives or weapons to commit horrendous atrocities, so we must redouble our efforts to make our public spaces safer.”
J&S Franklin are manufacturers of the Defencell range, distributors of Archer Portable Vehicle Barriers in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Securiscape products in all territories outside the UK.
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