Crime Prevention - Making Surrey Safer - Surrey Police

Crowded Places Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT)

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and the national network of police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSA’s) are working on reducing the vulnerability of crowded places sites across Surrey. Many of these crowded places consist of small to medium enterprises, SME’s that may not have necessarily considered themselves as, or even “part of” a crowded place.

The Crowded Places Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT), which has been developed by NaCTSO in partnership with leading businesses across Surrey, will assist owners, operators or those responsible for the security of crowded places to determine their vulnerability to terrorist attack.

CTSA’s across the UK will be registering users and you may receive an email inviting you to complete the online assessment. Alternatively you can register by contacting your local CTSA (see contact details). In the case of larger or national chains, user accounts can be created by contacting NaCTSO.

The self assessment consists of 33 questions and should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete and will provide you with an understanding of what you need to put in place thereby reducing your vulnerability to a terrorist attack. The online assessment will also produce a report of recommendations. In order to protect your business interest and commercial sensitivities the report will only be available to the individual user. The overall assessment result will be displayed without showing numerical values but will assist you in prioritising where you may need to make improvements.

The VSAT will provide you with:

• Sign posting to best practice.
• 12 months Business Continuity Management tool
• Increased local engagement with security experts (CTSA)
• Viewing terrorist/violent extremist promotional videos.
• Training Opportunities
• Written assessment report with recommendations covering, Physical Security, Personnel Security, Information Security, Good House Keeping and Risk Management

The Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool will provide a means for you to identify and reduce the vulnerability to your establishment and help protect our communities.