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Major Events Security Planning

Turin, 20 April 2012. On 20 April the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), in collaboration with the Public Order and Security Office of the Italian Ministry of Interior, and with the patronage of the Italian National Observatory on Sport Events, organized the Seminar "Major Events security planning: an opportunity for change" which took place at 10.30 a.m. at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

Jonathan Lucas, Director of UNICRI, Roberto Sgalla, Director of the Italian Superior School of Police, and Francesco Gianello, Director of the Juventus Stadium, opened the working session together with Mr. Roberto Massucci, Vice President of the Italian National Observatory on Sport Events. The Seminar was attended by law enforcement, security planners and representatives of the European House on Major Events Security (The House). The House is a regional cooperation platform funded by the European Commission, composed of a consortium of 24 European Countries and coordinated by UNICRI. The House Consortium aims at promoting a common European approach to Major Events security planning coordination, through the adoption of common standards and models.

Major Events produce changes in the infrastructures which are hosting them and in the surrounding urban context. In addition, they produce changes in the strategies and methodologies adopted to guarantee their security. The seminar aimed at deepening the concept of Major Events as opportunities for change, with specific regard to innovative approaches to security planning.

Security must not be considered a final objective, but instead a tool to guarantee that people enjoy Major Events by preventing the risk of attacks and the escalation of violence, such as the incidents that took place at the Champions League in Brussels in 1985. This is the fundamental principle that UNICRI follows in supporting the strengthening of international cooperation in Major Events security planning. The outcome of this cooperation is the preparation of strategies and methodologies of action that, once tested on Major Events, could then be applied to minor events. This represents the main legacy of a Major Event in the context of future security planning.

During the seminar Alberto Pietro Contaretti, responsible for the UNICRI Major Events Security Programme, stressed the importance of international cooperation in Major Events security planning, and made reference to UNICRI's consolidated expertise in creating and coordinating regional platforms such as the European House of Major Events Security.

Roberto Massucci described the Italian experience in the framework of The House, and made reference to the planning of the Champions League final which took place in Rome in 2009. He also mentioned the unique experience offered in the cooperation with Juventus Football Club in managing the security of the new Stadium in Turin.

Giuseppe Petronzi, Officer of Turin Digos, presented the security management legacy of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games.

The Seminar took place in the framework of a series of meetings UNICRI is organizing in Turin, where the Institute headquarters has been located since 2000. The meetings aim to involve local institutions and civil society in order to promote knowledge of UNICRI issues and make available the specific experience the Institute has developed at national and international levels.

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