The Governance of Security and the Analysis of Risk for Sporting Mega-events: Security Planning for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Michele Burman, Simon Mackenzie, Niall Hamilton-Smith in collaboration with Prof Nick Fyfe (SIPR) Prof Chris Johnson, Computing Science, University of Glasgow and Prof Allan McConnell, Dept of Government, University of Strathclyde

The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow in 2014 (G2014), and policing and security planning arrangements are co-ordinated through a Strategic Security Committee.  This project will monitor, evaluate and inform the planning process leading up to the Games and has, in principle, been given access to specific security and policing planning and preparations. Drawing on the model driving the process of planning, maintaining and directing security at G2014, the project will monitor and evaluate how the model is used to identify and respond to specific securitisation problems. Particular attention will be paid to the governance arrangements that lie behind the coordination of the securitisation planning for G2014, as evinced by the multi-level (central and local) government relationships, and the public-private partnerships that pertain in relation to policing, security and surveillance technologies, and the training of security personnel.  

The securitisation of sporting mega-events such as G2014 are underpinned by a set of complex and cross-cutting governance arrangements which straddle statutory, public and private sectors and partnerships The effectiveness of security planning is contingent upon effective governance, both in terms of building a robust model for achieving an acceptable level of security at the games, and in terms of implementing this model effectively. Our project addresses both of these questions, using a mixed methodology of observation, documentary analysis and key respondent interviews in order to (a)  identify, record and analyse the processes in place for achieving the governance of risk at the games and (b) evaluate the challenges to the practical implementation of these risk management securitisation processes in the field. As such we aim to investigate both the 'ideal' of best practice in securitisation for sporting and other mega-events, and also the 'real' ways in which that best practice is implemented on the ground, including successes, failures, and adaptations which are important in achieving a full empirical understanding of how planning translates into implementation. The project will run from 2010 to 2012.

Project Contacts

• Prof Michele Burman
• Dr Niall Hamilton-Smith
• Dr Simon Mackenzie