18 January 2008: II Security Day held at Mercamadrid: a success in content and attendance

The 2007-2008 Security Plan for Mercamadrid Internacional was designed considering that the integrated security for the entire Industrial Park is one of the priority objectives for Mercamadrid Internacional.

During the first year of the project’s implementation 1 Million euros were invested and distributed mainly as follows: 350,000 € in conditioning and improvements to the Control Room and 650,000 € went to purchase the technical equipment and surveillance and recording system for the Closed Circuit Television system (CCTV).

To introduce the improvements and new measures adopted in this 2007-2008 Security Plan the center organized two informational days for the employers and users of the Industrial Park. The first Security Day was held last November 21st and was aimed to the fishing industry owners. The second Security Day, held this recent January 16th in the Conference Hall of the Administrative Center of Mercamadrid Internacional was addressed to all company owners and users of the Industrial Park and was very well attended.

The event was introduced by the Deputy Vice President, Mr. Alfonso Ortega that highlighted the qualitative and quantitative importance of the CCTV and the image management systems installed at the Mercamadrid grounds. He also noted that the system has been implanted exclusively for the benefit and safety of buyers, owners, workers and users of the Mercamadrid Industrial Food Park and that the 2007-2008 Security Plan presented has been designed not only with internal organizational efforts, but has been complemented with the close cooperation and involvement of the National and Municipal Police Bodies of the Villa de Vallecas district.
Amongst the speakers was Eduardo González from WILLIS. Mr. González noted in his speech “Risk Management”, the need to increase the culture of security within Spanish society to improve the perception of risk and the involvement of Upper and Middle Management in the integrated management of business risks, and more specifically of the risks that affect the Mercamadrid Industrial Food Park.

Manuel Alonso Evia from Prosegur, explained the specific measures adopted by his company to enforce the 2007-2008 Security Plan:
- Implementing the Integrated Action Plan which aim is to minimize risks
- New organizational measures for the Center’s personnel aimed at optimizing systems and improving the efficacy of the existing resources
- The new figure of “Service Inspector” whose tasks will be specifically designed for the post
- Restrict access to the Control Center by both making the Center more isolated and by decreasing the tasks of the Center’s personnel that are not specific to the post.
- Offer specific training to the control board operators to improve their performance at the Control Center
- Improve the Closed Circuit Television system by considerable improving its technical means and improving the training of the control board operators
- Prevent access to the warehouses and buildings after peak activity hours
- Establish a risk map for the entire Industrial Park so the Control Center can enforce a more exhaustive monitoring of the most at risk areas
- Implementing measures that tend to increase subjective security (random surveillance circuits and support from the Control Center on the rounds). As an example the speaker noted that the Prosegur security vehicles cover about 550 kilometers a day in their ground covering rounds
- Set up weekly meetings between the Service Inspector and the appropriate officers of Mercamadrid Internacional
Javier G. Zamarrón from Nordes Prosegur Tecnología went on to explain in greater depth the technological improvements implemented to carry out the Security Plan, such as 83 surveillance cameras in the Food Park, of which 67 are stationary and 16 are mobile; the continuous monitoring of the activities carried out at the Industrial Park and of the sensitive areas.

Mr. Zamarrón also described the image recording procedure and the dedicated communication network, specially installed to ensure that the security systems operate optimally and the information travels in a secure, inaccessible and undecodable manner.
The speech was followed by a practical demonstration of the viewing system of some of the 83 cameras installed throughout the facility as they operated in real time from the Conference Room.
Mr. Carlos Garrido, Commissary in Chief of the Villa de Vallecas Police Station made the following salient points:
- The sensitivity and huge effort undertaken by Mercamadrid in terms of security, both in terms of the economic aspect as in the work procedures involved
- The cooperation of Mercamadrid in the criminal investigative procedure  and suspect identification
- The fluid communication that exists between Mercamadrid and the Enforcement Agency, essential to ensure a quick intervention and safety
- Mercamadrid has been a priority objective for the Police Station since it was first opened and has been part of prevention schemes to reduce criminal activities related to it
The presence of Police Officers inside the grounds of Mercamadrid whenever necessary, whether to follow information trails or by special circumstances