I had been to a conference at a place near our hospital. It ended about an hour before the closing time of my department. So I went to my office, planning to put in an hour’s work even though I was on leave that day. I went in through the gate used by patients and their relatives. There was a security guard from a private firm hired by our institute. He stopped me and asked me to go in through another gate where they could screen the contents of my bag with an X-ray scanner. I went back out, and then in through the other gate. I got my bag through the screening machine. The woman guard manning the place did not find any bomb or gun or any such thing in it and let me pass through. It seemed like a wonderful security arrangement, and I wanted to know more about it. So I put my identity card around my neck, went back to the first guard from the inside of the gate and asked him, “I see the other gate in the distance does not have a screening machine like this one. What about people going in with bags through that gate?”
“I don’t know” he said, “I am new here.”
So I left him and went to the main entrance to the hospital. One local guard and two private guards were sitting and chatting there.
“I am the Head of Obstetrics & Gynecology here” I said. “Could you tell me about the security arrangement at that gate over there? There does not seem to be any X-ray screening machine for checking bags.”
They looked at that gate. “It is for going out” one of them said.
“It is the gate for cards to go out” I said. “People walk in and out through it. See those two guys walking in with bags without any security check?”
They could see them all right. They had nothing to say about it.
“OK. I will ask your boss” I said. The local guard promptly called the security office on the intercom and told the boss that I wanted to talk to him. Then he put me on line. After exchanging pleasantries, I asked him the same question. Then I said “if terrorists take a bomb inside through that gate, we all will die when they blow it up, won’t we?”
“Um…” he said.
“The gate number 1 on the north side of the hospital has no checking mechanism. I go in and out of it every day with my bag, and so do a couple of hundred students and other people. What about that gate?”
“Um…” he said.
“What about terrorists who will take a bomb along in a car? We do not seem to be checking any cars” I said.
“Umm…” he said “what can I say? The Boss knows about it too.”
“Ah!” I said. “If it was with the approval of his Boss, what could he do?”
“Sir, at least there is a security guard there who moves the barrier up and down for cars. The gate on the east side of the hospital has no one. Any one can go in and out freely” said a knowledgeable porter who was standing nearby.
“So how are we protected in the hospital by security at gate number 2 alone?” I asked.
“Sir, that is the place where most of the people walk in and out. That is the gate the media people use. Thus they learn about the tight security at the institute and tell the world about it. The terrorists learn about it from the media and would use that gate. We take in the politicians and administrators through that gate and they are convinced about the adequacy of the security arrangements. After all, the terrorists are kept away by the fear of security, not by the actual ability of our guards. For the media and politicians, it is what they feel about it that matters. It is a psychological maneuver. We are all well protected.
I was amazed at the insight of the porter. I was also relieved that much more than physical security measures was at work to protect us and our patients at the hospital.
