Russ Phillips LCGI MSyI is the founder of Island Site Protective and a Counter Terrorism Risk Manager with 30 years experience serving as a UK police officer.

I spent the last 10 years of my police career involved in counter terrorism protective security.

I was a police search advisor for many years dealing with crime, counter terrorism and missing person searches as well as being involved in disaster victim identification. I was exposed to numerous high-profile operations including Op Tempest (April Jones), Op Grange (Madeleine McCann) and Op Bowdell (Shoreham Air Crash).

In 2011 I became the coordinator of the National Barrier Asset (NBA), a collection of hostile vehicle mitigation products owned by the Home Office but run by Sussex Police. I was part of a very small team that was responsible for the deployment of the NBA at all major national events. This was during a period when HVM was not widely known. I was exposed to every major UK event and soon became the go to person within UK policing for advice for hostile vehicle mitigation.

After the UK attacks in 2017 the NBA transferred to National Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters and the National Vehicle Threat Mitigation unit was formed. I spent the last four years of my career as a full-time member of the NVTMU. My role was to not only deploy the NBA but also to advise police, government and private sector on the best use of HVM and how to mitigate the risk of a vehicle-based attack.

I have been a Counter Terrorism Security Coordinator (CT Secco) since 2016 and have been responsible for numerous jobs including, the Labour Party conference, Brighton and Hove Pride, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Brighton and Hove Albion FC and the BMW Golf Championships at Wentworth.

In my spare time I like to keep fit with running, cycling or paddle boarding. I enjoy travelling and meeting new people. I was also once on the TV quiz show, “The Chase” where I took on and beat “The Beast”. Sadly the team didn’t get through the final chase to win any money!

“Russ is widely known as the subject matter expert in his field. His dedication to providing the best advice and HVM solution to any event is outstanding. It is without doubt that his unique specialist knowledge in this field has likely helped reduce the threat and risk to the UK of a vehicle as a weapon attack at major events”
– DCS Michael Orchard – National Coordinator, Protect and Prepare, UK Counter Terrorism Policing.

“Continuous exceptional performance in the tactical planning and operational deployment at the G7 summit”
– Richard Westlake, Director General, Counter Terrorism Policing UK