Peter Cooper — International Associate

ATRS is pleased to present Peter Cooper as its UK based international representative in transport counter terrorism and security risk and vulnerability assessment.

 

Peter Cooper is the Managing Director of the ATRS associated company Avsec Limited, which provides specialist aviation security and counter terrorism operations management, and a number of related security and dangerous goods training courses in the UK and internationally.

 

Peter undertakes tasks including air base audits, bomb threat assessor training, dangerous goods by air training, sky marshal training, and risk and vulnerability assessments for clients such as, Excel, Air Atlanta Europe (Avion Group), Astraeus, Flyjet, Air Mauritius, EasyJet, EasyJet Swiss and BAA Gatwick Airport Limited.

 

Peter also provides expertise and training in contingency planning analysis, crisis management and development of business and emergency recovery plans.

 

Prior to forming Avsec in 2002, Peter served with distinction for 30 years in the United Kingdom Police and Government Security Services.

 

Peter’s experience includes having served for seven years as Inspector of Police at London’s Gatwick Airport in the role of Commander of the Counter Terrorist Wing and Head of the Gatwick Police contingency planning unit.

 

In this specialist role, Peter was a member of the Airport Contingency Planning Group and responsible for liaison with all security agencies.  The counter terrorist role involved the management, supervision and tactical deployment of over 100 officers responsible for the armed protection of the airport, high risk flights, and VIP’s.

 

This role also involved the supervision and control of the Police Unit responsible for deploying portable X Ray systems to suspect explosive devices.

 

Whilst serving in an airport environment, Peter undertook training on behalf of the FCO in the United Arab Emirates where he designed and delivered training programs to the UAE senior Police and Customs Officers on airport policing and counter terrorism.

 

Peter is also a competent major incident investigator, and in this role was a member of the UK Task Force sent to the Paris Concorde accident site to provide assistance in major incident site management and investigation, and was responsible for the formal evaluation report on the effectiveness of the emergency planning aspects of the incident.

 

The UK HM Coroner also twice commended Peter for sensitive enquiries he conducted in Kenya and Cuba into the deaths of people who had illegally secreted themselves aboard British registered aircraft.

 

He is a trained hostage negotiator and was also authorised and trained by the National Crime Squad to negotiate in areas of kidnap, extortion and corporate blackmail. 

 

Peter’s qualifications in his specialist field are extensive and include holding a UK and international security clearance to the highest level, a UK Civil Aviation Authority approved trainer, a trained and experienced firearms officer, and a nationally qualified firearms incident commander.

 

Peter also holds additional qualifications such as being a National Radiological Protection Board approved and trained Radiological Protection Supervisor (RPS), a UK Department of Transport Bomb Threat Assessor, a UK Civil Aviation Authority Licensed Instructor for dangerous goods by air procedures, including radioactive material, a UK Police Staff College Bramshill graduate of the Management of Disaster and Emergency Recovery program (MODACE), and a trained major crash and incident investigator.

 

Peter Cooper joined ATRS in 2008 as an associate specialist consultant and is available to assist with client security and counter-terrorism needs.

 

▪ International aviation counter terrorism and security

▪ Security threat analysis

▪ Security risk management

▪ Contingency planning and analysis

▪ Development of business and emergency recovery plans

▪ Crisis management