Warner Bros Studios turned the Liverpool city centre into Gotham City during four days of filming in October. Production crews led to barriers being put up around St John’s Gardens and the Lime Street entrance to St George’s Hall, pictured; and the closure of some roads including William Brown Street in preparation for filming ‘The Batman’.
To keep disruption to a minimum and to keep public transport and traffic moving, Liverpool-based Paramount deployed their CSAS accredited staff to redirect traffic. That work was alongside Merseyside Police and Merseytravel, which is the transport body for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and is also responsible for buses and local trains and ferries.
Paramount worked to:
– re-route pedestrians around the large amount of plant machinery that was sited on pavements;
– redirect double-decker buses from their usual routes so they wouldn’t feature in the background during filming; and
– provide covid marshals to prevent large crowds gathering to watch the sets.
The work extended into the night when stewards diverted the main bus route away from Lime Street and William Brown Street due to critical filming. Besides the city centre, such as outside Lime Street Station, the main rail station, Paramount staff were also deployed to other filming areas on Merseyside. Traffic control is one of the typical powers under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS). Paramount like other CSAS firms are given police-like powers by a chief constable, in this case Merseyside’s.
Christine Fletcher, Director at Paramount Stewarding and Security, said: “There were extremely strict COVID measures in place throughout, implemented and monitored by Warner Bros, including a remote log in and daily health screening.”
PCPI Compliance Manager, Ken Meanwell, who leads on CSAS, said: “This is an excellent example of how CSAS powers can assist private security companies reduce disruption to the general public and assist with the efficient running of events.”
The Batman filming was due to take place in Liverpool in March 2020 but ground to a halt because of the covid-19 pandemic.
The film stars Robert Pattinson as Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler and Colin Farrell as The Penguin. The release date is March 2022.
About CSAS, PCPI
CSAS, a voluntary scheme, arose from Section 40 of the Police Reform Act 2002. Assessing private companies seeking approval to run a CSAS scheme is carried out on behalf of the National Police Chiefs’ Council by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), a police-owned body that works on behalf of UK police on crime prevention.
PCPI carries out checks that companies are ‘fit and proper’ to exercise CSAS powers. Chief Constables in England and Wales decide whether to accredit employed people already working in roles that contribute to maintaining and improving community safety with limited but targeted powers.
PCPI has assessed more than 120 private companies seeking to run a CSAS; to tackle low level crime and disorder whilst easing demands on police.
