Milipol is a top level international expo for police and security. It is held every two years in Paris, and now also on alternate years in Qatar. It provides an opportunity to view some of the latest equipment available in fields of security, executive protection, and police. We will be attending Milipol this year, and hope to be able to supply some interesting reports when we return.
Of particular interest for the field of TSCM, is that along with the latest countermeasures gear being exhibited, there will also be displays of spying and eavesdropping equipment from manufacturers from all over Europe and Asia, including Russia, Israel, China, and probably any other place you can think of. Many of these countries who profess to be “shocked, shocked I tell you” that the NSA may have been listening to them, have been supplying the most advanced eavesdropping equipment and promoting industrial espionage against their neighbors and allies for many decades.
Some of the equipment on display will represent the latest technological threats to corporate privacy today. This equipment cannot be sold openly in the US, and thus it becomes difficult here to learn how such devices operate. Information such as what new types of transmissions might be in use, how devices are being concealed, or the latest covert video technology is will help us understand how to defeat these threats and provide countermeasures for our clients.
Milipol’s website offers some context for understanding how the show originated:
At the end of the 70s, various French manufacturers supplying police equipment were worried that they had limited commercial contacts at an international level. Contrary to the Aeronautics and Defence sectors, the Interior Security sector did not have a promotion and communications platform that matched its importance in France. As a result, the idea of organising a specific international exhibition took hold. EXPOL (EXposition POLice), the first private initiative, showed the way.
In 1984, the International Milipol Committee came into existence as an association whose goal was the promotion of security technology and equipment.
That same year, the first international Milipol Show was organised in Paris as the principal information and public-relations tool, open widely to professionals in the field of security, including manufacturers, end-users, buyers and exhibitors of all nationalities. The quasi-confidential field of police, civil and military security equipment, virtually unknown to the general public until that time, was thus brought to light.
From State security to civil protection
While the subsiding cold war still held centre stage, security services were already at work in the wings, fighting against such growing menaces as criminality, drugs, organised crime, terrorism, industrial and economic espionage. They expressed their latest requirements and needs for equipment, while investigating all the technologies available.
The Milipol Show evolved within this climate of expectation and demand. It broadened out to include the field of security which encompasses private and public communities, that of industry and business, the protection of populations, and internal State security.
Held annually during the 80s, the Milipol Paris Show found its current rythm as of 1991, the year in which the biennial scheduling was adopted.
In 1995, it acquired new dimensions of considerable importance.
As it was now held under the patronage of the French Ministry of the Interior, the Milipol Paris Show became an official event, along the same lines as the international Eurosatory exhibitions for land armament, Euronaval for naval equipment and the Paris-Le Bourget Aeronautics-Aerospace Exibition.
An International fair dedicated to the major risks
Today, the international Milipol Trade Show is recognised for as a result of its professionalism and the quality of its exhibitors and visitors attending from around the world, all from the various security sectors.
In 2009, Milipol created an area dedicated to Major Risks to provide comprehensive solutions and specific natural disasters, health, industrial and terrorist risks.
Categories of the displays at Milipol include:
- Communications- transmissions, GPS
- Authentication, Access Control, Surveillance
- Information Technology
- Optics
- Consultancy and training
- Mobility
- Weapons and Ammunition
- Personal equipment, body armor, fabrics
- Major risks, crisis management, civil emergencies
- Drones and robotics
For more information you can visit the Milipol website: en.milipol.com