The special security plan, which includes female security officers to deal with incidents in the women's prayer section, was designed to ensure the safety of all Umrah pilgrims and visitors, said Col. Yahya Al-Zahrani, Commander of the Grand Mosque Security Forces. This year's plan, charted out after studying the strengths and weaknesses of the one executed last year, will be implemented with the help of the Special Emergency Forces and Haj and Umrah Special Security Forces, he added. Al-Zahrani said efforts to maintain a safe environment include authorities not allowing pilgrims to perform prayers in the passageways because they cause blockages that lead to overcrowding. Umrah pilgrims who insist on walking through crowds to touch the Black Stone are stopped from doing so because they disrupt the movement of other pilgrims circumambulating the Holy Ka'ba, he said. They are allowed to perform this ritual during Taraweeh prayers because the area surrounding the Ka'ba becomes less crowded in that time, he added. Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Joodi, Head of the Security Guard and Patrol Service, said his teams perform a number of functions to ensure safety. “We have a team that prevents overcrowding during Tawaf and creates passageways for those who want to touch the Black Stone,” he said. “We have another team to protect and escort the Grand Mosque's prayer leaders and prevent anyone from reaching the microphone.” Some visitors are diverted to the roof and courtyards of the Grand Mosque if the operations room sees it is necessary, Col. Al-Zahrani said. To ensure better communication with pilgrims who do not speak Arabic, security men have learned other languages, he pointed out. “Our security officers have taken different language courses and some of them have picked up some words of Persian, Urdu and English over the years by talking with the Grand Mosque's visitors,” he said. There are also secret male and female security workers dressed in plain clothes who are vigilant in watching for any emergency, he said. Anti-crime efforts include efforts to combat pickpocketing, Al-Zahrani said. “We also have strict measures against pickpockets and those caught red-handed are handed over to the police, who decide their penalty,” he said. Some pickpockets work on their own and some are part of organized groups, he said. There is also a plan to help pilgrims who lose important items, the colonel said. “We have a lost-and-found department where lost items and documents are kept,” he said. New staff has been appointed for this department, which is responsible for locating the owners of items such as lost IDs, driver's licenses and other documents by calling them using their contact numbers. __
