Go to a professional sporting event in any major American city and you’ll certainly walk through a metal detector on your way into the stadium. Go to a half-empty Syracuse home football game in the Carrier Dome and an employee will frisk you with a wand.

But, if you go to Wembley Stadium in London, England, to see the English national soccer team play, all the staff inside the gates will do is check your bag, if you have one.

The United Kingdom faces an equally high terrorist threat to the U.S., but its prevention efforts are much more relaxed. On a street level as well, police presence is noticeably different in its visibility, personality and weaponry. And while it eases the inconveniences presented by U.S. security measures, England might consider tightening its security measures in some ways.

My orientation in London taught me that the terrorism threat level in London is currently listed as “Severe,” the second-highest level behind “Critical.” An attack, while not imminent, is highly likely, according to MI5. So my confusion was understandable when I walked untouched into Wembley for a Tuesday night, UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match between England and Switzerland. I used an unmanned ticket scanner to let myself through the gates and proceeded directly to the game.

With all the talk of UK passport-bearing ISIS converts returning to England to attack their homeland, this ease of entry into an enclosed space holding 75,751 humans didn’t make sense. Every day I walk around London and can’t help but notice the closed circuit TV cameras that line the intersections. A 2011 survey revealed that Britain boasts a camera for every 14 people.

These cameras are used in the UK’s counterterrorism effort, a method rarely seen in the United States. On the other hand, while police brutality and use of guns is being questioned in the U.S., most British police officers don’t carry a gun and many haven’t even fired one. Still, the military members who guard Buckingham Palace and other government buildings carry large machine guns out in the open.

I woke up on Sept. 12 feeling disconnected from America after hearing a few words about the somber anniversary the day before. On a walk to find breakfast, I witnessed a large protest near Marble Arch supporting migrants’ right to move to the U.K. and opposing military action in Syria. All around, I could see policemen in bright vests keeping the peace, all without firearms.

Personally, I felt safer walking through and absorbing this protest without the threat of guns around me. The protesters were passionate yet civil and the police didn’t pose a threat great enough for any active violence to occur. I recognized the protest after noticing the increase in police presence from its typical nonexistence in London.

I don’t feel significantly less safe traversing London compared to the grounds of Syracuse University, despite the dearth of security guards. In Syracuse, armed DPS officers are always around and Syracuse Police Department are visible on a daily basis. The biggest difference, which is the inherent trust between the civilians and the keepers of the peace in London, is refreshing.

That is the same trust that allows the U.K.’s government to survey its citizens on an unprecedented level, so much that the country’s Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Tony Porter has warned against the overuse of CCTV. People here seem to be far more tolerant of being watched than Americans are.

I know that I don’t like being watched, but I don’t mind being frisked. England should consider reprioritizing its security, thinking about personal space and privacy before safety.

Jack Rose is a junior broadcast and digital journalism major. You can email him at jlrose@syr.edu or follow him @jrose94 on Twitter.

Published on September 16, 2015 at 10:28 pm