Pope John Paul II is arguably the most recognizable and celebrated person in the world. Wherever he travels, the issue of security is of paramount concern to the people around him and that is why when he visited Toronto, Ont., this past July for World Youth Day (WYD), organizers worked diligently to ensure that all security measures implemented were of the highest standard.

Besides the use of a vast number of security personnel, the closing off of certain Toronto streets and the use of the now famous bulletproof Popemobile, security for WYD, held July 18-28, also included controlling the movement of the approximately 500,000 pilgrims, who converged on Toronto for the 10-day-long event.

More specifically, security organizers focused on providing volunteers, vendors, exhibitors and contractors with the proper credentials — produced by state-of-the-art photo Identification technology — in order for them to have access to certain WYD locations, as well as to deny access to anyone who did not belong in specific areas. Each volunteer was even checked for any criminal charges as photo identification was only issued to those who provided a satisfactory criminal record check, background check and recommendation from their parish.

The man responsible for issuing the 24,000 photo ID cards needed for WYD was Pawel Ratajczak, a volunteer who had attended three other WYDs (Denver, Colo., Manila, the Philippines, and Paris, France) as a pilgrim. With the help of his trusty 40-person staff, the majority of photo ID cards where produced out of one central location, R.W Scott Elementary School in Toronto, with satellite offices at both Exhibition Place and Downsview Park, the two locations where the majority of WYD events took place.

To ensure every volunteer, contractor, exhibitor and vendor received a photo ID card - pilgrims did not receive one - roving camera crews with digital cameras in hand toured WYD locations, snapped photos of people who required ID cards and then returned to main headquarters to download pictures and print cards.

But Ratajczak and his staff didn't accomplish all this themselves. Assisting WYD with its security and its photo identification requirements was Identicam Systems, which provided the equipment required to produce the security-feature laden photo Identification cards.

"In any large event, especially the size of WYD, you can't make security airtight as much as WYD security and police would like to," says Ratajczak, WYD security coordinator of volunteers. "It went off well. The accreditation system worked and people were badged and IDs were checked."

Welcoming the World
Organized by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day has grown into a bi-annual event, hosted in a different international city every year it is held. It began in 1987 when Pope John Paul II invited youth from around the world to join him in prayer for peace and reconciliation. It brings together Catholic youth from over 150 countries to learn about their faith and celebrate it. Traditionally, the event is a place for young people aged 16-35 to share spiritual and cultural experiences while participating in community service projects.

At WYD 2002 - the first time in its 15-years history that it was held in Canada - participants learned how Canadian Catholics live their faith. Although the conference is meant primarily for Catholic youth, all youth were invited to participate in the WYD festivities. It also included Days in the Diocese, in which pilgrims had the opportunity to travel to different regions of Canada to visit and study in local diocese and to perform community service work. Pilgrims also participated in general plenary sessions; community service projects; a youth festival; an overnight vigil; and to cap it all off, a Papal Mass at Downsview Park, which was the highlight of the event and drew approximately one million people.

It also marked the first Papal visit to Toronto and Canada since 1984. And although organizers have deemed WYD a success, they recently announced a financial loss of $30 million.

Playing the Cards Right
Admittingly, Ratajczak is a security novice. Currently, he is a scholastic brother, studying for the priesthood. Although he began his WYD duties way back on July 9, 2001, he only devoted a portion of his time to his responsibilities as he had to return to seminary later that year.

In January 2002, he began focusing more of his attention on WYD, including issuing a request for bid in April for the photo identification system. The specifications in the bid were quite specific as Ratajczak really did his homework in exploring all the possibilities for the event's photo ID needs. He specified the exact size of the badges he wanted, the security features preferred on the cards, the number of video-imaging rental systems required (nine) and the methods of acquiring the images (i.e., video imaging camera, scanner and file).

"What had happened is that Identicam somehow got wind of the project and they made a sales presentation to myself and to one other gentleman in security," he recalls. "After that, I read some literature and I decided what would be needed in this project. I then put out a request for bids stating all the requirements: certain security features of the cards; multiple number of issuing locations and then Identicam came in with an official bid and that was ultimately accepted."

"I was working with the OPP and I found out that they were doing a lot of security for the Pope, so I suggested to them that we may be able to assist them with their photo ID needs," adds Adriana Margetts, Identicam's vice-president of new business development, explaining how Identicam originally became involved in WYD security.

Basically, the oversized photo ID card included a pre-printed background, microprinting, a hologram, photo, name, identification number and ghosted image of the participant. The hologram is self-adhesive, but will rip or tear if someone attempts to take it off a card and apply it to another.

"They were looking for a secure card that had a very large photo on it, that can be easily identified from a photograph, as well as a card standpoint," says Margetts. "What I proposed for them was going with an oversized card, the CR100, because only a certain amount of printers can provide that type of card in size and stock."

CR100s (3.875 inches x 2.625 inches) are larger than credit cards and are the largest cards one can run through the Fargo Pro L printer that was used. Margetts also suggested that cards be pre-printed, and were then set-up with a peel-and-stick, two-dimensional, numbered hologram, so WYD organizers would be able to keep track of the actual number sequence. The card was also self-destructing, so if anyone attempted to peel it off, it was ruined.

"There were levels of security," adds Margetts, "built into the card: hologram, pre-printing and ghosting. In their case, you have a 2 x 2 photograph and they then would place another photograph of smaller dimensions and it would be about 30 percent of what would you get if you printed at 100 percent."

In total, approximately 40 people, working in three different locations, and in three different shifts, fell under Ratajcazk's watchful eye.

"We were actually going 24 hours a day at one point," he says. "People were coming in at all times of the day, especially the central location. The midnight to 8 a.m. crew worked on downloading cards from the camera and producing cards.

"You don't learn to run an accreditation centre in theology," quips Ratajcazk, "but overall I found the equipment very reliable. I was prepared for some breakdowns, but there was almost none. Even with our volume and the use it received, it was just amazing. We had a crew trained that was totally outside of the field and they were able to be trained within a couple of days. They worked at it like marvels."