by Micheal Delamere | Sep 21, 2020 | Executive Protection, PRS Team, Risk Management, Security for Employees
Are you considering reasons to hire executive protection in Seattle? This isn’t a decision you should make lightly. It will definitely have a significant impact on you and your business, so it’s important to work through all available options thoroughly beforehand. There are many reasons to seek private security services.
Increases Productivity
Having executive protection in place can help increase the productivity of those the service is intended for. The individual(s) in question can focus solely on work instead of constantly worrying about safety. The professional guards take on the responsibility of anticipating threats, finding safe travel routes and assessing the risks of any given situation.
Maintains Discretion
Executive protection services can be as discrete as necessary. Professionals are trained to be polite and to respect the privacy of those they are guarding. They are also capable of clearly communicating expectations to others their client(s) may come in contact with.
Prevents Losses
Sudden death or incapacitation of someone vital to your organization or business can be devastating for productivity and morale. Executive protection is a reliable way to prevent this from occurring. Because these professionals are trained to minimize threats, it becomes less likely you’ll suffer any sort of significant loss if targeted.
Looking to Hire Executive Protection Services in Seattle?
Are you interested in learning more about executive protection services in Seattle? Now that you know the benefits, it’s time to discuss your specific needs with a professional. The highly trained and experienced team at Premier Risk Solutions is here to help. Our specialists have the knowledge and skills to provide a wide variety of services, including executive protection, digital forensics, security consulting, private investigation, and business integrity assessment. As industry leaders in the region, you can trust us to address all your security needs. Contact us today with questions or to schedule a consultation.
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by Micheal Delamere | May 20, 2020 | COVID-19, Executive Protection, PRS Team, Risk Management, Security for Employees, Seminar & Exhibits, Surveillance & Security
As the United States continues to plan for its reopening post the COVID-19 pandemic crisis of early 2020, events of all scales and sizes from the small gathering of a handful of people to larger stadium-sized gatherings of thousands of people are a big part of the US economy. Data sourced from the Events Industry Council in their 2016 US economic significance study indicated there were 5.9m jobs with $249b of labor income generated from them, $104b of taxes at all levels, and $446b towards US gross domestic product. Since the 2020 study is not yet available, 2016 was the most recent to review these statistics.
However, it has been noted in the infographic presented within this article that there has been an historical upward trend with each study conducted since 2009 in direct spending within the events industry in the U.S. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority also sponsored and published their own economic study which further documents this statement with information dating from 2018 (study conducted in 2019). With the significance of the events industry playing their role in the US economy (federal, state and municipal), it is certainly in the best interests of all for the events industry to reopen at soon as it is safe to do so. This article is written in a way to attempt to speak to gatherings of all sizes as far as recommended practices for workers and companies alike to consider undertaking for their own sponsored event or event to be worked.
One unanticipated side effect of the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders has been a significant decrease in crime. Law enforcement leaders throughout the country report crime rates well below the norm. Thankfully, active-shooter events have significantly declined during the pandemic as well. While unconfirmed statistics show over 120 “mass-shootings” (defined as a shooting resulting in multiple victims) in 2020 to-date, as little as one event can be termed as an “active-shooter” (Milwaukee). While further analysis is needed, it is reasonable to conclude this downward trend has its roots in the temporary elimination of mass-gathering events and locations such as shopping centers, conferences, concerts and so forth.
Government leaders have recently begun to ease shelter-in-place orders. Shopping centers and other locations and events that host large crowds will eventually follow suit. There are three additional dynamics at play they should cause concern for safety: The first is the economy. The national unemployment rate has skyrocketed amid uncertain economic times for the foreseeable future. Employment loss, the associated economic pressures and feeling of hopelessness can cause some to resort to violence. Secondly, society in-general has been under prolonged stress, which adds another layer of frustration. Lastly, the mass wearing of masks in public is now normalized and will continue to be until the pandemic subsides. Until recently, the wearing of masks in public, unless there was an obvious medical condition, when celebrating Halloween or for religious purposes, communicated a vastly different message than today. Before pandemic, an individual entering a convenience store or mall on a Friday night while wearing a mask may have been viewed as suspicious activity resulting in a call to police. Today, the vast majority of people in public are wearing masks.
While uncertain times remain ahead, there are a few commonsense predictions that can be made: There will be an escalation in crime post pandemic, including active-threat events. Masks, and in most cases justifiably so, will continue to be worn by large groups of people attending public and private events. Societal stress, mass lay-offs, frustration and a feeling of hopelessness will cause some people to commit acts of violence. Active-shooter/threat situations evolve quickly and survival relies heavily on reaction time based on initial detection. It is reasonable to conclude some people may feel empowered to commit such hideous acts because they can wear a mask in public and perhaps escape unidentified. Many active-threats occur in the workplace. Depending on the physical characteristics of the disgruntled employee (or ex), it may become easier for them to slip in undetected by wearing a mask.
There is no guarantee that can be made for an illness-free and safe event but taking precautions and having security mitigation strategies in places such as the examples provided below help towards maximizing attendee and staff safety.
Top 11 Event Safety Practices to Undertake (in no specific order)
- Only reopen when it is legally and reasonably safe to do so. Distinct and careful decision making is necessary with a team of professionals consisting of Human Resources, Legal, Operations, Finance and Medical (likely via a contracted resource/partner). What works for one entity may not work for another. While it’s okay to benchmark against what other like-entities are doing, be very cautious of this as what is good for “John” may not fit and be good for “Suzy”. Every entity is unique in their own way so the approach and decision needs to reflect this as well.
- Attendee Education. New signage, social media messaging, ticket purchasing regulations update, website information, mobile app information, push notifications, etc. Whatever means an entity utilizes to market their messages and attract attendees to the event must show consistent information amongst the channels and in a manner which timely. Have a statement included on your attendee policy that allows for revocation and reimbursement of attendee fee (in partial or full) for not adhering to the new policies in place.
- Contact Tracing. The event sponsors will need to ensure a method of contact tracing is in place. For when an illness occurs it will be essential to health officials to know this information in a timely fashion. If the event sponsor cannot produce it, anticipate some action to be taken against them for failure to negligence (likely civil action) by the local authorities.
- Worker Hygiene. Identify a worker who will act as the coordinator of any and all infection control mitigation incidents or occurrence. This worker should be well versed in public health guidelines, safety measures, new health plans, hazards, and be working closely with the event production/management team as well as the venue staff on all health concerns. Ensure proper physical distancing, hand washing, cough & sneeze etiquette are in place. Provide access to gloves, face coverings and where appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Enact Temperature Screening (more info below on this).
- Practices for Workers when they are Sick. If a worker becomes sick during the course of the day or their shift, separate that person as soon as possible from others. Anticipate a budget for medical purposes be in-place for the event for not only proper staffing of the event but also potential transportation of sick parties, ancillary equipment, etc. Have a policy in place that workers cannot return to work until either they isolated for 14 days since their first symptoms manifested themselves or documented medical authorization to do so.
- Sanitize the Venue. Ensure enhanced cleanings are taking place of public areas (lobbies, halls, dining areas for example) and restrooms. The disinfecting technique employed for the high-touch areas must be frequent and thorough. Place automatic (no touch) hand-sanitizer stations in multiple locations throughout the event space.
- Space Requirements. The event as you knew it pre-COVID19 very likely may require additional space allocation needs post-COVID19 to meet physical distancing requirements. Where a 6 foot distance for physical distancing is needed, up to 36 square feet per small group will be needed. For areas where there has been a queue in the past, room for people to maneuver around the now more expansive setting will be needed also. Placing markings of some variety to indicate visually to people approaching the area of where to stand in the queue will aid in the process.
- Temperature Screenings. Enacting a method of quick but effective & efficient temperature sensing along with trained personnel will greatly help identify potential illness. In tandem with a published policy on what an attendee and/or worker can expect once they have been identified for potential illness will allow this proactive measure to perhaps curb a worse issue that may have developed had this measure not been enacted.
- Bag checks. Not every event may require or need this as a service or item of inclusion, however, for the larger gatherings that will having a known, published policy of only small clear bags being allowed inside the venue will allow for maximum efficiency and safety at security check points of prohibited items.
- Legal Issues. Any variety of legal issues may arise on a pre-COVID19 event let alone post COVID19 reopening during a pandemic. Be sure to include legal in all policy and new practice decisions being made. Consul will understand your unique situation best as they will (or should) be most intimate with your particular situation. The Duty of Care for workers and attendees and steps taken by responding parties on-site during an incident must have careful documentation on the facts (who, what, where, when, how) on how the incident transpired and conclusions reached for resolution.
- Now more than ever, consideration should strongly be given to having a security presence that has the capability to respond and mitigate a dangerous and violent intent. There are many options when deciding a security posture. We at PRS are prepared to provide guidance on best practices and offer solutions that are discreet and comforting so your customers have a safe and satisfying experience.
There are of course much more detail and thought that needs to go into each of the elements to ensure a successful event is had however practicing each of these will help minimize your risk. The involvement in-depth as well as the quantity of professional security personnel to be involved in an event for monitoring and enforcement of new policies and regulations will be paramount towards the goals of a successful event. Ensure you are working with a partner who has collaboration and understanding of your needs top of mind.
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by Micheal Delamere | Jan 20, 2020 | Executive Protection, Private Investigations, PRS Team, Risk Management, Security for Employees, Security Training, Surveillance & Security
Red Team testing, or otherwise known as physical security penetration testing (pen test), occurs more often than is typically discussed amongst perhaps more sexy topics in the security industry like Executive Protection, Workplace Violence Prevention, or Event Security. However, the benefits learned if the red-teaming is done well can help solidify the very essential elements of a good security program.
Having administered in the proximity of 200+ pen tests over the course of the last half dozen years approximately I can say that no two tests often happen to be the same. Varying up days of the week and times of the day that tests are conducted will help ascertain the most robust, holistic information regarding a security program. And just because you might test one day at one time does not necessarily make the result of that particular test the definitive answer and solution; it could have been a case of the personnel working that particular day & time having a good or a bad day. You will want to test that day and/or time more than once to ensure the same pattern is in place before jumping to a conclusion…not too dissimilar to surveillance in workers comp cases to refute the “Good Day” defense by the injured party.
The personnel who are conducting/administering the pen test should also be generally creative people in their approach and mindset in undertaking the assignment. Given creative freedom (within reason) could yield surprising results from the pen test. For example, in one instance our agent assigned for a pen test in the San Francisco Bay Area for a client through his advance research on the location and company created a cover story whereas he was a journalist from the local newspaper who desired to print a story regarding the client company in which he would provide very positive press for their philanthropic endeavors. This client location had security officer personnel in place and restricted elevators to each floor. The agent approached the security officer personnel at the lobby desk explaining his cover story and requested to meet with an individual (whom he had located in his advance open source research) that was a C-suite person for the company in that location. Within 10 minutes time the agent was sitting across a conference room table from this C-suite executive. His credentials were not checked. No screening mechanism enacted. All because the company strongly desired very positive press to be published on them and the opportunity was presented for just that. This is a very good learning experience for the company. No one has to lose their job nor should they be disciplined. It should be used as a learning experience to grow from for all parties involved. Having a creative agent in place who understands security programs while pushing boundaries in an authorized manner can achieve such objectives.
To summarize what steps were taken from the example above in order to get to the end-result:
1. Agree upon a specific statement/scope of work (SOW) between the service provider and the client.
2. Resource/assign an agent that is creative in their approach.
3. SOW should have had an allowance for advance research time prior to pen test to be conducted. I would generally recommend up to 5 hours of time for this in most circumstances but can change based on scope, square footage needing to be tested, and other factors.
4. Expect about the same amount of time on-site for conducting the pen test plus a couple of
additional hours for report writing time.
5. Expect to have near real-time communications between the agent/service provider and the client during the operation being conducted to ensure clarity of exact timing of the pen test. Doing so will help avoid any potential “bad actor” confusion with the operation.
6. Depending on the company’s goals and objectives of the pen test operation, consider having a tracking tool in place that is shared between the service provider and the client representative that is available on a moment’s notice. It could be an Excel sheet or other software that details dates, times, locations as well as names and contact numbers for each respectively should a timely call or note have to be placed. An effective tool will allow for filtering and sorting the content uploaded to moderate varying forms of data for different parties who might desire to see it.
7. While testing people and their practices is the most common denominator in physical security pen tests, there is a component of testing the company’s security technology as well. How well the agent can be seen on camera while conducting the test, any bypassing of access control systems in place that might have been had, or any alarm systems that might have (or should have) been activated when accessing a more vulnerable area of the company’s space are all aspects of security technology that should be looked at while the pen test was conducted. This can be done after the fact, it doesn’t have to be real-time, but doing so ensures the company equipment is also functioning properly.
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Serving US: Seattle, Bellevue, San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Fremont, Milpitas, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Las Vegas, Reno, Portland, Vancouver WA, Honolulu, Denver, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Chicago, Columbus, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte, Washington DC, New York City, Boston
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