Approximately 1.5 years ago, our boutique physical security services agency Premier Risk Solutions began the process of opening up an office in the State of California to best serve our client’s needs. Through the navigation of a myriad of legal counsel for the best direction forward along with a lot of patience, we are proud to announce that our President and CEO, Michael Delamere, is also now Co-Founder and CEO of ShieldIQ Executive Security (CA Private Patrol Operator License # 121786).
Boutique Physical Security
Along with our Co-Founder and COO, Ben Astafa, who is also CEO of Illyria Security Corp, ShieldIQ has a physical office located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, CA. ShieldIQ offers a full line of boutique physical security services including security guarding, mobile patrol, special event security, executive protection, security drivers, residential security, security consulting, fully embedded positions, and protective intelligence. From strategy through implementation, our boutique nature allows us to work within a company’s culture to keep everyone safe and at ease.
The management teams of PRS and ISC bring deep industry experience of over 150 years of collective private security service to clients.
For inquiries, please reach out to michael@SiqExecSecurity.com and/or ben@SiqExecSecurity.com.
The term Situational Awareness is quickly being relegated to jargon and used so often that its meaning is becoming too vague for many of us to fully understand and appreciate. At the risk of diluting more of its impact, the intention of this post is to help improve organizational capacity for Situational Awareness. Before that can be achieved, however, we must first offer (yet another) brief definition.
What is it exactly?
At its core, Situational Awareness is observation plus perception, underpinned by understanding. And that level of understanding is informed by how familiar we are with our surroundings and there environmental and cultural norms.
By understanding how we can increase our observations, we can then help to reduce the risk of injury to ourselves by more accurately recognizing potential threats to our security.
Our level of awareness depends on how observant we are, and in varying degrees, help us make sense of the situation around us. As humans, we benefit from multiple senses working together to inform our perception of where we are, and what might be happening.
And that perception can be inherently subjective because it is supported by our personal experiences, professional training, and cultural values.
A brief thought experiment:
Suppose we woke up suddenly in an unfamiliar setting feeling completely groggy. It is still dark and through the window we notice it getting brighter. In short order, our senses work together to increase awareness of our current situation. Our eyes scan the room for not just casual features, but whether anyone or anything present can be a threat to our safety.
We notice the smell of bacon and conclude there is a kitchen nearby or perhaps it’s breakfast time. We feel a chill in the air, hear the wind howling outside, and assume there’s a winter storm. Absent the sound of traffic, the notable quiet helps us imagine ourselves far from the city.
After a few minutes, we begin to settle our minds, stand, and observe our surroundings a bit more deliberately. We now notice our personal luggage by the door, a ski brochure next to the TV stand with ads in a foreign language, and the power outlets on the walls are shaped differently.
It’s all coming back. It has been a few years, but still familiar. We take a deep breath, smile, and realize we are finally back at this mountain resort, safe, and recovering from the long travel … and a few sleeping pills.
Let’s break this down.
In this scenario, our observation of new surroundings (E.g., initial scan of the room) is then coupled with our perception (E.g., the smell of bacon, feeling chilly, and noticing the quiet) to inform what becomes our ultimate understanding/judgment that we are in a familiar environment.
That conclusion required making sense of observable clues and analyzing the information based on how we were feeling, at that moment.
How observant are we?
After the attacks of 9/11, New York City created the “[if you] See Something, Say Something” campaign, which has since been adopted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS’s efforts to promote general awareness nationwide included videos (still found on YouTube) that challenged viewers’ level of attention and perception.
These videos usually contained a fast-paced scene where multiple actions happen simultaneously. Modeled after the classic “invisible gorilla” experiment, viewers are asked to keep their attention on one area of the action and were then tested to see if they noticed changes happening in other areas during the same scene.
While overall feedback of the videos was mixed, anecdotal successes for the campaign have been attributed by many safety experts who cite increases in bystander reporting. That is, more people are starting to say something after they see something thus generating more situational awareness.
But how can we improve this skill?
Honing our capacity for Situational Awareness can be likened to a journey. As with most journeys, it is dynamic, and the landscape changes constantly. Practice and repetition help to sharpen our mental filters, making us more capable of recognizing things that don’t quite fit. Deliberate observation is necessary.
Most of us do this daily without much effort.
In the virtual world, when scanning our emails, for example, we have a sense of awareness of spam, phishing attempts, and potential cybercrime.
From confirming a sender’s full URL or taking note of grammatical and cultural tones, we are increasingly adept at Cybersecurity and identifying digital threats – and which attachments NOT to download.
It is no different in the physical space.
When driving, we would likely reduce our speed when we notice a police officer nearby, and we’d probably avoid parking in a poorly lit area of a garage. We might move away from rowdy and boisterous crowds, etc… And we’ve come to do these things almost instinctively because we have grown more observant through exposure, experience, and training. Just like what we do daily in cyberspace.
To put it another way, we have increased our familiarity with these types of scenarios and can now respond more effectively to decrease the risk to our own safety.
From the commuter train to the corner office, our daily journey is dynamic and offers abundant opportunities to help sharpen our Situational Awareness.
The more times we experience something, such as going to a concert or navigating through a busy airport, we become ever more familiar with what is supposed to be routine, and “normal.”
So how can we improve on these skills and get to our conclusions more efficiently? And can we get there in a timely manner? The answer can be a resounding “yes!” and here’s how we can begin to increase our capabilities.
But first, a case study in situational awareness: Despite popular media often describing catastrophic events being thwarted by those with almost super-human abilities and world-class training, the reality is that a vast majority of incidents are not prevented by a Jason Bourne, but rather, regular people who are just more aware of their surroundings.
The following testimonial from a senior member of the PRS team offers an ideal opportunity to analyze a scenario most of us are familiar with. Reading through the narrative, we can easily picture ourselves at the scene and analyze what we would do in this situation.
In the following narrative, let’s consider two questions.
1) What would we have done?
2) How can we help prevent/mitigate this situation?
Vehicle appearing to be abandoned at SEA-TAC International Airport – Seattle, WA.
“I took the attached picture mid-day on Saturday, July 30th, 2022, at SeaTac airport. The airport was quite busy at the time with travelers’ comings and goings. This vehicle was situated curbside from baggage claim. As I walked up to take my position on the curb to await my ride, I immediately noticed no one was in or with the vehicle. I surveyed the area and did not notice any individual(s) who appeared to be keeping an eye on the vehicle. I waited a couple of minutes to see if someone may approach the vehicle figuring there is a chance they ran inside to help an elderly family member or friend or perhaps had to use the restroom.”
“ As 3-4 minutes went by and no one arrived or appeared to be minding the vehicle, I snapped this photo. I looked up Port of Seattle Police to report what I felt was a suspicious vehicle. As I located only a number to text or a non-emergency line, I decided to go the route of texting, thinking perhaps it may be a line more urgently monitored. Just as I was about to hit send on that text a younger-looking female approached the vehicle, albeit somewhat suspiciously as she appeared to have a hesitancy to stay with the vehicle. In short order, however, she decided to enter the vehicle and sit on the passenger side. At that point, I felt it was no longer necessary to report the incident as a suspicious vehicle and within another 30-45 seconds a few others appeared, jumped in the vehicle, and departed.”
“While all ended well in this scenario, the spider senses went up because of the training I have had over the years to identify situations such as this and handle them accordingly. I realize time is of the essence in reporting potentially suspicious items or equipment, in this case, I did not visibly see anything in the vehicle itself. Could an item have been in the trunk that had a nefarious purpose? Perhaps. My senses told me otherwise though once the initial female arrived and stayed with the vehicle.”
As to the first question, “What would we have done?”, given the circumstances there’s not much more that could be done at that time. Attempts were already being made to contact airport authorities and was only discontinued when the owner(s) of the vehicle returned.
Playing the “What if?” game.
We all do it, and we should. Our brains are naturally wired to seek out solutions and understand how we can best survive. Taking the above scenario a bit further, however, if we supposed that more minutes went by and the vehicle increasingly looked like it was abandoned, then we would be forced to act.
What if, there was something in the trunk?
We’d likely move farther away from the vehicle and then attempt to recruit others nearby (I.e., call out to airport employees and others, etc..) to help keep the area clear until law enforcement officials can respond and properly secure the scene and begin mitigating strategies on the car (E.g., explosives detection, etc…). Indeed, our individual efforts would have to be amplified for us to clear the area.
How can Situational Awareness be amplified (force-multiplied)?
In the US military, the use of a small number of specialists to train a larger force is designed to create a force-multiplying effect. Extra sets of eyes and ears will always help.
Simply put, a force multiplier can be anything or anyone that increases the effectiveness of that force.
In our airport scenario, the force-multiplying elements are human bystanders, airport employees, and fellow travelers who are willing to help. However, that presupposes they have been trained and will cooperate in ways that do not complicate the scene, and cause even more confusion. It’s not an ideal situation, but it might be the next best thing given the apparent absence of other security professionals.
The benefits of having even just one security agent.
Regarding Situational Awareness, a more effective force-multiplier is a professional security agent. Organizations that employ physical security agents have an inherent advantage of trusted professionals who are trained to keep a watchful presence and respond to incidents.
Beyond training and knowing proper response protocols, these agents also have the benefit of regular interaction with company personnel, the facility, and its surrounding area – all factors working to increase their understanding of what is normal and what might be otherwise concerning.
Physical security agents can also serve as a resource for employees (and bystanders) to report incidents and suspected wrongdoing without fear of judgment or retaliation.
Professional security agents are force-multipliers benefiting the entire organization, as well as neighboring facilities and indeed, the community. From assisting hybrid employees unfamiliar with the office to spotting hazards (E.g., broken and malfunctioning equipment, etc.…) and preventing trespassers with nefarious intent, professional security agents’ advantages are immeasurable to an organization and its assets.
Their high level of Situational Awareness is honed through consistent observation of their environment. In fact, an organization’s overt security presence also signals to would-be attackers that they are not an easy target for crime.
At PRS, we help protect organizations by preparing their personnel. Contact us should you want to learn more about our services.
The world we find ourselves living in today is filled with turmoil, conflict, and disruption. Early indicators show that Y2022 is proving to be disruptive on many levels. Current global conditions have created geopolitical divisiveness coming from such countries as Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and Canada. Global security concerns present other countries facing immediate danger of civil war, protesting, civil unrest, food insecurity, critical infrastructure/energy, economic, pandemic/infectious disease outbreaks, cyber/IT, and terrorism-related challenges.
Furthermore, the current Russian-Ukraine crisis in Eastern Europe has created the possibility of economic stagflation, increased energy/oil prices, and supply chain management challenges. Russia’s waging war on Ukraine has created a humanitarian crisis not seen since World War 2. Russia’s full-court press for a land-grab situation to mine additional resources (fossil fuels and other minerals) is naturally a disaster to the Ukrainians who wish to remain an independent nation of peaceful people. Ukraine remains steadfast in its resolve to fight back against a much larger, more powerful nation-state in Russia, which is building parallels in their government and global actions reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s Cold War years of the past.
With the US mid-term elections approaching this November, there exists increased anxiety along with disruption to household incomes. Considering the global pandemic, organizations have been faced with the Great Resignation, with workers being highly selective on work-life balance while safeguarding their personal and mental health and managing their self-care. Recent events have further caused labor staffing challenges for most businesses, creating bottlenecks and supply chain interruptions with organizations and their products available to consumers as well increased wages and other associated costs. This has forced organizations to be ever mindful of their personnel and their impacts on the overall organization’s health, welfare, and vitality. This has caused disruption to the organization’s overall strategic mission, goals, and objectives. Managing risks in this situation includes organizational morale, employee empowerment, corporate budget impacts, and operational/financial risks involved in evacuating or displacing staff or employee family members.
Premier Risk Solutions has borne first-hand witness to the situation on the ground in Ukraine that is impacting locales as well as, by extension, family members who are living and working outside of the country but concerned for the well-being of their family. While the clients we have supported within Ukraine do not have full-time employees within the country, their employees have family members there, and/or the client has vendor partners in-country they work with. These situations have caused disruption to the business as the personnel are unable to focus on their work or in some cases do any work at all, further causing supply chain delays to the company. Companies are forced to decide on what level of support they can or are willing to provide to personnel who are not direct employees. Our clients who we’ve worked with directly on this issue to evacuate impacted personnel are treating them as one-off situations but have provided support for evacuation when and where appropriate based on a dynamic risk assessment of the situation. Premier Risk Solutions and our agents are also constantly evaluating opportunities through our own fluid risk assessment for avenues of egress for evacuation as it is evolving on a day-by-day basis.
The threat continuum is ever-evolving and is constantly changing based upon a multitude of security challenges. The need for organizations to create an enterprise risk security management, holistic approach to safeguarding their personnel, brand, assets, and vendor supply chain is paramount in meeting today’s challenges. Organizations are well served by conducting – at minimum – annual risk assessments while conducting normal business activities during this time of uncertainty. Should your organization require a consultation please reach out to Premier Risk Solutions for a free consultation.
How can we prevent major violent incidents from occurring? Being proactive is the best means of doing so, as we all know. With budgets constantly being challenged for resources from within the organization, corporate security department heads need to determine where their budgetary funds are best utilized in providing value to and enabling the business. Enter TipNow Pro out of Silicon Valley in California, where founder Cyril Rayan has developed a tool that acts as an extension of your existing program to deliver a proactive means of identifying threatening situations or items through anonymous reporting as well as integrated video analytics.
Proactive Security
Cyril developed the technology after the Virginia Tech college campus active shooter incident at a time when he himself was a professor. In its current iteration of the tool, it utilizes both human capital and integrated video analytics to report on threats. It is the very definition of “see something, say something”. The human capital component through anonymous self-reporting in live streaming, SMS texting, voice tips, and mobile app tips, allows for the pre-defined administrators from the client company to receive notifications in “real-time” for assessment of appropriate action to be taken.
The integrated video analytics component allows for the identification of weapons, license plates, and intrusion in an automated manner. As a two-way system, it’s both people and technology working in tandem that allow further agility within the corporate security department in being proactive in augmenting their current security posture.
Premier Risk Solutions sat down with the founder of TipNow, Cyril Rayan, and had a brief discussion on his technology and how it can enable business, providing the value that so many department heads seek. He discusses some of the content written here but also shares a case study example of how the technology benefited a client in the best way possible. Have a listen! Please contact us should you have any questions.
As the world is evolving into more uncertain times in society, having a means of centered communications in a way a company can aid in proving a duty of care to their employees and contingent staff is of paramount importance. That is the reason for the existence of a GSOC. The integrated adoption of technologies with a combination of human capital to monitor and respond to alerts, developing intelligence, emergency phone calls, asset tracking, travel advisories, or other related systems notifications allow for quick response capabilities in triaging the situation. Being agile, consistent, reliable, and adopting new tasks are pivotal to support business operational needs.
In Premier Risk Solutions’ protective operations, we work with our partners at NSSG Global in Bucharest, Romania to provide remote support capabilities. With 24/7 dedicated GSOC operators, integrated network video, alarm & access control systems, telephonic response & escalation, along with protective intelligence analysts there is a holistic approach and execution to support field operations. As part of the service, we have rolled out an app that can be found in the Apple or Android stores that is called NSSG Support. We want to take an opportunity to showcase this further in this blog.
The purpose of the app is for personnel in the field – both business travelers/principals and our agents supporting them – to be able to not only provide safety check-ins but share pictures from your gallery and even snapshot one with your current location, chat with our GSOC operators with any questions or issues, as well as provide an urgent SOS signal to our GSOC operators to escalate imminently for garnering assistance to the individual.
Home Screen
The screenshot enclosed is directly pulled from the app, where “Send SOS” is located at the top. With “Tracking” turned on, we can get an accuracy of the individual’s location inside of 30ft and in some cases closer. You can also see in the enclosed screenshots where an individual can chat directly with the GSOC or an agent supporting the individual can also do the very same providing updates or requests for assistance. We do have our agent resources located on a map that is run in the GSOC to know who the closest assets are for deployment in an emergency. The “Send SOS” signal goes to one dedicated device with a phone number, with email notifications additionally permissible for redundant receipts.
Groupings can be set up for any number of individuals within an organization. There can be an unlimited number of groupings. Each grouping can have an email disseminated to the assigned representative from the company for any/all relevant activity desired. Should a company desire more regular reporting, the GSOC on the back end can administratively export chats, tracking info, etc collected data to share with our client.
Setting up a new user account typically takes approximately five (5) minutes time for our GSOC managers to get operational. Collaborating with your company representative, we can scale quickly to meet more volume needs as well. Knowing where your staff are and getting them expedient, qualified assistance is of the utmost importance. Should your company like a demo of the tool to learn more, we are happy to schedule a time to do so.
The main theme here is the attention to detail, quality assurance, and custom/tailored approach Premier Risk Solutions takes to ensure we reflect your brand reputation and integrity. Remaining agile to service your evolving needs, being responsive to your requests, and being consistent and reliable in our service delivery are hallmarks we strive for in each engagement. In all things we do, we provide comfort to your principals while balancing privacy and confidentiality with safety and security. We will be highly collaborative in our boutique offerings. Please contact us should you like to discuss your unique situation.
