Archive
Risk Management- Evaluating Electronic or Physical Security Needs Part Two www.privateofficer.com
Risk Management- Evaluating Electronic or Physical Security Needs http://www.privateofficer.com
By: Rick McCann
Executive Director
National Association of
Private Officers
The guards at the east and west gates were replaced with chains and padlocks about two years ago and recently the owners heard of an incident at another vacant warehouse that has motivated them to asses their risks.
At the other empty building, some homeless people had been making camp inside an area of the building and the property management overseeing the site knew of it and took little to no action to secure the property and rid it of these trespassers. During a fight between two of the vagrants, one was stabbed to death and the man’s family filed a lawsuit against the owners of the property. On the advice of their attorneys, they settled out of court quietly and quickly because they were culpable in the man’s death because their property management company did not respond to the risk of having the men trespassing inside the vacant building. The management company never stopped to realize the risks or weigh what might occur while allowing the people to be on the property or the liability associated with it.
Most people don’t understand the dangers of not doing a complete and frequent risk analyses until its too late Manny said.
1. Do A Walk Through of Exterior Property
The risks of a vacant building of course are much different than the risks that you might have at your business on Main St or in a shopping mall. The vacant property a whole array and laundry lists of dangers and liability issues including fire risks, possible burglaries, trespassing and loitering might be associated risks with that type of property.
When evaluating this type of property you can gauge your risks by first doing a complete exterior walk-through of the property noting security issues with fencing, locks, gates, lighting, building entrance point security including doors, overheads, loading dock areas, windows, storage buildings or annexed areas, rooftop, fire exits and other possible points of entry by unwanted persons.
The exterior area of your building needs to be the focal point and main priority in securing this type of property.
Once you have established your exterior deficiencies, listed them and understand that they are the first weak link in your security chain, move into the building.
2. Do An Interior Walk Through
This is really just a secondary assessment walk around of the property from the inside to spot not only possible security access problems but also other potential hazards.
This evaluation of the interior should focus more on hazardous materials such as flammables or toxic chemicals left behind, inactive or non-existent fire/smoke alarms, sprinkler systems, poor or no emergency lighting, leaking natural gas, large areas of oil or newspapers, boxes or materials that could start a fire when sparked, running water or leaking pipes or other dangers that may cause fires, explosions, massive water damage, or other major property damage.
3. Evaluate Need For Physical or Electronic Security
Many property owners of vacated industrial, retail, medical or other large empty properties have almost all had security guards on their property at one time when it was first vacated either because tenants moved out and they haven’t been able to lease the property or the building was damaged by fire, storms, water or the property has been foreclosed or sold. But as the property continued standing vacant and earning no income, the expense of having twenty hour a day security became too expensive and seen as an unnecessary expense and coverage was cancelled. In fact, many property owners, property management companies, and site managers often rely on the fact they the property has insurance to cover any form of disaster or incident that might hit the property and they assume the chance of an incident occurring there is slim to none.
Of course, this is very risky thinking and not a wise financial move as we’ll soon explain.
Steps In Evaluating Need of Security
A. One of the first steps that we do when conducting a security evaluation and risk assessment of a property is to drive the neighborhood. We cover at least ten blocks in all directions and usually twenty blocks. We notate the vacancy rates, boarded up buildings, graffiti, loitering, the number of liquor stores, fire damaged buildings, possible drug houses, criminal activity including drinking alcohol in public, urinating in public, gang activity, etc.
B. The next step is to either do criminal activity research on line or at your local police headquarters or precinct. Many metropolitan areas now have crime mapping on the local police websites making it easier to track crime in your neighborhood and city.
The statistics will usually list type of crime, address or block, dates and if it resulted in an arrest.
This tracking will give you at least one year of previous criminal activity at a specified address or area and give you a better idea of the type of activity occurring even if you haven’t seen it or heard the sirens or read about it in your local newspaper.
C. Once you have completed just the first two steps, you’ll have a much better picture of what type of criminal element is in the area of your property and it will help you to decide if your property is in the low, mid-range or high security risk area.
If you are just concerned about burglaries, arsons, accidental fires, or structural damage caused by internal malfunctions of equipment, an electronic monitoring system might be your answer.
A security alarm must be coupled with a fire and smoke system and a 24hr monitoring service to be completely effective.
If you prefer physical security on the property but are concerned with costs, you may want to look at staffing during prime time hours when most burglaries, trespassing, arsons, and thefts occur. For this type of property, studies have shown those hours to be between 8p.m. and 6a.m. For complete coverage, you could also look at enhancing the security by using the alarm service to monitor the property during the hours that security personnel are off duty.
When doing a risk assessment of your local grocery store, boutique, flower shop etc, you’ll want to follow the same three steps as outlined above.
Evaluate your neighborhood, track crime stats, talk to your neighborhood business community, customers and police to have a better understanding of current security risks, criminal activity, police response, and neighborhood involvement in the solutions of problems caused by the criminal element.
BECOME INVOLVED!
Remember the old adage, if you’re not part of the solution than you’re part of the problem? This is definitely true in this area and in today’s world of everyone marching to the beat of their own drum. We need to watch out for our neighbor, be friendly with the police and help them know about what’s happening in our community so that they’ll be able to better provide services to us and join your local business association, neighborhood watch or other groups that network on these types of problems.
Use Of Physical Security
Your situation may warrant the hiring of private security officers or off-duty police officers. and while this might be the correct action for your particular needs, be informed about all areas your needs, personnel requirements and all areas of liability involving the hiring of contracted security personnel. Determine the need for armed or unarmed security officers. Remember that armed security will elevate your risks factor greatly but if it’s the needed form of security; don’t let that distract you from making the right decision.
A. When hiring a security agency or police officer, make a list of duties that you expect them to perform and interview at least several security companies before making a decision.
Ask how long have they been in business?
Have they ever been sued?
Do they have client references that you can call?
Are their security officers current in state required training and will they supply you with documentation?
B. Confirm and verify that the company has in force at least one million dollars of liability insurance and that your business is named on the insurance. In the case of the use of armed security, at least $3 million in liability is recommended.
C. Check reference, the Better Business Bureau, and client references.
D. Make sure that you have a written contract between your business and the security company outlining their duties, (terms of the contract)hours of service, rate of pay, armed or unarmed, and a standard clause for service interruptions or compliance to agreement issues or other problems which would justify you terminating service immediate and without notice. Also include a mandatory written cancellation clause for both parties when canceling service for any other reason. This will give you a chance to re-staff with another agency or make other arrangements.
When hiring law enforcement personnel, there are several other issues to deal with before putting an officer to work.
First, never hire a police officer friend or family member. This leads to all of the same problems and issues of hiring a family member and then some.
1. First step is to call your local police or sheriff department and ask if they have an off-duty employment bureau or scheduling officer. Many departments have an officer or civilian who handles all off-duty assignments for their agency.
2. Second, determine costs and insurance issues. When a police officer is working at a function or business off-duty they are not technically acting as a “police officer” but instead are considered by law “security.”
Although they will still have full police authority given to them by their agency, they will be acting as your employee and not an employee of the police or sheriff’s department.
It is extremely important to determine if the officer is “self-insured” or covered by a special liability policy that the off-duty employment division may have set up.
The officer should be required to have the same type of liability insurance coverage as a police officer. Don’t be fooled into thinking that his employer will cover any incident or lawsuit that happens while the officer is working for you. THEY WON’T!
Off-duty assignments are just that. Off-duty, secondary employment and what ever the officer does while working for you is being done in the capacity of a “private citizen” not a police officer!
ALL employees or contracted personnel, even police officers are “agents” of their employer and anything that they do while on duty and on the clock for your business, they have done in your behalf and under your legal and financial liability.
In our third and final segment we will discuss the liability issues surrounding the use of physical security, the use of force and the issues of “Non-Responsiveness to Known Liabilites”.
================================================
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
www.privateofficer.com/
Get news alerts, officer down, weather emergency news in your mailbox!
Sign up;adminassist@privateofficer.com
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! www.privateofficer.com
Macy’s employee charged with theft www.privateofficer.com
Macy’s employee charged with theft http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com Authorities say that security agents at Macy’s have arrested a cashier at the store yesterday, accusing her of stealing a total of $670 from his cash register over the past two weeks.
Police were called to the store by loss prevention agents who had conducted an internal investigation and determined that employee Marquan Leggett had been stealing from his register.
Security agents from the store, located in the Galleria mall, confronted Leggett after noticing that his register had come up short several times.
Police said Leggett, 19, of 32 Persur Place, Yonkers, was charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor, after admitting that he’d been taking money.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Shoplifter faces drug charges after attemting to flee police www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter faces drug charges after attemting to flee police http://www.privateofficer.com
Gabriel Burgos, 33, of 2225 E. 131st Ave., Tampa, was arrested about 10 a.m. at the Wal-Mart at 2701 E. Fletcher Ave., deputies say. Burgos is accused of trying to take $48.24 worth of merchandise but was stopped by deputies in the store’s garden center, the affidavit states.
As he was being arrested, deputies searched Burgos and found cocaine in a small plastic bag along with a clear plastic bag and a hook from a hanger wire, the affidavit states.
Deputies say that on the way to the jail, Burgos escaped from the patrol car after he kicked out the rear passenger-side window. He then ran south on 50th Street until deputies caught him, the affidavit states.
After he was taken into custody for a second time, deputies found that Burgos was carrying a syringe filled with red liquid, the affidavit states. Burgos told deputies the liquid was blood.
Three hours after he was booked into jail, Burgos told detention deputies that he had used his brother’s name, birth date and Social Security number when he was first arrested, according to the affidavit. Burgos told deputies he used his brother’s name to avoid being arrested on a warrant for possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Burgos was charged Tuesday with possession of cocaine, petty theft less than $100, criminal mischief of more than $1,000, escape while transporting, obstructing or opposing an officer without violence and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
He is being held without bail.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
6 Year old brings gun to school www.privateofficer.com
6 Year old brings gun to school http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
www.privateofficer.com — Authorities are investigating an incident after a 6-year-old kindergarten pupil brought a .22-caliber pistol to an Augusta school.
Police officers were called to the Wilkinson Gardens Elementary School Principal Rickey Lumpkin said after a teacher heard students talking about a weapon Wednesday morning. The teacher began asking students about the gun and found the child who had the weapon.
Lumpkin said that the pupil who took the unloaded pistol to school was given a short-term suspension.
Police are investigating how and where the child got the gun and criminal charges could be filed against the parents or owners of the weapon police said.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
“Huffer” nabbed by security at Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
“Huffer” nabbed by security at Wal-Mart http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ A man was arrested Friday on a complaint of public intoxication by inhaling cans of dust remover after security called police.
A security officer at Walmart Supercenter, 2200 W Danforth, called police about 7:45 p.m. when he noticed a man passed out in his car parked in the store’s parking lot.
According to a police report, the officer noticed 109 empty cans of dust remover in the vehicle. Huffing refers to the act of inhaling vapors from common household products, such as glue, spray paint, gasoline or dust remover, in order to achieve a high.
Joshua Ryan Harlin, 24, was taken to Oklahoma County jail where he was released Sunday on his own recognizance.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Casino security officer shoots self toying with gun www.privateofficer.com
Casino security officer shoots self toying with gun http://www.privateofficer.com
Times-Picayune
The New Orleans Police Department confirmed Tuesday that a man who shot himself Saturday outside Harrah’s New Orleans Casino was providing security.
“He was assigned to watch over valet parking,” said Janssen Valencia, a New Orleans Police Department spokesman.
Police were informed sometime before 10 p.m. that someone had been shot outside Harrah’s at 8 Canal Street.
“Ricky Matthew Jr., who works for BlackHawk Security, shot himself in the thigh,” Valencia said. “The bullet entered and exited the thigh. He is in stable condition.”
Matthew, 23, was hospitalized and was issued a summons, in lieu of arrest, on a charge of illegal discharge of a firearm, Valencia said.
Police viewed video captured at the scene and “observed the subject playing with his gun,”
Sandie McNamara, Harrah’s vice president for marketing, declined to comment about the relationship between the security company and the casino or say whether Matthew will continue to provide security at the casino.
“It’s a police matter,” she said.
Officer Garry Flot, another New Orleans Police Department spokesman, said earlier that no information was available to explain why Matthew was handling his weapon Saturday night in the valet area.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Drunk security guard impersonates police www.privateofficer.com
Drunk security guard impersonates police http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
www.privateofficer.com Police say that a man arrested for DUI told Suffolk police on Tuesday that he was a member of the Newport News police force.
Brian Travis of Windsor, Virginia was stopped by officers for a moving violation and police determined that he was under the influence of alcohol and took him into custody. He reportedly told the officer that he was an off-duty police officer numerous times and kept up the story while being processed by Suffolk police.
Suffolk police spokesperson, Debbie George said that Travis complained about having to serve the minimum sentence because, as he claimed, he was an officer.
Police investigated Travis’s claim and it was soon discovered that he was not a police officer but was employed as a security guard in the area.
Travis now faces additional charges in this matter.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
St. Louis police officer commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
St. Louis police officer commits suicide http://www.privateofficer.com
Just a few hours after he learned he might be the target of a child pornography investigation in St. Louis County, a St. Louis City policeman committed suicide.
The 37-year-old man, originally from Bosnia, was identified by local Bosnian leaders as Vladimir Vujica. He had been a city officer for two and a half years.
Tuesday, St. Louis County detectives notified Vujica that they had a search warrant to seize his home computer. He gave them the key to his condominium in Mehlville.
Officers entered the home while Vujica was on duty in the city and took the computer and some papers, according to County Police spokeswoman Officer Tracy Panus. She said a computer software program had traced the transfer of child pornography to a computer IP address that was located at Vujica’s home.
At the end of his shift Tuesday night, St. Louis City Internal Affairs officers picked up Officer Vujica to take him to police headquarters to question him about his residency. City officers are required to live in St.Louis City during their first seven years of duty.
But at Tucker and Park, Vujica left the police car and ran into a neighborhood. Officers were unable to find him.
Several hours later a citizen found the wounded officer and called 911.
Police chose not to wait for an ambulance. They carried him to the back seat of a patrol car and quickly drove to Saint Louis University Hospital. But he was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted wound to the head.
Friends and neighbors of Officer Vujica said they were shocked by the news.
Trace Robinson described him as a part of her family. She said he had worked at a local hotel with her mother for at least four years before entering the Police Academy. “He was a loving gentleman. He called by mom ‘grandma’ and he looked out for her,” she said.
Robinson questioned the child pornography investigation saying she always felt comfortable around Vujica and never worried about her children when he was visiting.
The head of a community group, the United Bosnian Association, Ibrahim Vajzovic described the officer as “very nice and a good member of the community.”
Friends say he is survived by his mother, sister and a nephew.
St. Louis City Police Chief Dan Isom authorized a critical incident review following the suicide to determine if any department policies should be changed regarding the transfer of individuals to the Internal Affairs Division Office.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Atlantic City casino security to detain underage violators www.privateofficer.com
Atlantic City casino security to detain underage violators http://www.privateofficer.com
The presence of too-young customers has been a continuing problem in the nation’s second-largest gambling resort.
On Wednesday, a casino was hit with a $20,000 fine for serving drinks to two underage women, and five casinos were ordered to forfeit more than $17,000 that had been won by underage gamblers playing illegally.
Once the underage players were identified, the casinos were obligated to hold onto money the gamblers had won. It now goes to the state, which will split it between the Casino Revenue Fund, which provides help to senior citizens and others, and programs to combat compulsive gambling.
The state Casino Control Commission plans within 90 days to grant casino security the right to detain suspected underage gamblers or drinkers on the casino floor.
The commission fined the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $20,000 for serving underage women in Sept. 2007, and suspended a beverage server for three days.
It also seized money won by underage gamblers and people who had signed up for a voluntary self-exclusion list that forbids them from entering a casino.
Last month, the commission fined Bally’s a $157,500 for allowing an underage woman to gamble numerous times. In February, the Borgata was fined $105,000 for allowing underage gambling.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter charged after pepper spraying security www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter charged after pepper spraying security http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
www.privateofficer.com
A Sioux Falls woman faces serious charges after assaulting security officers who were attempting to detain her in a shoplifting incident according to police .
The woman identified as Lauara Marie Rivera was arrested Dec. 9 after she sprayed a loss-prevention officer who stopped her for shoplifting, police spokesman Sam Clemens said.
At that point security agents stopped Rivera and she became combative and sprayed the officer in the face with Mace, police said.
Other loss-prevention officers assisted in detaining Rivera.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
