September 27, 2023
  • Surveillance

    Making the Case for Surveillance Detection

    Someone once told me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I guess that statement is true to some extent. As I’m watching the world of terrorism continue to evolve, observe the growing phenomenon of “homegrown terrorists,” and […]
  • Featured Articles

    Security Budgets May Get Clipped Again

    Low inflation and low interest rates constrain price increases, yet salary and wages, and health care costs continue to rise above the level of inflation. It is a bottom line squeeze. […]
  • Featured Articles

    Signs That You Are About To Be Punched In the Nose

    The bad news is that violent crime in the U.S increased from 2011 to 2012 according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Justice survey.  The good news is that more than 70 percent of violent crime was simple assault.  Statistically, about the worst that a victim of violent crime will [...]
  • Career Development

    Becoming A Trusted Advisor. What Does It Take?

    I had the honor of speaking at a Protective Security Council conference during which I heard an oft-repeated question among other executive protection practitioners in attendance, and incorporated into a number of other conference seminars and presentations: “What does it take to become a trusted advisor to protectees on matters [...]
  • Featured Articles

    The Security Driver Triangle

    Getting from point A to point B safely and securely requires the interaction between the driver, the vehicle and the environment they drive through. THE DRIVER, THE MACHINE, and THE ENVIRONMENT is called the Security Driver’s Triangle. If there is an accident or a successful ambush it is caused by [...]
  • Executive Services

    How to avoid mangling press coverage of your CEO and company

    Recent press appearances by officials in the limelight offer a stark comparison about how press coverage should be done and how to mangle it. Governor Chris Christie, responding to allegations that a bridge lane closing that resulted in a huge traffic jam for four days was politically motivated, barricaded himself [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Making Sure They Get It Right The First Time And Every Time

    Finding The Right Transportation Provider One of the many challenges that corporate security professionals face is maintaining adequate security for their executives and other key personnel as they go about their daily business. Often times, these challenges are far greater when those folks are traveling beyond the umbrella of protection [...]
  • Legal & Regulatory

    Turkey Tossing. OSHA Issues Security Guidelines For That

    Just out of college, in 1971 I worked as a writer for an advertising agency that had a number of retail clients. One of our clients, a small appliance retailer, wanted to do a Thanksgiving promotion. In keeping with the theme of the holiday, he decided to give away turkeys. [...]
  • Articles

    A Secondary EP Role Does Not Mean Second Class

    This mission and my team were an afterthought.  C-suite executives, including the CEO, and spouses of a major U.S. multi-national investment bank were coming to a Hong Kong conference.  Protecting those executives during their busy days of on-site and off-site meetings and presentations was essential.  The bank’s U.S headquarters Human [...]
  • Legal & Regulatory

    New Employee Misclassification Interpretation – A Warning To Security Companies

    The Federal government, specifically the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), continues to aggressively pursue a crackdown on the misclassification of workers as independent contractors.  Below is the preamble to a new DOL Administrator’s Interpretation of the rules for pursuing enforcement action against employers that misclassify workers. While it is not [...]
  • Risk Assessment

    Security Risk Analysis of Hostile Environments

    For companies operating in hostile environments, corporate security has historically been a source of confusion and often outsourced to specialised consultancies at significant cost. Of itself, that’s not an inappropriate approach, but the problems arises because, if you ask three different security consultants to carry out the same security risk [...]
  • Marketing

    10 Things You Can Do Today To Grow Your Security Business

    In my coaching business I hear clients cite many of the same problems and needlessly struggle to find answers. As you read through this list imagine what your security business would look like today if one year ago you had done these 10 things. Take control of your time. Most [...]
  • Security News

    Should We Talk or Just Kill Each Other?

    One reaction to the attempted killing spree during the U.S. Congress intramural baseball practice is a call for civil discourse. Public nastiness is now common and accepted. Left unchecked, murder may become a common way to win an argument or at least have the final word. But what is civil [...]
  • Executive Services

    Leadership in Executive Protection

    What is leadership today? What has happened to the so called leaders of the industry? Who really makes the decisions that affects the lives of the people that we protect? Has the profession sold out? […]
  • Marketing

    Branding Your Company’s Executive Protection Services

    How do you create a brand? One of the key elements is market positioning. Branding begins by formulating a strategy that differentiates you from your competition. Part this process is creating a one word positioning statement. For example, Volvo’s word is “safety,” Victoria Secret’s is “sexy.” What is yours? […]
  • Featured Articles

    Scenario Based Force On Force Training

    Nothing Beats Using Training Munitions! Ok, I’m about to give my age away here but it is a risk worth taking, so here goes: A long time ago, in a land far, far away (Kentucky) I joined the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division as a Military Policeman in a Combat [...]
  • Legal & Regulatory

    Tax Code Creates Lethal Vulnerability for Corporate Leaders

    U.S. tax codes don’t often have life-or-death consequences, but one section creates a potentially lethal vulnerability for some of America’s corporate leadership. This troublesome section deters persons who would be wise to employ executive security services from using them. For that reason, it is imperative to understand the code and [...]
  • Security News

    ADVANCE: The Guide For Conducting A Protective Security Advance

    ADVANCE The Guide For Conducting A Protective Security Advance by David L. Johnson Finally, someone has written a detailed book about how to conduct an Advance – the most important function of the protective security agent. This is an incredible book. It covers all the important, and sometimes gritty tasks, [...]
  • Security News

    New Standards For Workplace Violence Prevention And Incident Investigations

    Two documents published in 2011 put new demands on businesses to implement effective safety measures to reduce the incidence of workplace violence. In September, OSHA issued a compliance directive that establishes uniform procedures for its field staff when responding to incidents and complaints of workplace violence and conducting inspections in industries considered [...]
  • Executive Services

    PRINCIPAL PROTECTION; Lessons Learned

    PRINCIPAL PROTECTION; Lessons Learned The Evolution of Protective Operations by R.E. “Rick” Colliver Available now from Varro Press Protection, like any other process, is evolutionary. And we should agree that a large part of any evolutionary process is failure, which is another way of saying “learning through our mistakes.” As [...]
  • Secure Transportation

    A Tale of Two Attacks

    An Objective Look at Recent Vehicle Ambushes. Just how important is it for a Protective Detail Leader or Security Manager to be able to recognize the indicators and warnings associated with various threats and understand the capabilities of potential attackers? The answers can be found by taking a closer look [...]
  • Executive Services

    Basics of Building a Tactical “Go Bag”

    For military, police, and security professionals, the career demands that we are prepared to respond to a variety of threats and that we have the right equipment on us or with us to adequately respond. Beyond the professionals, many “civilians” have taken an interest in their personal safety and want [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Security Officers Are Not Independent Contractors Court Says

    Company Also Violated Record Keeping Rules The employment of independent contractors in the security industry is common. It is a useful and convenient method to increase the number of personnel needed or to offer specialized [...] This content is for PSC members only. If you are a member, please log [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Does Your Executive’s Salary & Compensation Package Create Risk?

    I was reading a nationally known newspaper on January 3rd, 2008, that read, “Top CEOs have already earned average year’s pay.” Though I’ve been assisting security professionals and developing programs supporting such senior executives for over two decades now, the fact that it was only three days into the year [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Tips for Becoming or Hiring an Independent Contractor

    The Federal government and the states recognize Independent Contractor (IC) as a legitimate worker classification.  However, either knowingly or unknowingly, employers sometimes incorrectly misclassify workers as ICs instead of employees. “Employee” is generally the default status the government assumes in ambiguous circumstances.  Worker misclassification is an expensive and time-consuming mistake. [...]
  • Executive Services

    No Need For High Speed Paparazzi Evasion. Just Outsmart Them

    There are two parts to this narrative about how we took care of an A-List Hollywood star during his visits to China as a brand ambassador for our client, an international tier one luxury brand.  The first is how Abate Risk Ltd leveraged personal information we gathered about him to [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Why Security Risk and Frontline Risk Management Is Everyone’s Business

    The world is more complex than ever before. The issue of uncertainty based on disruption and change, happening at a rate that we have never experienced before, adds to the challenges of the way we manage risk as individuals, departments, and even at the organisational level. Dealing with threats (such [...]
  • Security News

    PPS, MMA, UFC. What Do They Have in Common?

    I don’t know anything about Futbol (soccer).  I don’t know anything about UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).  The parentheses are for others like me. I do, however, know something about hiring a PPS (Personal Protection Specialist). I also know that there are people who are as [...]
  • Security News

    IRS Issues New Meals & Entertainment Deduction Rules

    Let's Do Lunch! In the good old days, the three-martini lunch was part of doing business and you could deduct 100% of the cost. The steak and lobster dinner followed by floor seats at the [...] This content is for PSC members only. If you are a member, please log [...]
  • Management

    Beware the Obamacare Syndrome

    Do you have an idea to improve efficiency, cut costs, increase revenue, or expand?  Think it’s such a good idea that it will work flawlessly and everyone will hail you the conquering hero? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is a good example of how to really [...]
  • Leadership

    CEO: “I Take Responsibility for Security.” What does that mean?

    An all too common response in the aftermath of a security incident serious enough to draw scrutiny and criticism is for the organization’s CEO to declare, “I take responsibility.” If this mea culpa is proclaimed boldly enough and with an air of authenticity it might actually be viewed as noble [...]
  • Career Development

    Emergency First Aid For Gunshot Wounds

    If you carry a firearm as part of your job, or are a civilian who carries for personal protection, it is imperative that you know what to do to save yourself or others from dying from a survivable gunshot wound.  That means knowing more than just basic first aid.  The [...]
  • No Picture
    Articles

    COVID-19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS. HELP OR BE HELPED.

    We are not in this on our own, we can help each other respond in our professional capacity to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing Is a way to do that. In fact, when asked why they joined the PSC, a majority of members included comments such as “sharing,” “helping others,” and [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Managing a Cross-Cultural Security Force

    During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, the United States Army conducted research on cultural differences and identified the following cultural dynamics: relationship to time, relationship vs. task orientation, relationship to authority, face saving behavior, and cultural differences in communication patterns as the biggest impediments to building trust and collaboration within [...]
  • Legal & Regulatory

    The U.S. Department of Labor Is About To Commit “White Collar” Crime

    A new labor rule will double the minimum salary for overtime exemption. It will put millions of salaried workers back on the time-clock and create additional administrative burdens on employers.  by Michael Nossaman One of the rewards of working is getting promoted. It signals that your personal effort has been [...]
  • Articles

    The Fine Art Of Facilitation Reduces Risk

    After three-and-a-half years of savage war that killed over 250,000 people and dislocated 6 million more in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the warring parties of what was known as the Bosnian War met in Dayton, Ohio to negotiate a peace.  On December 14, 1995 in Paris, they [...]
  • Executive Services

    A Physical Security Primer For Executive Protection Professionals

    One of the most underrated and unused security assets is the skill set that executive protection professionals bring to the task of designing and implementing physical security plans and programs. That may come as a surprise to some, including protection professionals themselves.  Let’s examine the reasons why that is so. [...]
  • Featured Articles

    Why it’s so hard to do a threat assessment.

    The human brain is exquisitely wired to react to immediate threats.  When an object is thrown at our head, we instinctively duck. Unfortunately, neuroscientists inform that most of us are not wired as well to respond to long-term or imminent threats.  The part of our brain that manages that kind [...]
  • Legal & Regulatory

    Security Company Loses Stadium Contract and License Over Hiring Practices

    Brimming with enthusiasm and anticipation of his team taking on their archrival Green Bay Packers, a Minnesota Vikings fan approached a stadium entry gate. It was the first 2016 home game in the new $1.2 billion U.S. Bank Stadium.  Entering a stadium security checkpoint is not normally a noteworthy event, [...]
  • Career Development

    Get Better At Networking

    In business, the goal of networking is to get something of value. For many, that means a new job or more business.  Unfortunately, for most people, their networking strategy and tactics will never work.  They launch a full frontal assault by loading up with contacts; boosting their LinkedIn connections to [...]
  • Career Development

    Research The Private Security Firms That Are Best For Your Career

    Post 9/11 America is stacked with private security companies that specialize in everything from executive protection to corporate security to overseas contracts.Discovering which private security firm best fits a candidate’s skillset, ambition, and personality is no easy task.Smart candidates, however, ask the hard questions and conduct their own research to [...]
  • Talent Development

    Be Happy In Your Work

    Simple low-cost no-cost ways to keep your security officers happy and boost your bottom line.   “Be happy in your work.”  That is what Colonel Saito, the fictional commander of a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp in the movie “Bridge On The River Kwai,” said to the [...]

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