March 23, 2008
The Advantage of SECURITY MANAGEMENT SUPPORT PROGRAMS
Organizations such as hospitals, office complexes, shopping centers, hotels and industrial complexes are all having to face a plethora of new challenges in order to adequately protect their employees, their clients and their assets. Those facilities such as hospitals and hotels are finding themselves on the receiving end of lawsuits when claims of inadequate security are made by patients and/or guests who have been victimized by crime while on private property. The national news media on any given day is likely to report shooting in a hospital emergency room, within a shopping mall or at an educational institution. In today’s world we cannot ignore both the threat and reality of terrorism, both domestic and international, or those that may use the ruse of terrorism to gain national attention. Across the country news outlets report abductions and sexual assaults occurring in the parking facilities of malls and hospitals.
What we do not read about in the National media is the impact resulting from the loss of assets and property within the private enterprise sector. These types of losses have a negative effect on the viability of the bottom-line for most businesses. Most of those losses result from employee dishonesty. Hospital employees who are diverting drugs to satisfy their own addiction, store clerks who are cheating both the customer and their employers by diverting revenues to their own pockets or hotel employees engaged in identity theft are all negatively impacting the industries they are employed by, in numerous deleterious ways.
Because of the examples mentioned here, and as a result of the actions of some employees, the remedies afforded by a sound security program are more important than ever. Security is a multifaceted and multidimensional discipline and therefore remedies must be need driven. Although the primary goals of most security programs are anticipatory prevention and deterrence, the means for achieving these objectives are varied and situationally determined. Security is in fact a situational discipline meaning, “one size does not fit all.”
The application of effective remedies aimed at reducing risk and mitigating losses requires experience and expertise. Security managers must understand how to integrate security programs through employee education and the proper mix of security technology and security personnel. Unfortunately many security managers do not understand this mix and may therefore depend on security vendors for guidance. Security vendors, whether they are selling the application of security technology or uniformed guards, have a natural tendency to promote their products and/or services as an end all, be all; ignoring the real needs of the customer.
Most Fortune 500 Companies, most major hotels chains and most major medical centers have highly qualified security professionals managing their security programs. Qualified security professional are usually Board Certified Protection Professionals (CPP), certified in security management. Security professionals with the CPP designation generally demand and receive six figure salaries. However, not every organization needs a fulltime Certified Protection Professional running their hospital or shopping center security program. This is especially true with small to moderately sized operations. Yet, most hospitals, shopping centers and biotech companies need the expertise of a qualified security professional to assess and analyze emerging security and loss prevention needs. The identification of these needs requires the development of customized security and loss prevention training. Procedures must be developed that require employee accountability. Remedies such as closed circuit television need to be considered and properly applied, lest they become a waste of money. This means that most organizations require a qualified security professional to become a liaison between the organization and security vendors. Security professionals are needed to monitor the security program on a regular basis in order to ensure that it remains contemporary and effective.
Security Management Services International, Inc. (SMSI Inc.)www.smsiinc.com , a California based corporation is ready to fill the gap between those organizations with a well qualified fulltime security professional and those organizations who either do not have a fulltime need, or cannot cost-justify, a full time security professional. SMSI is able to offer their clients a thorough security assessment and needs analysis. They are able to provide ongoing support to less experienced security supervisors and a cost much lower than hiring a fulltime professional with the attendant benefit package. SMSI develops Security Awareness Programs (SAP) that encourages all employees to participate in the goals of an effective security program. SMSI will help their clients develop RFPs for perspective security technological enhancements thereby ensuring cost-effective solutions. SMSI is able to provide these services for a low fixed monthly fee. This fee, when annualized is usually significantly lower that the six figure income and benefit package of a full time qualified security professional.
Credentialed security professionals bring efficiency to security programs. They understand the framework of generally accepted security standards and benchmarks. They speak the laguage of security and know the required criteria that effective security personnel must measure up to. Security professionals are continually tuned to industry best practices. By bringing professioanlism to your security program, the quality of the program will improve, and frequently the cost will go down.
All SMSI Inc. personnel are Board Certified Protection Professionals with expertise in many industries such as lodging security, healthcare security, mall security as well as biotech and industrial security, to name just a few. Many of these professionals have testified on numerous occasions as court certified security experts for litigations where plaintiffs have asserted the premises failed to provide adequate and reasonable security. This means that the SMSI professionals understand how to avoid most of these security driven lawsuits. SMSI Inc. may be contacted through their website (www.smsiinc.com) or by calling 805-499-3800.
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