The Art and Science of Security: Practical Security Applications for Team Leaders and Managers

© Copyright 2012 Joel Jesus M. Supan.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4269-8204-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-8205-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-8207-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011913321

Trafford rev. 08/15/2012

www.trafford.com

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phone: 250 383 6864 ♦ fax: 812 355 4082

To my wife, Susan and sons Martin Thomas, Stephen Isaac and Jan Nathaniel, who all provided the inspiration for this book and who allowed me the space to grow into what I am now.

To my company, which provided the fertile ground on which the concepts were affirmed, nurtured and put to good use.

PREFACE

Security and safety are at the second level of the hierarchy of human needs according to Abraham Maslow. Both are on top of the physiological needs, which include air, food, shelter, excretion among others. The need for security and safety encompasses the body, health, family, resources and property.

The need and means for Safety and Security may be instinctive but the varying hazards that threaten these resources are so numerous that instinct alone is not sufficient to satisfy those needs. In time, man’s experiences have taught him to develop various means of security for himself and his resources.

The types of hazards that confront man differ depending on the circumstance he is in. Although the hazards may differ, the varying means of security are all based on common principles. They require the same aspects or means for security to be achieved.

After the need for safety and security is satisfied man develops the need for social relationship and to belong. These needs do not stop with simple relationships. One needs also to belong to a more structured organization such as a team. During this stage, he either becomes a member or the leader of a team.

The Team Leader is responsible for the utilization, preservation and protection of the company and its resources. These should be done because resources are necessary for the team to achieve its objectives.

One of the timeless and basic principles of leadership is, A leader must be technically and operationally more proficient than his members.

The foregoing are the premises by which this book was written. It is intended to make leaders understand the real meaning of security and realize why this is one of their primary responsibilities.

This book aims to provide practical guidelines for the application of the principles and aspects of security in the daily performance of their roles in their organization, their families and their personal lives.

Security transcends the general domain of guards, law enforcement agencies and the military, the law enforcer and the military man and the suppliers of security hardware.

This book will also demonstrate the limitations of the generally accepted means of security such as guard systems and pure technology if they were to be used as stand-alone systems.

Moreover, it aims to provide the bridge if not fill the gaps between other fields such as Business and Competitive Intelligence, Risk Management, Insurance and Business Continuity and integrate them to one whole body of discipline. These concepts and practices, often mistakenly believed as not within the domain of security, are actual functions of security.

Teams are created, organized or simply become as such because of an idea and an objective. The team may be as small as the basic two-man team, a large organization with thousands of members, a nation with a million members or the world with billions of members.

A team may refer to an individual or a family with an objective of bringing up productive children and having happiness and contentment in one’s home. It may refer to team that runs a corner store or a small unit, a department or a division of a large organization. It may be the organization itself. Each smaller unit within the organization has the objective of supporting the overall objective of a larger unit. A team can be the members of a community or the citizens of a country.

The one who leads the team to its objective is the Team Leader. To reach the team’s objective, it needs resources that the members must protect from loss or damage.

Security requires the presence of both the feeling of security and the realization of the set objectives.

These requirements are the basis for the expansion of the context of security from the conventional to the common everyday activities by the man on the street and the Team Leader.

A closer look by a learned security practitioner on how both systems as applied, however, would show that they are more reactive than preventive.

As a case in point, guard training gives emphasis on law enforcement, appearance, courtesy, weapons training, unarmed self-defense, fire-fighting, public relations and drills; while technology gives emphasis on deterrence, detection and documentation.

All these provide the consumers of security services a feeling that their facilities or resources are secured. This is because they do not have formal benchmarks upon which they can gauge the effectiveness of their security system, except when they are able to catch an offender after damage has been done. There is no way to measure if the expenses for their security system were well worth it.

The cost of security presents another issue altogether. College courses as well as post-graduate courses in business and management do not offer subjects on security. Yet, any well-meaning entrepreneur knows that security is always one of the biggest items of expense in their budget. Others, on one hand, are just too small to spend so much money as to protect their businesses. What most people don’t realize is that their security lies on a clear understanding of the application of security principles and its aspects. On the other hand, other companies hardly spend for their security and recognize its value only after they have incurred considerable damage.

The mission of a Company Security Department is commonly relegated to providing physical security, guard force management and supervision and investigation.

It is upon this backdrop that a security model has been devised, the Stonewall Security Model. The model is named after the company that created it.

While this book covers all the aspects of security based on the Security Model, emphasis on execution shall be limited to the aspects that are conventionally performed by security team leaders. These are the Personnel, Information, Operation, and Physical Aspects of security. The Environment and Reputation Aspects of security shall be discussed briefly in separate chapters.

The applications of these aspects of security have given way to the idea for the title of this book, The Art and Science of Security. Security as a science involves time tested principles, logic and good reasoning. It requires the use of technology and the laws of physical sciences. On the other hand, Security as an art involves the use of various disciplines and skills that go with the discipline. It requires the use of common sense in creating ideas and concretizing those ideas with propriety, correctness and timeliness to address the ever-changing conditions in the environment.

As previously stated, this book is intended to teach and guide Team Leaders on how to preserve and protect the resources of the team so it can achieve its objectives. The importance for a leader to be more proficient than his members cannot be overemphasized. It’s important that he knows when his members are doing their jobs right and for him to know how to correct them if they don’t. As one great leader said, I just won’t order my people to do things, which I cannot and won’t do.

Security should be the second language of a leader. He should be able to share to his members the concept that security is everybody’s concern and that it is a shared responsibility for them to develop a culture of security.

Lastly, there is one aspect of security that is apparently omitted. But in reality, it is not. This is Spiritual Security. Spiritual Security is the aspect of security that reinforces all other aspects of security. No undertaking or goal can be achieved without this aspect. The other aspects discussed in detail in this book are all based on reason. But Spiritual Security need not be explained as it is based on faith. It has been the guiding force behind the writing of this book. No one can have a better sense of security than by having faith and believing that the ultimate security is having peace in the great beyond after all the material things we protect on earth have come to pass.

Once, one of the directors of our organization asked me, Could you still sleep soundly at night with all the concerns you have on the risks that threaten our organization? Our organization is a transport company that conveys millions of people each year. It is most susceptible to terrorism and regularly receives terrorist threats. Regardless of their being hoaxes or not, no officer slept until my team had done due diligence and agreed that the threatening call was not real. Going back to the question, I answered, Yes, I could. That’s because, I say a little prayer to Him and ask help for our protection before I go to bed each night. To which the director replied, I am glad that someone is taking care of the more important matters in running the business.

CONTENTS

Section I  The Fundamentals and Basic Concepts of Security

Chapter 1   Basic Security Principles and Concepts

Section II  The Aspects of Security

Chapter 2  Personnel Security

Chapter 3   Information Security

Chapter 5  Physical Security

Chapter 6  Environment Security

Chapter 7  Reputation Security

Section III  Guard System

Chapter 8  Basic Guard Functions

Chapter 9  Security Guard Force Management

Section IV  Security Concepts Application

Chapter 10  Developing a Corporate Security Program

Chapter 11  Security Assessment and Security Plan

Chapter 12  Security System Design and Application

Chapter 13  Emergency Planning, Crisis Management

Chapter 14  Security Investigation and Case

Afterword

Acknowledgement

SECTION I

The Fundamentals and Basic Concepts of Security

A Team Leader and any student or practitioner of security must have a clear understanding of its fundamental principles before attempting to practice any of its specialized aspects. It is in the mastery of these fundamentals that will make a student learn the rationale behind all security measures and practices. These fundamentals are the foundation for the security profession to become an institution. It is with this institution that security will be recognized as a profession.

Since this book is pushing for security integration even for those who are not practitioners such as those team leaders of functional units of a company, knowledge of security is a must.

Learning the fundamental concepts and principles stated in this section is essential in the formulation of security programs and policies, which will be described in detail in the latter sections of this book.

CHAPTER 1

Basic Security Principles and Concepts

WHAT IS SECURITY?

Security is a word used in a lot of ways and applied to a lot of things. To a bank, it is the collateral required from borrowers before they can secure a loan. To a country or state, it refers to the economic, social and political stability and the freedom from foreign intervention. To states within a geographical region or states with common interests, it means a sound and stable coexistence or relationship with each other. To a public enterprise, it refers to shares, bond, stocks and documents that give a right to an individual to own properties.

To most people, the meaning of security is the provision for physical protection such as policemen, military men, guards, watch dogs, fences, walls, alarms, lights or cameras. Security also implies safety as it can also mean a state of freedom from harm, damage or loss. It is a means to protect lives, properties, tangible or intangible assets, such as reputations, and material resources needed to pursue one’s goals.

Security is a means from where sense of security is obtained. Security is implied in one way or the other in other organizational undertakings and concepts such as risk management, loss prevention and control, business continuity, corporate good governance and business intelligence.

In its broadest sense, security provides a predictable environment where one can pursue his objectives without fear from the occurrence of mishaps and their effects when they occur.

Under any condition, security can protect a person against any hazard and at the same time provide a sense of security. Feeling of security alone does not guarantee protection. In the same light, the value of real protection could not be appreciated if one does not have peace of mind or a sense of security.

Figure 1.

Security Definition Diagram

Security ensures that the Team achieves its objectives by protecting it and its resources from danger, harm, loss or destruction.

BASIC OBJECTIVES OF AN ORGANIZATION

The pursuit of security must always be aligned with the objectives of a team such as in an organization or a business enterprise, a household, an individual or any undertaking.

All teams, big or small, have common objectives regardless of how these are expressed. Companies encapsulate these in their mission and vision statements. A family describes it as a happy home. An individual simply calls it a dream or an ambition.

It is common for organizations to come up with fancy–worded Corporate Mission and Vision Statements. Often, these statements are so verbose and long-winded that no one in the organization could express it verbatim after even a short while. A saying goes that if you can’t express it you can’t do it. Thus, if one cannot express his objectives, he cannot develop the mind-set that will be the guiding force to achieve his purpose.

The simpler the objectives are stated, the easier for the members to understand, memorize, internalize, express and perform to achieve them.

Take a closer look at some mission and vision statements of organizations, their reason for being is punctuated by a common denominator expressed in two simple words, Make Money.

And for even bigger business organizations, their mission can be said in four words: Make Much More Money. Simply put, one’s Mission and Vision cannot be achieved without Money.

Be that as it may, the organization’s mission and vision are posted on office walls as a ready reference and reminder to team members. The team leader must ensure though that these objectives are retained in their hearts.

A discussion on Personnel Security in Chapter 3 mentions one Security Principle", a leader must keep his team members informed." More than that, he must also ensure that his members know the task they need to perform to achieve their mission. Thus, the simpler the mission is stated the easier it will be understood. It is in the understanding of the objectives that the team can focus on the security actions needed to achieve it.

Most team objectives can be summarized in five simple words: Efficiency, Stability, Profitable, Growth and Sustainability.

These objectives apply not only to business organizations but also to the individual, the family, and even a country or any large entity. They form the hierarchy of organizational objectives. This means that the organization must achieve efficiency first before it can have stability. It also means that once the higher objectives have been achieved, it is essential to maintain the lower objectives.

These objectives are further explained as follows:

1. Efficiency

Efficiency is simply defined as making the most of ones resources. All companies, just like everyone else, endeavor to make the most out of their resources or investments. They have procedures written to ensure nothing is wasted. Efficiency is measured in terms of productivity, where the output should have more value than the input in the short or long term.

The same definition is applied on households and individuals. To the family, the home is their refuge and there are unwritten house rules that are aimed at conserving resources, which they need to be able to rest after a day’s work.

The same could also be said of individuals who have set their goals in life. They endeavor to conserve and stretch their personal resources to achieve their goals.

2. Stability

Stability is a team’s ability to withstand the effects of external conditions. While efficiency involves the control of internal conditions, stability is the resiliency of the organization against threat from outside of the organization. Examples of external interventions are the adverse effects of a bad economy or the disaster due to natural causes.

To a family, this objective is about their capability of staying and living together by supporting each other and bonding together thru love, caring and nurturing, regardless of the trials that come their way such as sickness, disasters or loss of job by the bread winner.

To an individual, the attainment of this objective implies availability of support that can make one withstand pressures and challenges.

3. Profitability

Profitability is achieved when the value of the team’s output is greater than its input. It is the main reason for anyone who goes into business in the first place.

To a household or an individual, the attainment of this objective means having amassed disposable income or resource in excess of its basic needs.

To an individual, this is the savings from his income that will allow him freedom to enjoy excesses.

4. Growth

A team must grow to be able to deliver the needs of an expanding market brought about by the rise in population and in the economy. A team that does not grow will eventually die.

Companies also need to grow to give room for their employees’ professional and economic growth.

This is the reason why once a team becomes profitable it endeavors to expand its business.

As its employees advance in their respective professions, so are the needs of their families. Their family members grow in number. They need to sustain their resources to support their families.

To an individual, this means the acquisition of more personal assets and social mobility and widens his areas for opportunities.

5. Sustainability

Being sustainable is achieved when an organization is able to perpetuate its existence. Most people think that owners of companies want their business to grow because they want to earn more money. But to a certain extent, more often than not, they are obliged to sustain the livelihood of those who work for them and then expand some more to extend opportunity of livelihood for others. This is one way to give back to the society that supported them. Upon reaching this objective business and the society becomes symbiotic.

Being sustainable to a family starts when children become responsible and productive members of society. By growing responsible and productive children, the family contributes significantly to the society that they are a part of.

Figure 2. Hierarchy of Organizational Objectives.

The lower objectives must be achieved before the next higher objective is achieved. The basic and lower Corporate objectives are maintained even after the higher objectives were achieved.

It is upon these five objectives that all security actions