Security Director’s Report is a monthly management tool designed to help security directors keep pace with the rapidly evolving world of corporate security. Each issue alerts you to critical news, important new security products, and up-to-date advice that you need to know to effectively manage your security department. SDR’s comprehensive, easy-to-follow articles provide practical advice for meeting your top security challenges, including crime prevention, workplace violence, executive protection, disaster preparedness, and workplace investigations. We also provide exclusive industry benchmarks, best practices in security department management, and the latest data on security director salaries. Each issue also includes a listing of upcoming events for security directors and new briefs alerting you to the latest legal, legislative, and technology news impacting the security industry.
Failures in response to hurricane Katrina showed organizations they can’t rely on community emergency response to protect their people, property, or interests. And while Katrina’s ferocity may have magnified emergency response shortcomings, a recent survey reveals that failure should not be unexpected.
It’s human nature to overlook one’s own deficiencies, which is one reason why vulnerability assessments often miss what bad guys spot. If all your effort is spent making things secure, it’s tough to identify where they aren’t.
As you read this you may be feeling pretty secure in your job, but beware—it might all change tomorrow. Corporate mergers are leaving behind “a string of security directors’ bodies,” job placement specialist Jerry Brennan told SDR.
John Deere’s 800-hotline received an anonymous tip in July that someone was unloading mounds of company memorabilia on ebay. By August, a former employee at one of the company’s training centers was arrested, and Deere hats, gloves, and toy tractors were recovered. A quaint example to be sure, but just one of the many ways in which anonymous tip lines can help a security department keep a lid on loss.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) contains notes on emergency evacuation in its supporting guidance documents but doesn’t specifically address the issue in the body of the law, making it one area in which the ADA’s power has been mitigated. But a lawsuit settled in May between Marshalls department store and Katie Savage, a Washington, D.C. resident who uses a wheelchair, has dramatically sharpened the ADA’s teeth, increasing pressure on businesses to plan for the emergency evacuation of individuals with disabilities, say legal experts.
Shrink averages 1.54% of annual sales, according to the newly released 2004 National Retail Security Survey by the University of Florida’s Security Research Project (www.crim.ufl.edu/research/srp/srp.htm). How can you reduce shrink? One sure way is to target more money for loss prevention. Retailers with shrinkage rates below the average spend .59% of annual sales on loss prevention; while retailers with above average shrink spend just .50% of sales…
Wharton/ASIS Program for Security Executives: Making the Business Case for Security, Philadelphia, Nov. 6-11 and Feb. 5-10. Contact: Wharton School, 215-898-1776, ext. 4401; Web:
http://exceed.Wharton.upenn.edu/4401
Managing Risks To/From Today’s Mobile Workforce, audioconference, Nov. 9. Contact: IOMA, 212-244-0360; Web: www.ioma.com/audioconferences
The Business of Security—10th Annual Securing New Ground Conference, New York City, Nov. 16-17. Contact: Securing New Ground, LLC, 440-286-4900; Web: www.securing newground.com …
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