Where’s Your Wallet?

Posted on 31, May | Posted by Kevin M. McQuade, CPP

walletIdentity theft is talked about constantly, and when it happens to someone, their response is normally “I don’t know how this happened to me”. Sometimes it is just too easy.

On a recent business trip – to a security conference no less – as we walked into a restaurant for breakfast we passed an empty booth with no one close to it. In the booth was a woman’s purse, open and just waiting to be taken.

Shortly after that, we boarded the bus that transports us to the security conference. When I took my seat, I looked over to the seat beside me. There was a man’s wallet just lying on the seat next to his backpack. The owner of these items – who works for a large security integration company – was sitting in the seat in front of his belongings. It would have been very easy to take either the wallet or the bag without his knowledge.

Maybe because this was a bus full of security professionals going to a security conference, this individual thought he was safe. He was this time, but he may not be the next time.

Let’s not make it any easier for those who insist on stealing your identity. Keep your purse, wallet, credit cards, and other items secured at all times and not left for someone to take.

 

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Campus Alert – Lessons from Lone Star College System

Posted on 24, May | Posted by Tasha D. Dyson

On January 22, 2013, gunshots were heard on the North Harris campus of Lone Star College System. It was later learned that an altercation between to individuals (one of whom may have been a student) had escalated to gun violence. The shooters were injured along with an innocent bystander.

Incidents such as this immediately bring to mind topics such as crime, gun control, workplace violence, weapons on campus, mental health issues, or law enforcement response – topics which are covered extensively in the media and will not be discussed here.

What we noticed was the alert system of Lone Star College System.

During the lockdown on January 22, visitors to the homepage of Lone Star College System saw this:

Lone Star College System Alert

Important information about the current situation was included at the top of the page surrounded by a red outline. More general emergency information was included lower on the page with links to Lone Star’s Office of Emergency Management and the LSCS Emergency Preparedness Guide. Specific information topics included Personal Preparedness Checklist, Tips for People with Special Needs or Disabilities, Weather Emergencies, Terrorism, Building Explosion, Bomb Threats, Shelter in Place, Epidemic, Preventing Crime, Contact Information, and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). A link to the standard “non-lockdown” homepage of Lone Star College System was also included.

Based on the design of the page, it appears that Lone Star College System has created an alert template to be used in an emergency situation. With this arrangement, college representatives can simply add relevant information and activate the page, thereby increasing the speed with which they can provide information to students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Although we did not test it, the design of this page suggests that it would be easily viewed on a mobile device or a tablet.

We do not know what other communication methods were used by Lone Star College System, if any, and used alone, this website replacement may not be a comprehensive notification strategy.

However, when used in conjunction with other means of notification such as phone, text, and email, this alert webpage is a fast and efficient was to communicate information to students, faculty, staff, visitors, and the general public.

On April 9, 2013, the CyFair campus of Lone Star College System was placed on lockdown because of an individual who stabbed fourteen people. During the incident, the main webpage of Lone Star College System was again replaced with an “alert” page. Although the design of the page had changed slightly from January to April, the important information was present and highly visible.

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Jerry Blanchard Attends IAHSS Annual General Meeting

Posted on 6, May | Posted by RMA

Jerry Blanchard attended the IAHSS 45th Annual General Membership Meeting and Seminar Program in Myrtle Beach.

Speakers and topics included:

  • Felix Nater – Creating a Center of Influence in Combating Workplace Violence
  • Susan McLaughlin – Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
  • Jack Poole – Mass Notification Systems and Application for Risk Reduction
  • Brandon Kehl – Security Offsite: Responsibilities & Approaches for Home Health, Hospice, & Clinic Workers
  • Greg Conlan – Two Killed in Hospital Shooting! A Model for Threat Awareness and Management in Healthcare
  • Andrew Corsaro and Steve Carlson – Drug Diversion: A Collaborative Process-driven Approach to Managing Diversion
  • Cynthia Hetherington – OSINT Online: Are You Aware of the New Mediums for Investigations?

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Marty Coolidge Named Investigations Manager

Posted on 29, Apr | Posted by RMA

MFC2.jpgRMA is pleased to announce that Martin F. Coolidge has been named Investigations Manager.

Marty comes from a 26 year law enforcement and security operations and management career with the skills learned from operations, supervising and executive management. Marty has been a security consultant and investigator for Risk Management Associates, Inc since 2009.

Marty’s expertise includes high risk terminations, project management, personal protection assessment and operations, operational security analyses, interviewing and statements, policy and procedure analysis and development, and submission of detailed project and investigative reports. He teaches PPSB-approved training courses to security personnel and private investigators.

Marty is a former Under-Sheriff, County Police Captain and Police Instructor. As Captain, he supervised a County Police Force, a Criminal Investigations Division, a multi-jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Task Force and a Collision Reconstruction Unit. As Under-Sheriff, Marty was second in command of a busy upstate NY Sheriff’s Office and directed the activities of a correctional facility, police division, courthouse and government offices security detail, civil division and E911 emergency communications division.

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RMA Completes Assessment at Frost Bank

Posted on 26, Apr | Posted by RMA

Risk Management Associates, Inc. working in conjunction with Caprock Consulting Group has completed a Limited Building Security Assessment for Frost Bank in San Antonio, Texas.

The project team interviewed executives about their security concerns to gain an understanding of the security culture at Frost Bank and interviewed key staff members in charge of security policies, administration, and day-to-day operations as part of the physical review. The team conducted a daytime walk-through of the facility to assess general physical security, procedures and operations of the main entry levels and executive floors, including a security assessment at critical points of entry and exit. Finally, the team developed a comprehensive security assessment report of the three executive levels and ground level entrances.

Founded in San Antonio in 1868, Frost is the banking, investments and insurance subsidiary of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE: CFR), a financial holding company with $22.5 billion in assets at March 31, 2013. One of 24 banks included in the KBW Bank Index and a top-50 U.S. bank by asset size, Frost provides a full range of business and consumer banking products, investment and brokerage services, insurance products and investment banking services to businesses and individuals in the Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio regions.

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RMA Presents Workplace Violence Training

Posted on 23, Apr | Posted by RMA

RMA prepared and presented workplace violence awareness training for management and employees of Umicore. The training sessions also included a practical exercise and discussion.

RMA created a train-the-trainer program for managers and supervisors with information on how to spot “red flags” and implement general procedures and special protective measures. Managers and supervisors were provided with workplace violence awareness training for all employees emphasizing the purpose and details of the policy and procedures, workplace violence characteristics, and the basic protection plans should an incident occur.

Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life.

The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 12.5 billion (€ 2.4 billion excluding metal) in 2012 and currently employs some 14,400 people.

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Chris Peterson Presents at NCAIS Security Summit

Posted on 19, Apr | Posted by RMA

Christine Peterson attended the Security Summit of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS). As one of the school security experts, Chris helped lead crisis planning workshops in affinity groups as well as answered questions in a closing panel discussion.

The NCAIS Security Summit is a conference for Heads, Trustees, Plant and Facilities Directors, Communications Directors and all members of Crisis Planning Teams. It was held at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC.

Topics included:
Crisis Management Best Practices presented by Kevin Earp, Director of Safety at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Survive and Thrive: Simple Steps to Help You Communicate Well in Any Crisis presented by Jane Hulbert, Crisis Communications Consultant to NAIS, founder of The Jane Group and Myra McGovern, Senior Director of Public Information, NAIS

Affinity Group Session-Crisis Plan Workshop Facilitators
Kevin Earp, Director of Safety at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Ron Faw, Account Executive, Honeywell Security
Jane Hulbert, Crisis Communications Consultant to NAIS, founder of The Jane Group
Myra McGovern, Senior Director of Public Information, NAIS
Bill Chamberlain, NC REP Training Officer for the NC Division of Emergency Management, NDPC SAA/SPOC
Patrick Fiel, National Campus Security Expert
Bud Cesena, Chief of Police for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Police Department
Christine Peterson, President of Risk Management Associates, Inc.
Steven Sloan, President and Senior Consultant at Sloan Consultants, Inc.

The mission of NCAIS is to support and strengthen the independent schools of North Carolina through:

  • Communication among member schools;
  • Promotion of the traditional freedom of independent schools;
  • Support of accreditation and regular evaluation to stimulate continuous school improvement;
  • Advocacy of independent education in the public domain;
  • Cooperation with regional and national organizations (e.g. SACS, SAIS, NAIS);
  • Sponsorship of professional development opportunities for teachers, administrators, trustees and other school personnel;
  • Sponsorship of leadership, educational and cultural opportunities for students and parents.

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Emily Liner Completes Revit Training

Posted on 16, Apr | Posted by RMA

Emily Liner has completed a continuing education course in Commercial Design Using Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 provided by Wake Technical Community College.

The class provided introductory to intermediate training in using Revit. Although similar to AutoCAD, designing requires a completely different way of thinking when using Revit. Training topics began with an overview of the user interface, common menus, and tools. By the end of the class, Emily had developed a three-story office building (complete from top to bottom) with a photo-realistic rendering.

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RMA Presents Continuing Education Training

Posted on 15, Apr | Posted by RMA

RMA presented six hours of training to students in Raleigh, NC. Rusty Gilmore provided training on Computer Forensics. Billy Green presented A Pragmatic Approach to the Terrorist Threat. Tasha Dyson taught a course on Report Writing and Documentation. Mike Epperly provided information on Legal Issues for Private Investigators.

Each of these classes is new or has been updated in 2013. All classes have been approved for credit through PPSB.

Effective January 1, 2012, all PPSB license holders must have completed 12 hours of approved continuing education credit to qualify for license renewal. RMA has developed training programs that are relevant to practice as a private investigator and protection and security professional and is offering these in one-day seminars. Our goal is to provide opportunities for licensees to obtain the required CEU’s and to provide interesting and relevant instruction on protection and investigative topics. The next training sessions will be held on June 10 in Raleigh, NC. Students can register and pay online on the Continuing Education page of our website.

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Kevin McQuade Attends ISC West

Posted on 10, Apr | Posted by RMA

Kevin McQuade attended ISC West in Las Vegas on April 10-12.

ISC West is the security industry’s premier launching pad for new products, solutions and technologies in the U.S. Each year, ISC West hosts over 1,000 international and domestic security product manufacturer companies and over 23,000 security professionals in Las Vegas.

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