Security Thought Leadership: in conversation with Martin Gill

This webinar is sponsored by International Foundation for Protection Officers https://www.ifpo.org/ Previous webinars have highlighted the distinct contribution of frontline security operatives. This is important because many people’s impressions of security generally is based on perceptions of the effectiveness of the frontline security role. In this webinar we will examine the changing nature of...

Why do people join the security sector more by chance than choice? What keeps them involved? What are the best and worst things about a security career? In this special webinar Perpetuity Research will be launching the findings of their Security Research Initiative report. Lead researchers Professor Martin Gill and Charlotte Howell will share insights from the research. It will include findings on...

The topic of the recruitment of security personnel is important for at least two reasons. The first is that it has long been seen as a specialist task requiring distinct skill sets. Then came the internet but the best in the area not only survived but thrived. What then of Covid-19? The second is that recruitment professionals are the first to see changes in the type of skills on demand and types...

In any discipline the search for a common language is important. In security this topic has many foci. One that has rarely been examined is the language associated with job roles. This webinar will examine the barriers to a common language; the confusion that arises between security roles with a more traditional focus and those that are cyber security related oriented; and security roles of any ty...

In previous webinars we have discussed how the pandemic has increased the visibility of security, in some organisations at least, but that even here there is no certainty that it will have long terms benefits, especially if economic hardship ensues. What is important to understand is precisely how and in what ways security personnel has kept business working. A central theme to this is the extent...

The perception of the competence of frontline officers reflects on how the security sector is perceived.  The language used is important. We have seen on previous webinars that the word ‘guard’ is sometimes used as a pejorative word, outdated and no longer reflecting what people do. The word ‘officer’ though generates confusion as, in some cultures at least, it portrays the work as being of a high...

Public sector retirees from law enforcement, intelligence services and the military (for example) have been joining the security sector for as long as it has existed.  However, their impact is debated.  Some consider their involvement as an essential positive while others believe they lack the requisite commercial skill sets for modern day security management.  What is clear is that security is de...

Successful global organisations aim to achieve consistency and standardisation of products and services. Their security programmes need to strive for similar consistency and standardisation to support business units across a variety of environments with a variety of local contexts, cultures and expectations; quality of local labour, means of communicating and enforcing policies to diverse location...

In the security sector there has been a tendency to view a crisis as an opportunity for professionals to show their true value; this is borne out by prior webinars. But the key group in any crisis, at least as far as organisations are concerned is business continuity professionals. We have heard in previous webinars both of a very good rapport in some circumstances to empire building (by either pa...

Guest chair: Mark Schreiber , CPP, CPD – President and Principal Consultant, Safeguards Consulting Inc. (USA) This pandemic has heightened interest in access controls. They were always important of course, but they are especially so now. But how have they performed? The aim of this webinar is to invite representatives from access control software companies to discuss their experiences of the range...

In discussions about what security looks like in this new world, the focus has been dominantly on the experiences of a relatively small number of countries. One region that has largely escaped attention has been Eastern Europe; this webinar helps to fill the void. We will examine what has been happening to security, how it has been adapting and what it sees as the new challenges and opportunities....

The world has heard about the different approaches to the virus taken across Scandinavia. What is less well publicised, at least outside the region, is what the experience of those working in security has been. What is even more interesting to international observers is what the key lessons have been and will be for those working in security in Scandinavia. In this webinar we will help to fill the...

The Benelux has been one of the most progressive regions in the world for inspiring new thinking in security management; how has it fared during the crisis? There appear to be differences in the approaches taken by the BeNeLux countries so how do these compare now and what can we learn about how security has responded? This new world places an emphasis on being virtual, how geared up have countrie...

As previous webinars have shown it is a moot point as to whether the good will built up by much of the security sector will be sustained though an economic crisis or when things turn into the new normal. What is clear though is that the sector has been going through a period of change and there are lessons to be learnt. To what extent and in what ways does this apply to the role of the regulator?...

We are all aware that the move to working from home has been sudden and taken place on a scale few could have imagined. We also know that it has provided challenges for businesses and employees who have had to adapt to new ways of working, with specific implications for online security. But where are we now, some six months or so into the crisis? What have we learnt, what challenges still remain a...

Security professionals have long been persuaded that the design of the environment is crucial to making it less attractive to criminals. The concept itself has received much academic and policy support. The question is; is it still relevant? Is it just an over complicated way of saying that physical security is effective? Or are there better theories and approaches which incorporate much more than...

Criminal investigation has always attracted a somewhat mystical appeal, especially in the private and commercial worlds. On the one hand investigators are seen as being free from the constraints of the law (not least because much of the work is not visible) and on the other a vital resource undertaking key work on some of the most pressing issues facing organisations. In this webinar we will: - Ex...

Guest Chair: Dr. Glen Kitteringham – Security Consultant, Educator and Research Criminologist (Canada) To some, using the term private military company is simply a new term for an old occupation: mercenary. However, some believe they are part of the private security industry? Part of the issue is that there is no agreed upon terminology and many conflate the two. What is the difference between the...

Guest chair: Rinske Geerlings – 2019 OSPA Finalist, Founder and Principal Consultant at Business as Usual One of the features of modern supply chains is organisations working together as supply chain partners. As a consequence they become dependent on each other. Disruptions then can have far reaching implications, not least for business continuity. When this happens organisations hurriedly seek n...

Guest Chair: Rajiv Mathur – Regional Advisor, Asia, The OSPAs (India) Pandemics generally, and Covid-19 is no exception, throw everyone involved in any aspect of healthcare provision onto the frontline. In previous webinars we have heard how this causes difficulties for groups like security who have an important role in protecting healthcare assets when the focus is understandably on patient care....

There has been a growth of different mechanisms around the world for the initial notification and management of security incidents, but there has been relatively little discussion about the pros and cons of the best ways of doing so effectively. Arguably this is the crucial stage of security response, ineffectiveness here can be severely detrimental as to how well security (technology and personne...

This session is sponsored by Bidvest Noonan https://www.bidvestnoonan.com/ Before Covid-19 the dominant social and political problem facing the world was widely acknowledged to be climate change; the planet is heating up and humans are responding, slowly. The issue impacts on all areas of policy, but what about crime prevention and security? This has largely operated under the radar. Yet the impli...

In most countries the State does not proactively support private security. In many countries it does not even require the State buys regulated services, and even when it does it faces allegations it will often prioritise price over quality. While it is possible to point to specific areas where there are good practices there is no concerted effort made to harness the benefits of security. There are...

These are challenging times that are being felt across the globe and Africa is suffering, including Kenya. Cyber crime is rife and for many there does not appear to be an adequate response. In some areas there is a fear of stigma, of quarantine, of social disorder in part because of increased unemployment, and as businesses and communities face new ways of working and new challenges so concerns ab...

Previous webinars have raised the acute security concerns in protecting high rise buildings, whether that be dwellings or business buildings. In the former people have been in isolation and offences in the home have become more difficult to police even though because of working from home people may be victims or offenders while working. In office blocks we have heard  about the difficulties of get...