In the spring of 2019 Virginia Beach suffered a sadly familiar outbreak of workplace violence: Craddock, who had worked for nine years at the city, began May 31, a Friday, in routine fashion: He arrived at the municipal center at 7:16 a.m., went to his desk and checked his email. …
People are often surprised to learn that physical barriers for utility offices are being installed more frequently. Who in their right mind is going to try and rob a power company? Do those payment centers even take cash? But there’s something in that office far more important than the payments. As …
There’s increased interest in municipal infrastructure security—especially for higher-security bullet-resistant barrier systems in municipal and local government offices. This is especially the case along the southern border, in Texas, Arizona, and Southern California. Is this a sign of sinister anti-government trends along the border? Are we in the midst of …
Several states recently boosted their courthouse security measures for the first time in years – some in response to serious breaches. Others are making upgrades just to stay ahead of the game. Either way, administrators recognize the critical need to protect citizens, employees, judges, and defendants in what can often …
The past decade has seen a significant shift in bulletproof barriers. This goes beyond just improved aesthetics and engineering. At a fundamental level, the design goals themselves have evolved. “We’ve evolved past just thinking about shootings or robberies,” explains Total Security Solutions CEO Jim Richards. “Because even if no one fires …
As international security expert Luke Bencie highlighted in a recent interview, security—and especially government facility security—always boils down to “the human factor.” Or, really, the human factors. Bencie highlighted the two-sided coin of target vs. attacker. Understanding these perspectives is vital to any proper security assessment. But integrating your assessment’s …
In the United States, niceness—our tendency to hear someone out, follow instructions, and extend the benefit of the doubt—makes it much easier to ensure government building security. “From my experience,” explains Luke Bencie, managing director at Security Management International, “Americans are nice: if you give them a good reason why …
In an average year, guns are not the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers. Most police killed in the line of duty die in traffic accidents, with gun-related deaths coming in second. But in 2016 guns became the leading cause of death for on-duty officers. More alarmingly, this rise …
Townships don’t have the violent crime rates that urban areas do. But township offices see a wide variety of uses, which makes for a tricky security profile. A single township office building might handle everything from utility bill payments to issuing permits, and serve as the local police station, emergency storm shelter, town …