Jim Richards | |
After three decades of creating bullet resistant barriers and physical security systems, the big lesson for me is something you often hear in the safety and security industry: People don’t rise to the occasion; they fall back on their training.
It doesn’t matter if you’re reading this blog the day I post it or months from now. Either way, I’m confident that if you look at the news, you’ll see a recent reminder of how important it is to be prepared for the worst.
If you are in a position where people’s safety and well-being is in your hands, whether you are an employer, facilities manager, or a public official, RAND’s Mass Attack Defense Toolkit is an excellent place to start your planning for attack prevention strategies. Funded by grants from the National Institute of Justice, this research-based framework built on analysis of 600 mass attack events and plots, backed by interviews with dozens of experts. The toolkit covers key strategies and also points you to good additional resources you can use to craft your plans, write your procedures, and build your “defense chain.” This is an extremely good framework for thinking about how you can make choices right now that will protect your workers, employees, visitors, or community members in the nightmare scenario where someone arrives on your doorstep intent on doing massive harm.
I thought three findings from RAND’s toolkit particularly stood out and want to highlight them as well as and describe how we’ve seen them work in real life.
Key Insights From RAND’s Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit
This is a comprehensive toolkit. It truly covers everything in the defense chain—from attack prevention strategies, to mitigation during an attack, all the way through to after-attack follow-up.
At TSS, we always prefer a focus on prevention: no one is harmed when an attack never happens. The same ballistic barrier that stops an attacker who has meticulously planned mass violence will also stop a frustrated individual who loses their temper, or a domestic partner who is ignoring a restraining order.
Insight #1: Prevention Takes a Team
RAND’s researchers determined that no single decision maker or department can effectively prevent attacks on their own. They suggest building teams that are both interdepartmental within your organization, and include members of local law enforcement as well as the broader community—even if that’s only in an advisory or consultative role. This can be as simple as making sure that someone within your organization contacts local police to give them a heads-up about a large public-facing event, or reaches out to neighboring businesses to check in about potential safety or security issues they’ve noticed.
At TSS, we’ve found that our on-site security assessment process often helps ground those teams in the nuts-and-bolts reality of what secure facility solutions mean within teams’ respective contexts. That generally focuses on the physical security risks able to be monitored and mitigated, and how responses are executed. We look at physical security components: interior and exterior perimeters, entrances, exits, restricted or employee-only areas, and so on. As a result, we highlight access control, and how you might need to apply reinforced, bullet-resistant, or blast-rated materials to harden doors, windows, and walls.
Learn more about conducting a physical security risk assessment in this video.
Our on-site assessment process usually relies on a team that includes both a security expert and a product application specialist. The security expert is there to help focus on physical vulnerabilities. The product application specialist focuses on identifying the kinds of components and solutions an organization might use to address those physical vulnerabilities while accomplishing their goals. A consultative design process, that is,one where our team and the end user can go through repeated rounds of refining the design, allows us to fully integrate physical security solutions into your broader prevention strategy.
For instance, even advanced physical security technology like intrusion detection or access control systems won't be effective if someone can force their way into a window on the side of your facility.
Insight #2: Foster a Prevention Mindset, Not a Culture of Fear
Most attacks are preceded by some sort of warning sign.
In its active shooter quick reference guide, the FBI notes shooters tend to display concerning behaviors observed by others in advance, including mental health episodes, hinting at their plans online or in person (known as “leakage”), or making outright threats.
RAND found that more than 80% of the time, if that red flag was reported, an attack was prevented. Those are really encouraging numbers. But that good news hinges on people noticing warning signs and speaking up.
We know from disaster preparedness research that when people are bombarded with constant messages telling them to be afraid, they often become overwhelmed and shut down instead of preparing and remaining vigilant. This is why we always advocate for taking the time and effort to create physical security solutions that are beautiful and functional. That’s the heart of our Safety + Aesthetics™ approach, and it helps make sure people feel secure but not intimidated.
When organizations invest in reassuring visible security upgrades (like attractive and bright ballistic entry vestibules and barriers), it sends a powerful message. This reinforces everyone’s sense that the organization is committed to a culture of safety, which empowers people who have seen something to say something.
Insight #3: Follow Up and Follow Through
All too often we learn in the aftermath of an attack that there were warning signs, and they were reported, but that information never made it to the right people. RAND is emphatic that every organization should follow-up relentlessly on every red flag.
“Pursue all leads, reach out to partners, keep in touch with the person of concern, embrace a critical thinking mindset, and do not completely dismiss anything,” they state in the report.
Physical security systems reinforce these follow-through protocols. From perimeter security and video surveillance systems to physical barriers like bullet-resistance windows and doors, they act as constant reminders that safety is part of everyday operations. That reminder helps people remember to follow up on tips or red flags, and to follow through with protocols—even when it’s a sunny afternoon and the guy at the security window eager to come in is smiling and wearing a suit. Is he eager, or is he nervous? Did he spend a long time looking at the building before coming in? Is it a little odd that he doesn’t seem to know the name of the person he says he’s here to meet?
Security personnel and front-line employees need tools to verify the person's credentials, avoid physical security breaches before they happen, and know how to respond if someone does gain access.
In many ways, the most important function an integrated security system performs is reinforcing your physical security plans.
Again: no one is hurt when the attack never even starts.
Physical Security as a Force Multiplier for Prevention
Physical security controls deter attackers, reinforcing security protocols, and supporting emergency response and evacuation procedures. Most importantly, security doesn’t just protect people on the day something awful happens; it protects their well-being every day:
Being constantly on guard is exhausting. We typically hear from our customers that once they put a physical barrier system in place, they see a significant increase in employee retention. There are so many workplaces—a tax office, a payment office, a law office, municipal or city office, a school administrator’s office—where at some point in the day you are going to have an angry visitor. Employees get tired of dealing with that. The fatigue eventually burns them out and they leave their position to go elsewhere. When they do, they take all of their training and institutional knowledge with them.
When you have good, comprehensive physical security protocols, your employees and customers have the benefit of that security every day. They can enjoy the ease and calm that comes with the knowledge that they can do their job, live their lives, and be safe while doing it.
On a human level, that’s pretty clearly the right thing to do. But it’s also a huge win for safety and security in your building. Remember, like the experts say: “People never rise to the occasion; they fall back on their training.”
If you churn through experienced employees, everyone has less training to fall back on. Greater retention means your procedures are more likely to be followed, and everyone is more likely to get home safe.
Our Approach to Physical Security Management
At TSS, we take a comprehensive approach to understanding your security needs and implementing the right physical security components.
First, we'll work with you to identify and address common physical security threats. Then, we'll design, engineer and install custom barrier systems to prevent unauthorized entry. Our bullet-resistant windows, doors, fiberglass, and other components work together to prevent forced entry and keep people safe in the event of a shooting or other act of violence.
We're also proud to offer free resources, including our recent whitepaper on improving security by addressing human error.
If you have any questions, or are ready to begin moving forward with a project, you can connect with a TSS security expert today. Together, we’ll build a safer, stronger future—starting with the primary layer of defense.
