Not every security plan is a good plan, regardless of its effectiveness. Deploying protective measures must accomplish the intended purpose but in doing so should not expose the stakeholder to other, unconsidered risks. Review the image below. We can see that the intent is obvious, to keep unwanted persons from entering the property. However, the lack of warning signage and the ability to severely injure a person that was inadvertently exposed to the glass shards (the security measure) could potentially carry significant liability. While this photo may show as an extreme example of this idea, we can consider this in every aspect of a security program.
For example:
- Designing and installing an access control system improperly could result in the unwanted ingress into a protected space, or restrict egress from a protected space in an emergency.
- Having security signage that expresses a specific duty of care and not providing that level of care.
- Hiring security staff that have an expectation to perform specific tasks but lack the training to perform the tasks, in particularly tasks associated with an emergency.
- Operating a Security Operations Center that was not designed with consideration to operate outside of “normal” operating conditions.
- Installing Video Surveillance without considering the purpose of the camera, or the recording parameters and the impact it can have from an evidentiary perspective.
Sure these examples are not as clearly evident as jagged shards of glass on top of a perimeter wall but they have the same possible negative outcome, increased risk and liability.
The takeaway is that security is more than a bright idea conjured up as a quick fix to put out the next “fire”. Security needs to be a carefully thought and planned process that when carried out puts out the fire without creating others.
