On desks by the end of March is the April 2020 print edition of Professional Security magazine. While the effects of the coronavirus outbreak in the British Isles – both in terms of how the private security industry responds, and how crime online and in the physical world carries on regardless – will be covered in the May print edition, April’s looks at the protection of the rich and famous, or ‘high net worth individuals’.
We hear from a former policeman who has set up to specialise in that field as a consultant, even if a celeb or public figure is protected physically when going out, once in a hotel room or home at night, and looking at a social media feed, that individual may face bile and worse online; the price of having a social media presence. But as the consultant spells out, while online hatred can be upsetting and intimidatory, and while not denying high-profile cases of violence against people in the public eye – such as the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016 – online malice and a physical-world threat are separate things.
While security events notably IFSEC, like events in any other field, have been postponed due to the coronavirus, we were at the Security Industry Authority (SIA) skills summit which ran in London just before the virus outbreak prompted an end for the foreseeable future to such gatherings. Trainers, security practitioners of all ranks, and SIA staffers in force, discussed how to make ‘career pathways’ so that security is a career of choice rather than (as o one of the speakers, Prof Martin Gill of Perpetuity pointed out) a career often of chance. As the event heard, that may also require training ‘centres of excellence’ and training qualifications as proofs of competence.
We intend to report further in the coming months on those important topics, which the SIA and industry volunteers who signed up at the summit will take forward, most likely through a ‘skills board’, ‘skills council’ or similarly named group.
We also report on the UK OSPAs (Outstanding Security Performance Awards), the afternoon ‘thought leadership summit’, and the evening actual awards; and our own first Security TWENTY event of the year, ST20 in Birmingham in February. Note that the April ST20 Glasgow event has been postponed to November, making the next ST20 event ST Manchester, in July.
Plus as ever something for everyone whatever your position or interest in private security, whether guarding, personnel, physical, networked and cyber. In terms of vertical sectors, we report at length on campus security, and return to the Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) control room in Birmingham. Plus the regulars; Roy Cooper’s gossip column for distributors and manufacturers (Roy was an OSPAs winner); four pages of ‘spending the budget’; and four pages of new products and services.
For the online version of the print magazine, click here. If you would like to receive a trial issue of the magazine through the post, email your address to [email protected].
Picture by Mark Rowe; monitor on the DVS stand at ST20 Birmingham at the Hilton Metropole at the NEC.
