Now on desks is the February 2021 print edition of Professional Security magazine. We’ve interviewed the new chairman of the City Security Council, Neill Catton, pictured, the MD of the guarding firm CIS Security, who has taken over from David Ward of Ward Security at the industry body for London-based guarding companies.
As we hear, under David Ward the Council has already got things done – arranged exercises and patrols on-street to support the City of London Police and contract guarding customers, helped in the lobbying of Government in March for guards to be defined as ‘key workers’ – and Neill with other group members intends to do more. Could it prove a model for private security and police co-operation in other UK cities, and even internationally?
As ever we aim to bring news and views to the UK private security reader, whatever their background, job or experience; cyber, physical, electronic or manned guarding. While we cover lockdown, and ‘covid marshals’, we try to focus on life beyond coronavirus; and feature ‘red teaming’ – tests of site and organisation security, whether physical or digital – building societies, stalking (we speak again, after too long a time, to retired Met Police man Hamish Brown, who’s a specialist in investigations and advice about that crime) and intelligence.
While the turn of the year is the natural time to take stock, and look ahead to risks and opportunities, gathering and acting on intelligence should be a process that doesn’t stop, we find.
For a change we look beyond the UK, having enjoyed an afternoon’s online event by Phelim Rowe featuring west African corporate security speakers and themes. Also we report on the hotel quarantine affair in the Australian state of Victoria that prompted an inquiry that has gone into how the very security officers that were meant to guard travellers staying in hotels to prevent outbreaks of covid were themselves the cause of outbreaks in the city of Melbourne.
Plus the regulars – Professional Security MD Roy Cooper’s gossip for and about manufacturers and distributors of security products; four pages of ‘spending the budget’; four pages of new products and services. If you’re not a subscriber and you would like to have a look at a print copy, email your address to [email protected]. You can read the edition and past ones online at the ‘magazine‘ part of the website.
