Some time ago, Una Riley writes, Bonnie Michelman was awarded Life Honorary membership of the CoSP (Company of Security Professionals).
However, she was never actually presented with her jewel of office due to the logistics of her residing in the USA. Therefore, it was a pleasure to recently meet up with Bonnie once again to present her with her ‘badge’. Peter French the Master of the Company (CoSP) was on hand to perform this duty in a very relaxed manner. The Master gave a little introductory speech and opened the leather case to display the ‘badge’. Bonnie could not resist reaching out and touching the shining emblem. It was at this point that the Master snapped the lid shut almost identically to the film – Pretty Woman. Bonnie roared with laughter in surprise and shock! For those of you who have not seen the movie, there is a scene where Richard Gere presents Julia Roberts with a ruby and diamond necklace and without warning Roberts pulls exactly the same stunt! It was one of those moments where you just had to be there. Considering Bonnie’s serious role in security, it made it even more fun to observe. Bonnie Michelman is director of police, security and outside services at Boston Hospital. The Massachusetts General is also the teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. The hospital sees 35,000 inpatients a year and accommodates one million out-patient visits. In the years since she took over security, she has helped make a revolution in security’s role at the hospital. Part has been educating hospital employees on the necessity of security.
Dinner
The main reason for Bonnie visiting the UK was to support the Master Peter French at his dinner at the Guild Hall. I happened to mentioned that our City of London Police Commissioner Mike Bowron had just returned from visiting the USA and in particular the FBI …we elaborated on this exchange of top police. It was at this stage that I introduced the idea of an Anglo-American exchange for Private Security Officers … more of that later. As a member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) I wanted to know more of her involvement and support of the organisation. As most of you will be aware the Master of the CoSP Peter French is a great advocate of ASIS in the UK. Bonnie went on to explain: "I was a student member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). When I became a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), and took office as President of the Board of Directors of ASIS in 2001, I felt that I had truly come full circle … of course I am still highly involved with the organisation at every turn.”
Making a difference
I asked how she felt she had made a difference to the profession through her work. "I wanted to create ability for members of the department to feel they are valued and can be successful in their jobs. I do it by giving them appropriate skill-sets and training." Beyond training her staff, she has also retrained hospital staff on what they can expect from the security department. Bonnie went on: "One of my long-term goals is to help employees understand the value of integral security and to use all of the services offered by the security department. Over the years, it has sometimes been difficult convincing some hospital employees to be proactive about their own security … but we’re getting there.” I asked about other areas of security she is involved in. "I have been a part-time instructor at North Eastern University for 12 years. I teach courses in security management and institutional security, as well as lecture at university forums. This is where I take the opportunity to make a special effort to recruit women in to the security profession.”
Women and men
I asked, do you ever get the same old question ‘what is it like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession’? Bonnie laughed and replied: "When someone asks me what it has been like to be female in the still male-dominated security industry, I reply, ‘I hadn’t noticed.’ She said it with a grin. Bonnie is also a security consultant on an informal basis for partner hospitals. She has devoted much of her spare time to association work and is past president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS), but still finds time for charity work and has volunteered for Big Brother/Big Sisters and the American Cancer Society. I went on to ask her what she felt the key was to her approach to security. Bonnie said: "We try to balance good technology, education, awareness and professional security staff to minimise any incidents that may occur. But I guess the most important aspect of the equation is my colleagues and staff that have greatly contributed to the success that we have achieved over the years. I have surrounded myself with consummate professionals, and I love working with people." It is clear to see that on both sides of the pond that while we may not have a lot of women in the profession the ones that have over the years contributed can be measured more by quality than quantity. Separately I caught up with the City of London Commissioner, Mike Bowron. I explained that while he had recently returned from the USA, Bonnie Michelman would be leaving the UK on her way back home … and I wanted to talk to them both from an Anglo-American perspective. I asked about the purpose of the US visit. "I was lucky enough to have been nominated by the Legal Attaché at the American Embassy – Mark Bullock for an exceptional FBI/NEI (Executive National Institute) course – the 30th such course of its type. Only one UK delegate a year is allocated a place, so I very much appreciated the nomination. The course consisted of three separate modules; part of that was an overseas element, this year it was in Oslo and I believe next year it may be Ireland. After Oslo we returned to the States for graduation, we had a week split between the FBI Academy in Quantico and the battlefields of Gettysburg. I visited the home of President Eisenhower which was very interesting, but primarily it was all about the networking. There were lots of city chiefs and sheriffs as well as the deputy chief of Singapore along with a high Nordic contingent, with delegates from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. While in Oslo I gave a two hour presentation and left them with the thought that as far as terrorism is concerned in the UK it more a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’.
Perspective
“Unfortunately by the time I had returned home we had had the Haymarket Tiger Tiger failed attempt and then Glasgow … so it had all been rather relevant and timely. I was there to get an American stance on crime, politics and history, which is very interesting. In the case of the war for instance, seeing their perspective through the eyes of Eisenhower as opposed to Montgomery or Churchill it was quite enlightening.” Mike Bowron went on: "It was good to get the American version of events on terrorism … there was an awful lot of sharing on that particular subject. We also held big debates on organised crime. A lot of the crime-fighting debate was about guns and of course the Scandinavians had some very strong views on that … so the focus of debate was ‘armed versus unarmed’. We also had an excellent presentation by a woman from the FBI department that mirrored in terms of her work what the character Clarissa in the movie Silence of the Lambs did for a living … dealing with psychopaths and sociopaths and what makes them tick … it was really, really interesting.” What else did you do? I asked. "I got to ride across the battlefields of Gettysburg on horseback for two and half hours, which I really enjoyed but the main focus was the fantastic chance to network, which is what the FBI is all about. We were all able to view issues from different perspectives and we were able to discover the forensic capabilities of the FBI and how that is in use in Afghanistan and Iraq and how modern technology is developed through warfare and brought back and used in a police capacity. We also discussed at length the ethics of human rights with the use of the new biometric technology that is now available. There was a lot of goodwill and exchange from all the different leaders in their field. The FBI have brought together city chiefs from all over the world … true global networking.” The Commissioner’s FBI experience and Bonnie Michelman’s visit to the UK inspired me to create the SectorGuard Anglo-American Exchange (SAAE). Bonnie is going to champion the SAAE in the USA and with the Commissioner’s support with his new FBI links in the US we are off to a good start. More next month.
