Smart cards, like other steps along technology’s ever-evolving pathway, biometrics and megapixel cameras to name two others, share ingrained challenges. New stuff is often more expensive than existing stuff. Bring something new in and, often, you have to upgrade other gear that is part of the total system to make it all work together. Then there are design, installation, maintenance and training costs as something new comes through the door.
On March 1 of this year, Kenneth Mazik barreled his SUV through a security fence at the Philadelphia Airport and drove onto the runway. Aircraft controllers were given only seconds to divert an incoming commercial jet before collision with the rogue vehicle. Fortunately, airport police and security were well prepared to deal with the incident; as Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan reported on ABC News: “The ground radar kicked in; the tower was alerted immediately and they made sure to divert flights coming in and then quickly shut the airport down.”
Public-private partnerships in the security industry are nothing new. Private sector companies have paired up with law enforcement and government agencies for centuries as a business strategy to reduce risk and save money. But the number and size of private security companies and departments have grown exponentially over the past 25 years. Private security concerns, including mitigating terrorist threats, monitoring solutions, compliance issues, cyber security and communication, often overlap with public security problems and thus have increased the demand for protection against loss and liability.
Municipal governments present a challenging atmosphere for security. There’s the potential for leadership turnover at each election, and there are “politics,” which may manifest in strained relationships and difficulty accomplishing goals. Procurement rules and bureaucratic red tape can slow down even simple processes in some city governments, and then there are the challenges of zero-balance budgets.
On a Sunday late in May 2011, the campus of Missouri Southern State University, located in Joplin, Mo., was hosting the Joplin High School graduation. Within 30 minutes of the commencement’s conclusion an EF5 tornado took aim at the town. Although the regular students, usually numbering nearly 6,000, had gone home for summer break, the campus was still full of visitors for the graduation.
In an effort to state the state more than $13 million, the Michigan Department of Corrections has decided to eliminate the armed officers who protect the perimeter of 27 state prisons. The concern is that no one will be around to stop weapons, drugs, or other items from being thrown over the barbed wire fences to inmates. Instead, surveillance cameras around the perimeters will replace 120 patrol officers.
It’s a wonder that Mark Domnauer gets any rest. As Corporate Security Director for Adobe Systems Incorporated, Domnauer has risk coming at him in all shapes and sizes, and from any direction. Whether it’s a smartphone or tablet app, a game, video, digital magazine, website or online experience, chances are that it was touched by Adobe technology.
Monitoring makes a difference. Surveillance is not a monitored Video Intrusion Alarm. Security video and DVRs (whether on-site or the newer DVRs in the cloud) provide remote viewing and document what has happened – but their primary use isn’t catching burglars.
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