Physical Security

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Do you think that keys and locks are the oldest man-made security tool? Forget it. Guardhouses go back hundreds, if not thousands of years as a place a person would sit or stand, observe, control access, alert others and take occasional action such as dumping hot oil over the wall. These permanent and temporary structures, built in or brought in, are used in most every country. 

After numerous robberies of convenience stores, some tragically ending in the murder of staff or customers, a number of states enacted legislation to encourage store owners to institute security measures.

Based in Marble Falls, American Bank of Texas, N.A. provides banking and other financial services for the Highland Lakes, Austin, San Antonio, Seguin, Fredericksburg and Temple areas. American Bank of Texas N.A. delivers personalized attention to customers across the bank's 16 branches. With total assets more than $747 million, ABT offers the charm of a small town bank with the resources of a large financial institution. 

The recent controversy of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) increased use of passenger pat downs and full body image scanning has re-ignited the rhetoric around privatization of TSA screeners at U.S. airports. This increased scrutiny comes at a time when many travelers, lawmakers, privacy advocates and the general public  re already voicing  criticism of the TSA’s reliance on screening methods that many characterize as overly aggressive and a violation of privacy.

The shuttle Endeavour launched into space this morning with much fanfare. Behind the scenes, however, securing the shuttle, crew and the entire NASA operation, is not an easy task, yet it's done with much skill and grace under pressure.

Security managers have many responsibilities and concerns. While keeping their buildings safe and secure is certainly one of them, it need not be a complicated matter. 

Today’s vital business information now fills datacenters instead of file cabinets. These facilities are critical to the operations of almost any company or government agency. 

From Nordstrom and Macy’s to Johnny Rockets, Sacramento, Calif.’s Arden Fair Mall is a destination as well as a retail and dining community on its own.

The traditional notion of security systems operating independently of various building systems started becoming obsolete several years ago, as many end users developed the expectation that their security systems should work in conjunction with other building systems such as their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), secondary fire and lighting.

Peeking into certain business sectors – three health care facilities, state government and a private university – there are outstanding examples of facilities and their security leaders using technology to validate security’s value, create business efficiencies and to build quality teams.