Experience Certainty with a Physical Security Assessment Survey

Physical security is the most fundamental aspect of protection. It is the use of physical controls to protect the premises, buildings, site facilities, people and other assets belonging to your company. In this day and age, you cannot afford not to have a security evaluation performed on your property to protect yourself against intrusion into your company, frivolous lawsuits interruption of normal business operations or damage to your business reputation.
Many of my clients wish to periodically reexamine the way that they provide security at their facilities. The desire to do this may be triggered by a recent security incident, rapid growth of the organization, or a change in management philosophy.  In many cases, there is a desire to reduce costs or to see how well the organization’s present security program compares with that of its peers.

A formal Security Survey/Assessment is an excellent way to evaluate an existing security program. During a Security Survey/Assessment, all aspects of the security program are examined, any weaknesses are identified, and suggestions for improvements are made. In addition, opportunities where costs can be reduced or where security operations can be made more efficient are identified.  My assessments can be very comprehensive or a simple surveillance survey.  The following discusses my more comprehensive version, however I can scale the survey to your needs.

My Survey/Assessment has been used to successfully conduct 100’s assessments at wide variety of different types of corporate, institutional, and governmental facilities over the past thirty years.  This assessment process is constantly evolving, allowing me to take advantage of lessons learned from previous assessments, and to keep up with the latest security best practices.

The Security Assessment uses a structured, formal analysis process that allows me to develop a deep understanding of your business, operating conditions, corporate culture, and unique security requirements.
While client involvement is always crucial to success, my job as a consultant is to facilitate the assessment every step of the way, keeping the project on track, and making sure that all important elements are examined.


The Security Assessment is custom tailored for each project, but typically includes the following tasks:

• Risk Identification
• Threat Assessment
• Review of Site and Facility Security
• Review degree of compliance with recognized CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) principals
• Review of Facility Operating Procedures
• Review of Regulatory Requirements
• Review of Physical Security Systems
• Review of Security Policies and Procedures
• Review of Security Management
• Review of Security Personnel
• Evaluation of Present Security Program and Identification of Weaknesses
• Development of Recommendations for Security Improvements
• Identification of Short-Term and Long-Term Costs
• Prioritization of Recommendations and Development of Implementation Plan
• Preparation of Written Security Assessment Report


The Security Assessment Process
So, what can you expect when I conduct a Security Assessment at your facility?

The following is a brief outline of the typical assessment process:

1. Prior to coming to your site, we will request a number of documents for my teams use during the assessment. These typically include plans of the site and buildings, copies of any existing security policies and procedures, samples of various types of forms, company telephone directory, employee handbook, and other similar items. I only want what you already have; if there is something on our request list that is not available, it is not a problem. 
2. I will work with you to identify the people within your organization that we would like to interview. The goal is to get a good cross-representation of all of the major operating and support departments within your organization. Typically, this would include members of senior management (CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.), department heads, and people who occupy roles which are directly related to security, such as building receptionist’s, security officers, and shipping/receiving personnel. The typical interview session lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. 
3. When I first arrive on site, I will start by conducting an in-depth interview with the person who presently serves as “security manager” for the facility. This may be an actual security manager, or may be the facilities manager or other person who manages the security function for the organization. This interview session covers a lot of details, and typically takes 2 to 3 hours. After this interview, we ask this person to give us a brief guided tour of the facility. 
4. I then begin conducting individual interview sessions with each of the employees identified in Step #2 above. Depending on the size of the organization, this process could take one, two, or more days.
5. At the conclusion of the interviews, I will conduct detailed inspections of certain areas of the facility and site. I may also spend extended periods of time observing certain areas of your facility, such as the building lobby or shipping/receiving loading docks, etc. 
6. I will return at night with our light meter to take lighting measurements in your parking lots and other areas of the site. I will also take advantage of this opportunity to observe how your facility operates at night, and to get a general feel for the neighborhood during the hours of darkness. 
7. At the conclusion of the visit to your site, I will meet with you to give you an update on our progress and to discuss the next steps in the process. At this point it may be possible to offer some preliminary findings and recommendations, but in most cases, we will need time to process and analyze the data gathered before I can give you any meaningful guidance. 
8. I then return to our offices and begin, with my team,  our formal Security Assessment process. During this process, we identify your critical assets, analyze potential threats, review loss history, study crime forecasts for your site, evaluate existing security measures, and identify potential weaknesses and areas for improvements. At the conclusion of this process, we begin to write the Security Assessment Report. It normally takes between two and three weeks from the time we complete our site visit to the time when we complete our draft report. 
9. While we are preparing the report, we often uncover things that require further investigation and study. In some cases, this may require that we return to the site to conduct additional interviews or to examine certain things more closely. We may also request certain additional documents or other information that is available from within your organization. 
10. When the draft Security Assessment Report is completed, I will send it to you for review. After you have had an opportunity to digest the document, I will meet with you in person or via teleconference to review the report in detail and respond to any of your questions or comments. 
11. After I have obtained your input, we will prepare a final Security Assessment Report that incorporates your comments. If desired, I can make a formal presentation of the Security Assessment Report to your senior management team or others.
12. At the conclusion of the assessment process, I remain available to assist you with implementation of the recommendations contained within the report. This can include identifying vendors and sources of products and services, reviewing proposals, developing security policies and procedures, providing training, and assisting in other ways.

To learn more about my process CLICK HERE or contact me by e-mail at jmcdonald@americanalarm.com or call me directly at 508-453-2731.