Welcome to the third edition of our new, regular e-mail bulletins specifically aimed at the practising end user of security solutions.
As the industry’s premier journal for practising security managers and consultants, Security Management Today (SMT) necessarily aims to be a discursive journal that is issues-driven and framed by in-depth, informative features of genuine relevance and use to the practising professional.
In order to satisfy end users’ requirements for the latest regional and national security and policing stories as they break, and to make sure you know what important topics are being covered in the print journal, our e-mail Newsletters are designed to offer ‘tasters’ of stories that can be found by using the links to SMT’s dedicated web site at: www.smtdirect.co.uk
Let us know what you think…
The Latest News and Views
(1) At the national level, the news that Home Secretary John Reid has been forced into scrapping plans for police force mergers (at least until the autumn) comes as no surprise. However, sources have suggested to SMT that the police service will still have to shed somewhere in the region of 30,000 officers in the next few years to make ends meet (presumably replacing those officers with PCSOs, which now appear to be the Flavour of the Month). We shall see… What’s your opinion on this hugely important matter? Let us know through the SMT web site at www.smtdirect.co.uk Read up on the merger story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5095730.stm
(2) SMT was delighted to be at the BSIA’s Annual Luncheon and Security Officer Awards Ceremony, held recently at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s famous Park Lane. This year’s event was a special one, as it honoured the brave men and women from the contractor ranks who stood tall and fearless in the wake of last July’s horrendous suicide bomb attacks on a defenceless Capital. Let’s not forget that security officers ARE the security industry. They are the ones who act as the public face of our biggest service providers, and they are the ones who put their lives on the line to protect us all.
Read all about their heroic efforts on SMT’s dedicated web site at: http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=0&storyCode=3071460 and, if you feel like telling us about officers who helped your company and its employees during last summer’s tragic events, why not write in???
(3) Nearly three years ago, the Government formed the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) – an organisation launched by the Secretary of State for Health with operational responsibility for the management of security in the NHS. Its remit? ‘Protecting people and property such that the highest standards of clinical care can be made available for patients’. http://www.cfsms.nhs.uk
Now is a good juncture to ask whether the Security Management Service (SMS) is delivering for healthcare security professionals. Speaking with his National Association of Healthcare Security (NAHS) (http://www.nahs.org.uk) hat on, Trust security manager Nick van der Bijl believes that the top down approach has left much to be desired. Read Nick’s thoughts and let us know your views… http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=0&storyCode=3071433
(4) Biometrics have still to capture the imagination of UK installers and end users alike. Is it because of perceived problems over reliability? Is it the price? Or is it due to the fact that installers and consultants simply don’t want to embrace new technology like this and are content to keep on pressing for the inclusion of proximity card solutions simply because they have large stocks available to them via their distributors?
Whatever the answer, our European cousins haven’t been nearly so shy to present their iris or fingerprints for recognition! In September, an excellent conference in Brussels – organised by Access Events International under the banner ‘Global Biometrics Summit 2006’ – will dispel many of the myths surrounding biometrics, and provide real world examples of where biometric-based system installation has really benefited the client. SMT is the Official Media Partner for the event. Find out more in our current print edition [http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?storyType=32§ioncode=386&storyCode=3071403]
(5) Unique Reference Numbers (or URNs) have certainly had a major impact in the intruder alarms sector, but what about their introduction for dedicated fire alarms (which, increasingly, come under the jurisdiction of the security and facilities professional in this day and age)?
Product manager Peter Lackey of ADT [http://www.adt.co.uk/] has written in the August edition of SMT about why the introduction of URNs has provided security managers and the industry at large with something of a wake-up call when it comes to false fire alarm activations.
What do you think? Why not have a read and write to us with your thoughts?
[http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?storyType=32§ioncode=287&storyCode=3071404]
On the Horizon
It may be the middle of summer, but that doesn’t stop the industry wheels from turning. Particularly true in the world of security! From our own perspective, there’s much to tell you about…
The 2006 Security Excellence Awards (organised by SMT and its sister journals Security Installer and Platform) are gathering even more momentum. Since our July Newsletter was e-mailed, G4S Security Services (UK) [http://www.g4s.com/uk-security] have come on board as a sponsor for the second year running and Over-C (who have just launched an excellent software-based solution to help guarding contractors administer their business) have also decided to support the event [http://www.over-c.com/flash.html]. You’ll be able to read a News Special on this year’s finalists in the September edition of SMT.
This year, the Best Guarding Company Category will be made even more robust… The Security Watchdog has agreed to complete a series of Silver Fox Audits on each of the finalists, testing exactly how good their security skills are on site. End users can read about the scheme in SMT’s September edition.
Speaking of guarding companies, those of you who want to continue following Dr John McMullen’s excellent series of articles concentrating on the latest updates to the TUPE Regulations should access SMT’s web site [http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=0&storyCode=3071454], while we also continue our serialisation of The Security Institute’s Client Guide on CCTV in the August print edition [http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?storyType=32§ioncode=302&storyCode=3071410]
And speaking of CCTV… Samsung’s David Hammond has written a detailed overview of Super Noise Reduction technology and how it can improve life for the CCTV manager [http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=0&storyCode=3071446] Well worth a read…
So too is SMT’s report on the European launch of surveillance solutions specialist Panasonic’s Premier Integrator scheme. Avid readers of the industry’s best and most respected end user monthly will know that we have followed this project since its inception. Find out what UK security installers have to say about how becoming involved can benefit end users’ on-site monitoring capabilities [http://www.smtdirect.co.uk/story.asp?storyType=32§ioncode=45&storyCode=3071419]
Brian Sims, Editor, Security Management Today
