Renford Brand ISC: Qualified Risk Analyst and Security Planner with over 40 years’ experience
The criminal has the most important role to play in the planning of security as he is the most experienced in breaching security systems. This is why a risk and vulnerability analys is the most important starting point in the entire planning process.
Unfortunately in the planning and design of most security systems, the latest high tech security equipment, high walls, electric fencing, guarding and armed response take priority over identifying the criminal’s strategy. Giving those issues a higher importance than the criminal’s intrusion capabilities, modus operandi and the security systems resistance to defeat by the criminal ultimately leads to breaching of the security system. If you plan security before you consider the criminal’s capabilities and most likely course of attack, you will probably fund a system which does not embrace the real threat and waste your money.
Law abiding citizens are simply not able to envisage the capabilities and tactics employed by criminals. Engineers, architects, security companies and suppliers of security systems cannot be expected to have the expertise in threat/risk analysis methodology and holistic security planning, their expertise in primarily in technology, engineering, installations and standing operational procedures.
“The design and integration of a security system should not be driven by latest technology, technological convenience and laboratory tests but rather by a proper risk analysis and the criminal’s strategy, latest modus operandi, the systems resistance to defeat and the weakest link”.
The questioning of criminals and the use of crime intelligence to determine the criminal’s most likely course of action, his/her knowledge of security systems and what he/she considers to be the greatest deterrent is one of the least expensive yet most effective tools in planning security. All security systems, hardware and procedures should be put to the test and not just assumed to be efficient. Simulated intrusion test carried out by and independent security expert and based on well-researched criminal modus operandi is the most effective means of identifying the weakest link in security systems before the criminal does.
Currently standard conventional security systems and procedures are not effective against the level of crime being experienced today. Criminals are far more organized, experienced and have their own intelligence networks.
“The inside job”: Large sums of money are often spent on security only to find that they easily breached or circumvented by means of the inside job, corruption and subversion. The only effective means of countering the inside job is by counter intelligence measures. This is a highly sensitive operation and needs to be incorporated in the security plan by professionals experienced in this field.
Crime intelligence is not forthcoming from the SAPS and developing a crime intelligence network is essential. No security system will proactively provide the how, when and where the crime will be committed. Only human intelligence HUMINT can achieve this.
Covert system designs can also be effective. The criminal can plan and circumvent the visible and the known, but what you can’t see or don’t know you can’t overcome.
With forty years’ experience in crime prevention and security planning I have found the above methodology, namely crime intelligence, threat analyses and testing of systems resistance to defeat to be the most important aspects in the planning of effective security.