Security Management Expert Witness & Role of Buildings Part 1

Security management expert witness Randy Atlas, Phd, AIA, CPP, contributed to the article The Role of Buildings in Mass Shootings, Strategies to decrease workplace homicides which appeared in Buildings Magazine. The expert is president of Atlas Safety & Security Design Inc. and notes that “It’s a big deal for an architectural magazine to focus on the problems of building security.” The article is written by Jennie Morton, senior editor of BUILDINGS.

An armed intruder approaches your building – what kind of resistance will they encounter?

Effective access control, automated communication, and rehearsed emergency plans are your best defenses against workplace violence. These measures may not prevent an aggressor from entering your building, but they will create necessary delays in a situation where every second counts.

Treat your building as a security tool, not a potential tragedy scene. It’s time to bring facilities management to the table in our national conversation about mass shootings.

A THREAT UNLIKE ANY OTHER Rewind the clock before 9/11 and only a handful of specialty facilities were concerned with counterterrorism measures. This is no longer the case and as the Boston Marathon bombing illustrates, any building can be exposed to violence on this level. The Columbine and Newtown shootings may have put school security in the limelight, but workplace homicides continue to occur in all building types regardless of form, function, or occupancy. “The reality is that this type of violence is foreseeable and building owners need to respond accordingly,” says Randy Atlas, president of Atlas Security & Safety Design.

“Every industry is on notice.”
In 2012, there were 463 workplace homicides, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics – 80% of which involved firearms. There have been a total of 6,850 fatal shootings in the workplace between 1997-2010, an average of 525 deaths a year. It’s no wonder that a Securitas survey of Fortune 1000 companies shows that workplace violence remains the second highest concern after cyber security.

Owners know that the ripple effects of a mass shooting extend far beyond the confines of the physical property. Whether lives are lost or not, public scrutiny quickly points the finger of liability at property management. The financial repercussions can be acute.
“Workplace violence has an annual estimated price tag of $5 billion in direct and indirect costs for building owners, managers, and employees,” notes Thomas Mitchell, managing director of Facilities & Asset Management Consulting Services at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting firm. “These costs include personnel replacement, lost productivity, property damage, administrative resources, and potential litigation.”

No crime or disaster is completely preventable, but buildings still make an effort to create a safe environment and plan ahead for emergency response. You already have a number of risk mitigation tools at your disposal – it’s just a matter of using them.
“The only barrier to hardening a facility is the checkbook,” notes Chris Grollnek, an active shooter prevention expert with Countermeasure Consulting Group. “Your budget dictates how far your security can go.”

Review Security Fundamentals You don’t have to put a moat around your property or turn it into a fortress to increase security. Turn to the basic rules of CPTED – crime prevention through environmental design. This concept limits opportunities for crime through strategic design choices. Focus on visibility, access control, and territorial reinforcement.

“You don’t want to rely too heavily on only one or two of these principles. That’s putting all of your security eggs in one basket,” cautions Grollnek. “Research shows that each element of CPTED design you add exponentially increases security and safety levels.”

The problem is that not all facilities were built with CPTED in mind, and these strategies may be counterproductive to business practices. Atlas points to malls as an example of just how vulnerable buildings can be.

“By design, a mall invites the mass public onto the property. Almost anyone can walk in unchallenged as there are virtually no security checks,” Atlas says. “These large, open spaces often have poor boundary definition and dozens of unrestricted entrances.”

Commercial facilities may also experience similar challenges. Recruit the help of a consultant to scrutinize every aspect of your building’s layered security. If upgrades aren’t on the table, focus on egress integrity. Security breaches can be enabled by something as simple as a broken door.

“The best thing we can do is secure our facility internally and externally to slow down the progress of perpetrators so law enforcement can arrive and prevent the situation from escalating,” Mitchell says.