They We're My Boys, too!

They We're My Boy's, Too!

One afternoon, this past summer I was watching TV with my 11 year old grandson.  He said, “Grandpa, what do you do?”  I responded, “I teach architects, engineers and security people how to incorporate security into building design”.  His next question was more of a statement, “so that’s why you travel all over”.  “Yep”, I said.  “But why do you do that”, he went on.  So, I told him, “when you see all that stuff on the TV about terrorism, well, that stuff’s personal to me”.  He asked why and I told him my story about being at Rhein–Main Air Base when the dead Marines were brought back after the Beirut bombing.  

See full story in My View Blog from October 2015 here http://hssview.blogspot.com/ . 

We went back to watching TV.

A few hours past, then he came to me while I was in my office checking emails, and gave me a really big hug and said, “Thank you for keeping Grandma, Mom, Dad and me safe”.  “You’re welcome Philip. Now you can do something for me. Be the best YOU, you can be, to make sure that what I’ve done was worth it”.  “Okay, Grandpa I will, I promise”, he replied.  He went back to playing and I went back to doing what I’ve been doing since October 1983, thinking that those Marines, my country, my friends and especially my family and doing what I can to protect them. 

I finish each workshop I do telling the students why I'm there.  I tell them about the 283 Marines that were killed by terrorist and the event that changed who I am.  Over the years I've told this story many, many times, and yet, every time I get emotional - even 33 years on.  You see, they were my boys too!

THE NEED FOR A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO ACTIVE SHOOTER INCIDENTS Approach to Active Shooter Incidents

Antiterroism Standards for Public Spaces

Part II

In the RUN-HIDE-FIGHT approach discussed last month we addressed what the victim should do.  Police departments have addressed what they should do but we haven’t address what the “environment” should do.  Legislators have addressed how the environment should react to certain threats, like fire and earthquakes but not for active shooters or other forms of terrorism. 

A few months ago, I was meeting with a very dear friend and she told me that as the Chief Security Officer for a very large multi-national company, the thing that kept her up at night was the fact that since interior designers have been creating office spaces that promote the free flow of ideas and creativity, there were no more walls to hide behind and because of that the company’s employees were basically “sitting ducks” during an active shooter event.  I guess there’s a trade-off between inventiveness and protection.  I don’t think there has to be.  I think we can do both.

I believe we can compartmentalize transit spaces, such as hallways, stairwells, much in the same way as ships have bulkheads that compartmentalize the interiors of the ship in case of fire or flooding.  We could do the same with these transit spaces and make it so that once a “bad guy” is in this space we can seal him or her off so that there is no freedom of movement.  By restricting the freedom of movement haven’t we in essence prevented the threat from causing more victims?  Obviously, some technical expertise is needed and every building or inhabited space would need to be analyzed on its own merit and would probably require a different and specific solution, but the same basic principle would exist throughout.  We would also need to provide additional protection to the interior walls so that the perpetrator couldn’t “mouse-hole” his way out of the space.  In other words, limit the ability to shoot thru the drywall and go into another room.  We would need to figure out what’s the best way to do that in any given situation.  There are ballistic resistant walls already on the market, which we could and should use to isolate the “rat”.

Admittedly, there is probably a higher likelihood of being involved in a fire or natural disaster than there is a terrorist act.  And again, admittedly, a higher likelihood of being involved in an active shooter incident than there is a vehicle bombing event or other form of terrorist act; i.e., kidnapping, arson, etc.   However, just because it’s not a frequent event it doesn’t mean we can’t plan for it so that when it does come the effects are not as catastrophic as they would otherwise have been. 

With the event in Paris last November we saw that hundreds of casualties can result from an active shooter event, especially if there are multiple murderers.  On the other hand, a single vehicle borne improvised explosive device or backpack bomb could cause just as many casualties if not more.  The Department of Defense recognizes that when it comes to terrorist acts, vehicle bombings cause the highest number of casualties, per perpetrator victim ratio; therefore, they’ve developed a set of standards that limit the introduction of bombs into or near inhabited space.  These measures serve to protect all personnel.  Shouldn’t the civilian community be doing the same?  The DOD has recognized that to tear down all buildings and start from scratch would be too cost-prohibitive, so guidelines require new building construction to implement these standards, with a few exceptions, and existing buildings when they meet certain criteria.  Couldn’t civilian building do the same and require that all new construction after a certain date meet a new standard for construction and building design that incorporates features within the design to reduce the effects of terrorist activity.  All existing buildings could be brought into compliance over time when certain parameters are met; i.e., change in usage, increase in floor space or during major renovation projects. 

Local governments for the past few years have been implementing ordinances that require buildings and neighborhoods when “triggered” to meet CPTED principles that were developed in the early ‘90’s.  Shouldn’t the same hold true for anti-terrorism strategies?  That said, I think we could reduce these principles into five general categories for use within the civilian world; maximize stand-off distances, reduce flying debris hazard, prevent progressive collapse, limit airborne contamination and provide mass notification.  I admit there would be additional costs involved in implementing these concepts, but those costs can be greatly reduced if they were incorporated during the design phase, instead of being added at the end of a project, as currently is the normal process for including security features in a project.

I’m not advocating that all buildings should be built to a new higher standard, a standard that reduces the effects of terrorist attack and in particular, active shooter incidents and vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, but I do think that buildings that have high population densities, i.e., nightclubs, public buildings, shopping malls, theaters, etc.,  above a certain threshold should.

Fortunately, there have only been two significant terrorist bombings and unfortunately, numerous shooting attacks on US soil – shouldn’t we have learned something from them? 

Sex Trafficking and the Role of Facilitator

What is human trafficking?

Under U.S. law, human trafficking includes the unlawful practice of selling, soliciting, or advertising the sexual services of minors or of adults who have been coerced into commercial sex.  The term “coerced” can be through physical or psychological means. It is generally agreed that human trafficking generates billions of dollars globally each year in illegal proceeds. In the United States, over eight in ten suspected incidents of human trafficking involve sex trafficking. 

Online ads and constant transport of victims: high profits and low risk of detection.  What drives the proliferation of sex trafficking, often referred to as a form of modern day slavery?  According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the last five years have seen an 846% increase in reports of suspected child sex trafficking, “directly correlated to the increased use of the Internet to sell children for sex.”3 Online advertising has transformed the commercial sex trade and in the process has contributed to the explosion of domestic sex trafficking.  Sex traffickers can pocket profits of between $5,000 and $32,833 per week according to an Urban Institute report.

Sex trafficking business model includes the role of facilitator

Sex trafficking is like any other business and includes a seller, customer, and product. The commercial sex trade, however, involves an additional role, which I will refer to as the “facilitator”. In the context of human trafficking, a facilitator is sometimes defined in other ways. For this article, however, “facilitator” will mean persons and/or places that allow sex trafficking to occur, either knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly.  Facilitators can be hotels, online marketplaces, friends or family, shopping malls, strip clubs, truck stops, airports, or the workplace. Sometimes a facilitator is completely unaware of illicit activity and other times complicit. Common facilitators include: online classifieds and adult services web sites, hotels, and shopping malls where illicit massage businesses operate (sometimes a front for sex trafficking).

Online marketplace for adult services

The market leader in online adult services classifieds is Backpage.com. According to Advanced Interactive Media Group, Backpage.com net more than 80% of all revenue from online commercial sex advertising in the United States. You might be wondering why authorities cannot merely shut down web sites that are suspected of advertising sex trafficking victims. (Age is asked but not verified.) It’s complicated. Recurring arguments revolve around the First Amendment Freedom of Speech and the anonymity of the Internet. To further complicate the matter, many adult services sites are hosted offshore, which is especially problematic for the U.S.  

Facilitators face risks of litigation and brand damage

Cynthia Cordes, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted human trafficking cases, discusses the private sector risks of inadvertently supporting the actions of traffickers. “As a federal prosecutor, I saw traffickers target businesses as unknowing participants in the crimes [of human trafficking]; these businesses often had an array of legal ramifications [as a result of] our prosecutions. This was especially true of businesses within the hospitality, food, agricultural and manufacturing industries.”

California’s Red Light Abatement Act allows a building or place to be fined and shut down if found to facilitate prostitution or human trafficking (Penal Code § 11225 – 11235). In 2012 under the Act, two motels in Oakland, CA were sued by the city and ordered shut down for a year following decades of prostitution and child sex trafficking.9  The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) provides ways to prosecute entities and individuals, whether they played a direct role or not. Although most victims do not pursue civil litigation once they are free of their traffickers, sex trafficking presents an ongoing business risk. Businesses could see more instances of civil litigation in the future.

National Human Trafficking Hotline

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 911.

If you believe you have information about a potential trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center toll-free hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Call Specialists are available 24/7 to take reports of potential human trafficking. All reports are confidential and you may remain anonymous. Interpreters are available. To submit a tip online, go to https://traffickingresourcecenter.org/report-trafficking

National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), www.traffickingresourcecenter.org.

About the author

By Linda Lange, Director, Cyber Safety Talk– specializing in consulting, open source research, & training.  Linda is involved as a human trafficking community advocate on her local D.A.’s Human Trafficking Task Force. She was invited to testify before the Human Exploitation & Trafficking Institute (H.E.A.T.) in February 2016, where she presented “Online Sex Trafficking in Our Communities.” She holds an M.S. in Organization Development and was awarded a scholarship in 2013 to study Cyber Security Law & Policy through Syracuse University College of Law, Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism. She holds certificates in Internet Crime & Identity Theft, Information Systems Security, and Human Trafficking. Contact: linda@cybersafetytalk.com

References: 

1 See 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a); 27 U.S.C. § 7102(10).

2 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Characteristics of Suspected Human Trafficking Incidents, 2008-

2010, at 1 (Apr. 2011), http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cshti0810.pdf.

3 Testimony of Yiota G. Souras, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, National Center for Missing & Exploited

Children, before Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, at 2 (Nov. 19, 2015).

4 Urban Institute, Estimating the Size and Structure of the Underground Commercial Sex Economy in Eight Major US

Cities, at 234 (March 2014), http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/413047-underground-commercialsexeconomy.pdf.

5 Polaris, “Illicit Massage Businesses”, available at http://polarisproject.org/initiatives/illicit-massage-businesses

6 Advanced Interactive Media Group, Prostitution-ad revenue up 9.8 percent from year ago (Mar. 22, 2013),

7 Stephen Koff, “As Rob Portman and Senate prepare to bring contempt-of-Congress charge, Backpage.com says ‘Bring it on’” available at http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/03/as_rob_portman_and_senate_prep.html

8 Cynthia Cordes, “Human Trafficking: Corporate Responsibility for Modern Day Slavery”, available at

http://www.tmtindustryinsider.com/2014/05/cynthia-cordes-authors-human-trafficking-article-for-the-st-louislawyer/

9 Kristin J. Bender, Oakland Tribune, “Judge shutters two prostitution-plagued East Oakland motels”, 5/31/12,

available at http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_20754910/judge-orders-two-east-oakland-motelsclose-pay

That's Like Closing the Barn Door After the Horses Get Away

How many times have we heard that?  Well, it happens all the time.  Just because you live in the country or away from city folks it doesn’t mean you can’t become a target of vandalism or theft or worse.  Here are some very common sense things you can do immediately to keep the horses safe and from loosing your britches, so to speak.

Check all gates and fence for damage.  If properly maintained they will keep animals in but the will not keep bad guys out.  You may have heard of the “broken window theory”.  Basically, it says in areas where there are rundown buildings, with broken windows crime is sure to follow.  Same goes for fences.  Fences that are not maintained suggest that security is not a very high priority and other areas of the farm, ranch and homestead are vulnerable, too.

Ensure ditches are maintained and clear of debris.  You need to do this for several reasons; 1) to make sure the ditches drain properly, 2) so that they don’t provide hiding places for the bad guys, or 3) allow the bad guys to drive through your fence.  A properly maintained ditch provides some protection.

Keep chemicals/fertilizer under strict control, especially, if being used in the field.  Do not leave outdoors overnight.  Bring the wagon back to the barn and secure it.  You’re going back that way anyway, so there’s really no extra effort.

Report unsolicited requests to buy fertilizers or chemicals from you to the authorities.

Control access to all buildings.  There are lots of electronic gadgets out there these days to assist in that area.  But they all basically fall into one of three categories, each being more secure and more expensive than the previous.  Something you have – like an access card, something you know – like a pin number, and something you are – like a retinal scan or fingerprint.  A system that has a combination of two of the three is preferable.  Make sure all buildings are protected.  Beside the animals, there are lots of items to steal.  Copper wiring, metal tubing, and lead seem to be high the thieves priority list these days.

Install visible deterrents, such as, motion activated lights and cameras.  Some systems allow for you to talk from the camera and warn the bad guy that they’re being watched.  Might be useful to "shoo" those high schoolers away who are "cow tipping" or "snipe hunting".

More common sense tips available https://hainessecuritysolutions.com/Technology_Improvements.html or under the Technology Improvement Tab.

8 Tips for Do-It-Yourself

Home and Small Business Security Alarm Systems

There are lots of alarm companies that will tell you, that you need their alarm system in order to monitor activity in and around your house or business.  They will sell you an “all-inclusive package” of X number of cameras and sensors.  The reality is, whatever X represents is in most cases not going to be enough the cover your entire building or home.  They make their money when they sell you additional equipment.  They include X but what you really need is X more to provide complete coverage. 

New alarm systems allow the homeowner/business owner to monitor activity via an IP connection.  So you can monitor your system from anywhere there’s an internet signal.  With that in mind, alarm companies now have the owner monitor the activity and notify them instead of the old way where they would monitor and notify the owner when sometime seemed amiss.  In either case, if the responding patrol car doesn’t get there within 10 minutes chances are very high that the perps will be gone and all you will have is evidence on film that they stole something.  Don’t be fooled by what you see played out by Hollywood and on TV shows – Fact: 98% of crime captured by video surveillance does not result in an apprehension.

Now that you’ve been warned, here’s the other side.  Nowadays, relatively inexpensive systems are available for do-it-yourselfers.  Eventhough surveillance cameras are an assessment tool they can provide some deterrence, if there’ visible and especially if there’s a warning sign in the yard or at the front entrance.  Actually, the sign is the deterrent not the cameras or sensors, but you get the idea.  Additionally, if properly placed, electronic security along with an appropriately equipped and trained response force can be effective.  Here are ten things you can do to make sure your alarm system benefits you and provides the protection you seek.

• Place outside cameras so that they view avenues of approach and can detect people as they come up to the front door or entrance.
• Placement of cameras internal to structures is a little trickier.  They have to be able to capture the entire room and high enough so that the bad guy can’t knock it down or spray paint the lens.  Discreetly placed “nanny cams” can help but it seems they are always pointing in the wrong direction or covered up by something.
• Perform regular maintenance by cleaning the lenses and housings.  Nothing worse than getting burglarized and find out that your camera system captured Charlotte building her web.
• Test the system regularly.  Find out from the monitoring company how often you’re allowed to test the system without a charge.  I would recommend, at least twice a year.  More often if necessary.  Find out the priority for response.  If you live in a high crime neighborhood guess what, they’re not coming – unless the perps still there and in that case you shouldn’t be.  Police departments maintain these types of stats.
• Check the cameras field of view.  Is it viewing what you want viewed?  Sounds pretty stupid doesn’t it, but how often have the camera angles changed because of high winds or by being bumped by a cat or other critter.
• Insure you have the latest software available.  If password enabled, make sure you change the factory installed password once you start using it.
• Get an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) that is capable of running your security system until the power can come back on.  The UPS should be able to maintain the system for at least a day.
• Don’t rely solely on one type of electronic security equipment, if you have cameras augment them with sensors and vice versa.  Chances of both systems failing at the same time is pretty slim.
• Place volumetric sensors so that the beams shoot out across a room and not directly at the door or windows.  These sensors work by detecting variations in the beam, so as a person walks between one beam and another they get detected.  Think of it like your hand with the fingers being the beams radiating across a room.

Don’t forget that just because you have an alarm system it doesn’t make you invincible.  If the rest of your security posture sucks, they’re gonna get you.  It’s just matter of time!

More common sense tips available under the Technology Improvements Tab on our homepage or here: https://hainessecuritysolutions.com/Technology_Improvements.html

FOR ME IT’S PERSONAL

How the 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing Changed
My Life – Forever  

In October 1983, I was the Assistant Flight Sergeant, responsible for law enforcement duties at Rhein Main Air Base, Germany.  A couple of days after the worst attack suffered by the US Marine Corps took place in Beirut, Lebanon, the bodies of the dead Marines were brought to Rhein Main via two C-141 transport aircraft.

 I was standing on the tarmac waiting for the aircraft to taxi over and park.  A third aircraft with the Commandant of the Marine Corps arrived almost simultaneously.  His plane was suppose to go over to the VIP lounge at the control tower, where various dignitaries were waiting.  So I didn’t think too much of it when the plane landed and taxied toward the control tower. 

After the two C141’s parked next to each other, the rear cargo doors opened.  One and then the other.  All I could see were metal caskets.  Both planes were full.  From the deck to the ceiling - FULL! 

As the ground crew was moving the k-loaders into position, I saw out of the corner of my eye, the “follow me truck“ racing across the parking ramp.  It was going fast, too fast - well over the speed limit allowed for the parking ramp.

As I turned and walked toward the vehicle to tell the driver to slow down.  It stopped just short of me and out of the passenger’s door jumped Gen PX Kelly, USMC Commandant.  As he walked toward me,  I saluted him.  He returned my salute and said to me, “Sarge, are those my boys?”.  I answered, “Yes, sir.” And he and I stood there until every one of HIS Marines were taken off the plane.

I wish I could say, that while I stood there I had profound reflective thoughts but I didn’t.  Those didn’t come until a few days later.  When it hit me, I thought of those Marines.  They were MY Marines, too.  No, they were OUR Marines.  Anyone of them could have been a son, a brother, a dad or an uncle to anyone of us.  They were the sons, brothers, fathers and uncles of all Americans.  Not just his and not just mine.  They were OURS! 

They had taken an oath to protect America “from all enemies…”.  I had taken the same oath.  So, from that day forward, I was going to do everything in my power, however small in my little piece of the universe it was, to prevent  this kind of thing from happening again. 

I’ve spent the last 30+ years fulfilling that promise to myself and OUR Marines.

Perimeter Security - What is it Good For?

Absolutely Nothing, If Done Wrong

DEFINITION

Webster describes perimeter as, “the boundary or circumference of a figure having two dimension; the sum of all sides of the boundary.  Webster goes on to describe security as”…freedom from danger or risk.”  So when we put them together our most common definition of perimeter security goes something like this, “an identifiable boundary to provide safety from threats”.

We take that a step further in our definition:  A boundary comprised of several different “layers” of defense, with each layer providing an opportunity to deter, delay and detect unwanted activity.

PURPOSE

Most people think you have to have a fence in order to establish that boundary or perimeter and once you’ve done that, the fence will act as a deterrent and stop the threat.  Both assumptions are wrong.  You don’t need a fence to establish the perimeter.  You just need to identify it in some way to let people know, “Hey, this is my space.  If you want to come in here, then go down there and let me check out who you are”.  Good folks will follow the rules and go down to the entry control or access point.  The bad guy will climb over the fence in about 4 seconds or less, so not much deterrent here.  So in reality the fence doesn’t act as a deterrent, it acts as a method of identifying good and bad intentions. 

Therefore, the perimeter  is merely a line of demarcation that says, if you’re over there we don’t care what you do but if you come over here, we want to know who you are, so go down there where we can check you out.  Now, many of you will disagree with that.  You will say, “No, the fence keeps the bad guys from doing bad things because they have to climb over it and they don’t want to get caught”.  Exactly!  But, the fence doesn’t deter them, it makes it so that if they climb over it we will detect this bad behavior and can possibly catch them.  After all, the good guys will follow the rules and go down to where there is an opening in the fence.

This opening is usually in the form of an access or entry control point (ACP/ECP) of some sort, manned or manned.  The ECP is where we check to see if the person trying to enter is allowed.  There are many ways to do that but we’ll have to discuss that in a future article.  For the time being let’s concentrate on perimeter security excluding its access control mechanics.  There are three distinct purposes for establishing a perimeter.

We already established that, first, it delineates the property line that we care about (deter).  Second, it may slow (delay) the bad guys as they approach with the idea that if we can delay them we may be able to spot their bad behavior.  Which leads us directly into point three – it serves as an early warning systems (detect).  It immediately allows us to determine ill-intent.  Think about it.  If the person climbing the fence wasn’t trying to circumvent the access control point then why climb over the fence.  Why not, go down the ECP, show or use your authorized credentials and enter.  Another way to think away it is, if a person were to break through a wall, you would think this behavior bizarre and want to check them out.

Which brings me to my next point; there are actually four perimeters or layers of defense and each provides an opportunity for us to design against our threats.  Threats come in all shapes and sizes, but we usually are most concerned with vehicle or pedestrian threats.  In pretty short order I can come up with about 40 natural and about 20 or so manmade threats.  For the purpose of this article we’ll concentrate on vehicles and people.

Perimeter Design Considerations

• Visibility – what do people see - both good and bad?  Consider proximity to your neighbors.
• Demographics/Statistics – crime rates, terrorist activity, first responder locations and emergency access
• Landscape and Environmental Conditions - Type of terrain and extreme weather
• Power Requirements - availability, if electronics are used to augment passive barriers
• Accessibility – whether by foot or vehicle, during normal and emergency operations.

Protection Components

• Physical barriers (most common) – fencing or vehicle barriers, landscaping
• Intrusion Detection/Access Control – quickly becoming the norm
• Response Forces – without them the other components are useless.  Forces MUST BE well-trained, well-equipped and regularly drilled and exercised.

Common Mistakes

• If we build a fence high enough, we’ll be okay
• Assume the property boundary to be the external perimeter that requires the most robust system
• Making it look substantial – fortress like will deter everybody and all threats
• Putting barbed or concertina or razor wire on top will deter the bad guy
• Putting CCTV to capture activity without having response force capabilities
• Forgetting about moving vehicle threats (ask the security staff at the Brussels airport about this one.  Had they installed cable-reinforcing to the fencing the diamond thieves would not have been able to cut the fence and drive up to the plane unnoticed.)
• Lighting portions of the perimeter that cannot be patrolled by security forces.

THE FUTURE

• Non-aggressive methods
  • Landscaping and Designing Crime Out strategies
• Arial surveillance
  • Balloons.  This might be the most promising since they can stay airborne for very long periods of time.  One advantage is they can be placed high enough to see three of the layers of defense.
  • Drones.  There are several companies out there that already have off-the-shelf products available.  Once manufacturers are able to overcome the current short battery life cycle and extend them to 10-12 hours or longer and add analytics this will become a great tool.
• Robotics (mobile, semi-fixed or stationary)
  • Mobile – with the advent of self- driven or remotely controlled vehicles I don’t think it will be too long before we see a company promoting a self-driving security patrol vehicle; equipped with sensors, camera systems and audible/visual capabilities
  • Semi-fixed – these systems are attached to or immediately adjacent to a boundary line and can patrol randomly or in a sequential order (not advised).  They can be equipped with sensors, CCTV cameras, spotlights and speakers.
  • Stationary – these systems already exist.  There are many systems out there that have CCTV fields of view of perimeters with video analytics, combined with sensors, DVRs, etc.  Really the sky's the limit based on budget.

CONCLUSION

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the property boundary is your only perimeter and therefore, it’s the only one you protect.  Use every layer of defense to deter, delay, detect or defend a would-be aggressor.  Remember, it won’t happen on its own; you have to design your security system to be integrated because if it’s not – it’s worth absolutely nothing.

For more information about perimeter security see our article in Security Middle East magazine Jul/Aug issue 

http://issuu. com/securitymiddleeastmagazine/docs/sme_july-_aug_2015_web/31?e=3061242/14215610

or send an email to info@hainessecuritysolutions.com.