For over 30 years George Guilfoy has been a mainstay in the security industry in the New England market. His knowledge and expertise cross business and operational lines where he can truly make impactful changes not only for United Security, Inc. but the industry overall. This month George is our guest blogger and shares his insights on developing Public / Private partnerships for security professionals.

Public-Private Partnerships, or “P-3’s” as they are often referred to in our industry, have become an integral part of our ability to drive our missions as security professionals. What I hope to share is how I have observed the ability to strengthen relationships with our public partners that can result in a variety of benefits to our private Commercial Real Estate customers and communities.

I joined ASIS, the security professional trade organization, in 1987, and I'm proud to part of the "Quarter Century of Service" awardees.  Today there are over 30 ASIS Councils listed online. A brief search through each Council shows that most have some link or connection to a Partnership and clearly illustrate just how prevalent P-3’s are for security professionals today. The variety of methods in establishing, operating and growing Partnerships makes this evident. ASIS has a long history of recognizing the significance of P-3’s, going back for several decades. That was intensified after 9-11 and has been on a continuous upsurge to today. Today, ASIS features and promotes these Partnerships through educational programs, Session Spotlights, presentations and numerous awards.

Twenty plus years ago, I began attending Community Meetings with the Boston Police and surrounding cities and towns to develop liaisons with police officials. These meetings continue today and the depth of information sharing, and cooperation is tremendous. One of these original groups was the ‘Cambridge Police & Security Meeting’, which consisted of a local commercial real estate business or security firm sponsoring a lunch and the Deputy Superintendent reading off the crime stats. When the economy stalled in 2008, these meetings dropped off as funding, interest and time management caused those participating to focus internally. Realizing the critical nature of this information sharing and relationships, about 4 years ago a small group of security professionals, Cambridge Police/Fire and City officials formed the ‘Cambridge Public Safety Association’ (CPSA).   CPSA was established as a partnership between the City of Cambridge, MA and the city’s private sector business community. Led by the Police, Fire and private security partners, the organization’s primary goal is to deliver timely and relevant presentations to a wide-ranging target audience that includes facility owners, property managers, real estate and security professionals. CPSA’s secondary mission is to provide networking opportunities and build relationships between the City’s private and public-sector partners. Today, CPSA’s network includes more than 500 members attending bi-annual meetings within the City of Cambridge.

Over the past several years, the board members of CPSA have volunteered to collaborate on some of the most interesting and well-attended security & life safety sessions in the area. Building on a reputation for quality speakers and dynamic “live-action” scenarios, we have attracted over 250 attendees to sessions that last 2-4 hours. Past sessions have included:

• An active shooter scenario run in two phases to highlight prepared vs. unprepared business environments dealing with “Run-Hide-Fight” exposure. This took place in a 10,000-sf sound studio created for the presentation with local Boston actors and police swat teams acting out the action. Cambridge Police, Fire and EMS participated and held Question & Answer throughout and after the scenes.
• A “Lessons Learned” session on how local commercial real estate businesses were critical in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing. Focus was on what businesses can expect and how they can prepare for future emergent situations. The session was led by a panel that included: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas and Watertown Police Chief Ed Deveau and Cambridge Police Chief Gerald Reardon.   These were the officials charged with the direct response, management and resolution of the crisis.
• Response to Natural Disaster and Nuclear Disaster, led by local MIT educators, nuclear technology professors and local weather team personalities – and a session led by the State Police detectives and our Mass. Attorney General on the notable Wakefield Technology massacre for comparison to current terrorism activities.
• Future session planning includes presentations on Pandemics, Mass Notification Systems and Handling the Media presentation.

In closing I can’t stress enough how valuable the Public-Private Partnerships have been to my career, and United Security, Inc. success. Getting involved in your local market can provide a great educational experience, which is invaluable to your future success.