Page 6 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2019

"If there is anything a campus security professional is wonderful at, it's evolving
to a changing landscape."
Changing, Adapting and
Being Flexible BL y S y d n y S h e p a r d
ife is unexpected and even the most perfectly laid plans and strategies go awry no matter how hard you try to plan for all scenarios. Changing policies, adapting security solutions and being flexible are the best ways campus security professionals can continue to adhere to best practices and ensure the safety
of those on their campuses.
In this month’s cover story, Scott Coleman, the Vice President and
Co-Founder of Safe Kids, Inc., explains how campus security should be looked at in a holistic manner, but should also be flexible and open to adapting to meet emerging threats. As Coleman says, “Now more than ever, it’s vital to adhere to the best practices in our indus- try, but it’s just as important to adopt new methods that incorporate environmental and social-emotional considerations.”
Coleman’s example of adapting to emerging threats is a simple one that has recently become a problem since the Parkland, Fla. shooting last year. In the incident, the fire alarms were set off, sending students into the main hallways and also into the line of danger. Coleman sug- gests schools should be open to evolving their standard operating pro- cedures when it comes to drills and also train their students to be more vigilant and aware of their surroundings and to not “blindly evacuate.”
April Musser, the Southeast Regional Practice Leader of fire pro- tection engineering for Telgian Engineering and Consulting (TEC), focuses her article, “The Constantly Changing Landscape of Risk in Campus Environments” on how change is ever-present on a univer- sity or college campus. Quite literally, campuses are changing every day. Whether that is the people that are coming or going, the events hosted on campus or actual buildings undergoing construction to have new purposes, Musser points out that these ever-evolving cam- puses pose security risks.
Musser explains that change is, unfortunately, inevitable, but it is easier to handle if you are ready for it and understand how to assess the risks. In her article, she brings you four different examples of change that are common to higher education campuses and discuss- es the best course of action when it comes to keeping security tight. Musser asks the reader to consistently conduct risk assessments and adhere best practices to the evolution of the campus.
Our last article that focuses on flexibility comes from David Dun- lap, the Co-Founder of StoneLock. Dunlap calls out the security of healthcare facilities and how they must adapt to the evolving risks presented day-to-day. Dunlap does a great job of identifying just how many different identities a hospital or medical facility holds, such as waiting rooms, surgery wings, medical research laboratories, cafete- rias and gift shops all under one roof and each requiring a unique security plan.
The security team on campus must be flexible and respond with accuracy to an incident anywhere in the facility. This can be facili- tated through unique access control systems (as Dunlap explains in his article), unique security policies and robust security staffing that is equipped for a variation of incidents.
As you can see, there are many articles in this issue that deal with change, adaption and flexibility on K-12, Higher Ed and healthcare campuses. If there is anything a campus security professional is won- derful at, it’s evolving to a changing landscape.
6
campuslifesecurity.com | March/April 2019
editor's commentary
MARCH/APRIL 2019
EDITORIAL STAFF
Executive Editor E-news Editor
ART STAFF
Art Director
PRODUCTION STAFF
Production Coordinator
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Sydny Shepard Brent Dirks
Dale Chinn Teresa Antonio
Mike Seger, Director of Safety and Student Services at
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp., Mishawaka, IN
Jeff Karpovich, CPP, CHPA, Chief Director of Security & Trasportation at High Point University, High Point, NC
Joseph Souza, Director of Security and Technology at University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Alison Kiss, Executive Director at Clery Center, Strafford, PA
SALES
Sam Baird Amy Bix Brian Rendine
+44 1883 715 697 602-909-3910 972-687-6761
INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS GROUP
President & Group Publisher Editor-in-Chief/
Associate Publisher, Security Group Circulation Director Group Marketing Director Group Website Manager Group Webinar Administrator Group Social Media Editor
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Technology Officer
Executive Vice President Executive Chairman
REACHING THE STAFF
Staff may be reached via email, telephone, fax or mail. A list of editors and contact information also is available online at www.campuslifesecurity.com.
E-mail: To e-mail any member of the staff, please use the following form: FirstinitialLastname@1105media.com
Dallas Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. CT) Telephone (972) 687-6700; Fax (972) 687-6799 14901 Quorum Dr., Suite 425, Dallas, TX 75254
Corporate Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PT) Telephone (818) 814-5200; Fax (818) 734-1522
6300 Canoga Avenue, Suite 1150, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Kevin O’Grady
Ralph C. Jensen Irene Fincher Susan May Scott Newhouse Tammy Renne Sydny Shepard
Rajeev Kapur Janet Brown Erik A. Lindgren
Michael J. Valenti Jeffrey S. Klein