Active Assailant

When security professionals turn their attention to the issue of active assailants, the dialog rightly focuses first on prevention. While the total number of active assailant incidents avoided is unknowable, it is likely a critical security success story.
However, no matter how good their preventative measures, organizations will never be able to bring the chance of an active assailant down to zero. And because the stakes of such incidents are so high—literally life and death—prevention can’t be the only focus of security professionals. Some emphasis must be placed on how to act should such a situation arise, and this is where time becomes so important. Time equals lives.

Focus on Post-Incident Recovery

For Violent Incident Recovery, Listen and Lead with Compassion

How to Debrief and De-Escalate Emotions After Traumatic Events

What You Should Know About Using Therapy Dogs for Incident Recovery

How to Navigate Memorials and Remembrance Days After a Violent Incident

5 Skills of Effective Post-Incident Security Leaders

Add EP Value for Female Principals by Being Considerate

When a woman needs a security presence, a little added consideration can go a long way to ensure the protection is accepted and valued.

Always Armed, Rarely Drawn: Rethinking Firearms in Executive Protection

Today’s protection professionals are far more likely to blend into the background than dominate it. And while many of them are armed, the weapon is seldom used and that is 100 percent by design.

6 Months After Brian Thompson’s Murder, What’s Changed About Executive Protection?

What troubles leaders and security planners alike is how to balance the accessibility of executive teams and the desire to reduce their risk surface.

News and Recent Events

Perceived Political Violence Risks Push Factions Toward Preemptive Retaliation, Researchers Warn

Charlie Kirk Assassination Emphasizes Danger of Roiling Political Anger

Shooter Attacks Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis

Fake Active Assailant Swatting Hoaxes Hit Universities

Violence-as-a-Service Providers Increasingly Recruit Minors to Carry Out Harmful Acts

Gore, Propaganda, and Radicalization Overlap in Extremely Accessible Sites, Researchers Find

Active Assailants: Midtown Manhattan Shooter and Other Incidents

Survey: Workplace Safety Concerns Influencing Turnover in U.S. Healthcare

Armed Security

How to Make a Weapon Selection When Arming Your Security Team

Choosing a firearm should also address the inherent risk that armed personnel face, along with required training making sure the weapon is secure when not needed. About 6 percent of firearms self-defense is conducted by a security professional or off-duty law enforcement officer. This does not include situations where a firearm was presented, and the situation then de-escalated without shots being fired. It also does not include situations where the presence of armed personnel deterred a potential attacker; however, the number is believed to be high.

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