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Book Review - Security Supervision and Management, 4th Edition

?This is a big book on security, both physically and structurally. The trio of authors list an additional 55 section authors and contributors. That is a lot of security professionals providing a lot of good advice. This title serves as a textbook and as a standalone resource for security practitioners. One of its primary functions is to serve as the study guide for the credential Certified in Security Supervision and Management (CSSM), offered by the International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO).

The book kicks off with a description of the security role in organizations and ends with discussions of emerging security trends. Because so many authors have contributed to the book, read�ers get a wide perspective on security as a critical part of organizational safety, functionality, and operations. The material on employee supervision not only covers managing uniformed guards, investigators, and other security employees, but would also work for all types of employees. The HR-based language used to discuss employee motivations�their need for support and praise, ongoing coaching, assessment, and evaluation�will be familiar to readers of other business textbooks that cover HR and performance management topics. �

The chapters on operational security functions, like emergency management and responses to security incidents, include discussions on physical security systems, managing large-scale events using incident command protocols, managing investigations, and interviewing subjects and witnesses. One section addresses an important but often overlooked part of security operations: report writing. This essential skill affects liability, future risk management, and lawsuit prevention, and it really does need to be a part of every security textbook, especially as it relates to managing the duties and observational outcomes of contract or proprietary guard forces. What they see, hear, and do is what they need to document, accurately and completely.

A few minor quibbles: the book has an index and detailed end notes at the conclusion of each chapter, but it would benefit from either a master bibliography or a reference list to help readers, researchers, and students find source material in one place. Also, the topics of workplace violence and security technology, always emerging issues, get short shrift.

This weighty textbook well serves the experienced security professional, the security department director or manager, the security specialist, and the security student.

Reviewer: Steve Albrecht, CPP, is a San Diego-based author, trainer, and consultant on threat assessment, threat management, and workplace and school violence prevention.�

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