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Building a Partnership for Protection: The Smithsonian and the DC Fire Department

It started with an honest mistake. A contracted cleaner at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals together, causing a reaction that led to a call to the local fire department.

“It was reported as an explosion at the National Zoo, which obviously elicits a pretty large response,” recalls Eric Gentry, director of emergency management at the Smithsonian Institution. Part of that response team was then Battalion Fire Chief John A. Donnelly, Sr., who started chatting with Gentry about the need to do some familiarization tours of the Smithsonian’s facilities so in the event of a serious incident, firefighters would be better prepared to respond.

What a Worker Wants

Record €1.2 Billion Fine Against Meta Marks Five Years of GDPR Enforcement

Book Review: Youth Violence Prevention: The Pathway Back Through Inclusion and Connection

Legal Report: Courts Find Pharmacy Retailer Walgreens Liable for City’s Opioid Crisis

Most U.S. Teachers Say Physical Security Measures Have Positive Impact, But Oppose Carrying Firearms at School

Smart Sensor Reduces Fire Risk for Housing Authority in Historic City

The Security Implications of Drone Threats

While drones can be used for good, there are a variety of nefarious uses of the technology that threaten both physical and national security.

Challenges to Incident Response at Secured Data Centers

Data centers are increasingly adopting lithium-ion batteries to increase their uptime. But the adoption of the technology creates new hazards and challenges for fire departments during incident response.

an illustration of people standing around a fire alarm.

Improving Emergency Response with Better Dispatch Instructions

ESRM teaches us to be prepared for adversity in ways which often include using alarm detection and notification. Clear, concise, communications can play a major role in improving fire incident response.

Trending News

Weaponized Drones are Changing the National and Corporate Security Paradigm

Case in China Highlights the Need for Legal Framework to Deal with Deepfakes

Target Removes Pride Merchandise in Face of Workplace Violence Threats

Mapping the Blaze: How the U.S. Forest Service Uses Drones for Fire Management

The Climate Change–Violence Nexus: Implications for Workplace Violence Prevention and Threat Assessment

Researchers have seen a rise in climate-related grief, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and depression, as well as rising interpersonal aggression and violence and impaired cognitive and brain function—all of which have direct implications for safety, security, and business continuity. In this collection of articles from Security Management, learn about the emerging risks posed to organizations worldwide from climate-related challenges.

More On This Topic
▪ A Catastrophic Correlation: How Climate Change Influenced Terrorism Around Lake Chad
▪ The Missing Link in Business Continuity Planning: Accounting for the Impact of Climate Change
▪ Fast Facts: Climate Protests Grow in Size and Influence
▪ How Climate and Security Are Connected
▪ Infographic: Who is at Risk from Sea Level Rise?
▪ Sword and Shield: Two Ways to Leverage Insurance Against Climate Risks

Best of Security Management

Six Sources of Workplace Cultural Conflicts

Fast Facts: Climate Protests Grow in Size and Influence

Do Organizations Rely on Background Checks Too Much?

A Brief Guide to ESRM Implementation

Facial Recognition in the United States: Privacy Concerns and Legal Developments

How Not to Do an Active Shooter Training

Security Technology: Blazing Trails in Fire Prevention

As fire risks from changing weather patterns and emerging technologies change, security practitioners are crafting new partnerships and enhancing detection measures to better manage fire threats. This issue of Security Technology explores these risks and the technologies being used to address them.

Security Management · June 2023: Batteries that Burn, Culture that Protects, and Continuing Education that Rocks

Watch out for thermal runaways! Lithium-ion batteries present a revolution in rechargeable energy, but they can overheat—and possibly combust—when they overcharge or short out. In this episode of SM Highlights, Adam Barowy from the Fire Safety Research Institute at Underwriters Laboratories discusses this risk and how to modify fire response protocols with battery fire risks in mind, especially in server rooms. Matt Porcelli, CPP, and SM Highlights host Brendan Howard hash out how ASIS International members select the education lineup for GSX and what he’s looking forward to at GSX 2023. Plus, do you have an education-friendly security culture? Guy Bliesner walks us through how competing values undermine school security and safety initiatives.

13 Steps Organizations Can Take to Prepare for a Bomb Threat

Bomb threats come in a variety of forms. But there are universal steps organizations can take to ensure they’re prepared to respond to them.

Historically Black, Historically Targeted

Historically Black colleges and universities were increasingly targeted by bomb threats in 2022. The incidents, however, are just part of a longer pattern of violence and intimidation towards Black institutions in the United States.

An Explosive Situation: Strategies to Prevent Youth Radicalization

A recent wave of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities said to be made by a juvenile highlights how extremist ideologies are being spread in places where young people congregate. It also highlights the need for resources to help community members effectively intervene.

Lisa Zarzycki

Director of corporate security, Daimler Truck North America

“Good crisis leadership happens when you plan for it. It is imperative to have a team in place that understands their role in crisis could be different than their daily line role.”

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Andrea Davis

President and CEO of The Resiliency Initiative

“Use the crisis as the springboard to establish the process and protocol you want to build and document for future responses.”

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Leslie Chenaille

Director of guest safety and operations at the Denver Zoo

“I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life. I witnessed Columbine as it happened, and the Aurora movie theater shooting. We’ve had a lot of big shootings. I felt we needed to test our infrastructure and make some of those connections with our first responders.”

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Jeremy Brecher

Chief information and technology officer, Securitas North America

“As a systematic collaborative approach for transforming a company's services and goals, organizational change management (OCM) tends to emphasize process; however, it is people who most affect change and are affected by that change, meaning any successful effort must center on engagement and authenticity.”

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Jessica Muñoz

Nurse Practitioner

“It comes down to: If we identify an adult who is being exploited, what are we going to do? Who is going to be notified?”

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Michael Bailey, Sr., CPP

Security control official, Collins Aerospace

“When it comes to sharing numerical data during an event, leaders should keep in mind that most people involved in a crisis have trouble processing information when it comes to numbers or basic math while the event is ongoing.”

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The Psychology of Extremism: A Motivational Perspective is a compilation of research on humans’ engagement in extremism.

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