Court Awards $206,500 in Beating by Security Guards
By Josh Long

A NEW YORK COURT has awarded a black woman $206,500 after she was beaten by security guards outside a Lord & Taylor department store, her lawyer says.

The jury originally awarded Beryl Fleming $350,000, however, her attorney Cory Rosenbaum says the department store asked the court to reduce the amount of damages. The judge's decision to cut the jury's award by $143,500 was announced in late April.

Rosenbaum says his client was beaten severely in a parking lot outside a Lord & Taylor store in affluent, “practically allwhite,” Scarsdale, N.Y. He says Fleming was struck across the chest with handcuffs, punched and kicked while restrained, suffering a torn meniscus, a chipped tooth and other injuries.

Fleming’s sister was caught shoplifting, but Fleming was not aware her sister had stolen anything, according to her attorney. Rosenbaum says Fleming purchased a sweater and jacket and showed her receipt after an alarm activated. Then, a security guard confronted her outside the store, Rosenbaum says, and Fleming even offered to show the receipt before she returned to her car. That is when she was allegedly beaten by security.

The attorney says in a press release, the judge did not permit any racial issues to be presented to a jury. But Rosenbaum says had the judge permitted it, he would have argued Lord & Taylor trained its security staff to watch black customers for shoplifting.

In 2002, relatives of Frederick Finley, a black man who died during an altercation with a security guard, reached a $6 million settlement with Lord & Taylor’s parent company, The May Department Stores Co., The Associated Press reported, citing a source. After Finley’s death, civil rights activists alleged the incident was racially motivated and the Justice Department launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death. A Justice Department spokesperson did not return a phone call seeking comment on the investigation.

“Most companies have very strong policies against it [racial profiling],” says private security consultant John Christman, who was vice president and director of security and loss prevention at Macy’s West for 22 years.

“I’m absolutely convinced it still does happen in rare instances simply [because] people performing the loss-prevention function either disregard the training or their own personal biases come into play.”

A spokeswoman for The May Department Stores Co.says the company has specific policies prohibiting discrimination. “We have very specific policies that prohibit discrimination of any kind against associates or customers,” says May Co. spokeswoman Laura Bryant. “We do not condone racial profiling and our loss-prevention associates receive special diversity training. This has been our policy for many years.”

Rosenbaum claims his client, her sister and three children were immediately placed under surveillance when they walked into the Lord & Taylor store. Absent any other factor, such as whether the patrons were suspected of shady activity in the past, consultant Christman says it would be improper to zero in on certain people just based on their appearances. “You pick out people to survey ... by their actions, not by what they look like,” the consultant says.

Christman says he has been involved in about a dozen cases related to racial profiling. He says roughly half of the incidents were legitimate. Those security guards accused of discrimination aren’t likely to say they were motivated by race, he says, although one can draw reasonable conclusions based on circumstantial evidence. The consultant advises companies doggedly train and supervise their security guards. “The key to minimizing this is training and more training and more training,” he says.

John Snow, who worked in the retail security and loss prevention business for nine years at Tower Records, Lord & Taylor and other Massachusetts establishments, says it is easy to avoid lawsuits. “You treat everyone with respect,” he says. “If you didn’t see them take it, it didn’t happen.”

Snow says ensuring security officers play by the rules starts in the interview process. Potential employees should understand the repercussions of accusing innocent people of theft: A lawsuit is likely. Security officers also must be trained on such matters as employees’ rights and sexual harassment, Snow says, and they should be well spoken, have good report writing skills and no criminal record. And greenhorns should not be allowed to make a stop alone.

Snow says the rules of the game have changed. Security officers used to be instructed to retrieve stolen merchandise even if it meant getting into a scrap. Snow says he has been kicked, bitten and punched, and one woman with HIV cut her finger and flicked her blood at him. Wary of lawsuits, companies are more likely to instruct their officers to let a person go if they are aggressive and running away, he says. The “criminal these days,” Snow says, “has far more rights than the victim” losing the merchandise.

Johnson Control's Richard Jerry

� Richard W. Jerry was named vice president of global fire and security operations for the Controls Group of systems integrator Johnson Controls Inc., charged with leading the global operations team focus on the successful delivery of the security and fire solutions business.

The move marks Jerry’s return to the company, where he was employed for 22 years in various branch and area management positions. Most recently, he worked at Simplex where he was the director of installation services.

� Fargo Electronics Inc. has hired John E. Ekers as product marketing director for software and solutions, overseeing the company’s customer solution marketing efforts and overall electronic card strategy. He also will oversee the Fargo Technology Alliance, a global

Fargo's John Ekers

technology group that unites solution providers with Fargo’s distribution partners to create advanced card identity options in the areas of biometrics, smart cards, systems integration and software. Prior to joining Fargo, Ekers worked as an independent business consultant for two years. He also worked seven years in business development and operations positions with Gemplus, a manufacturer of smart cardbased solutions.

� Ron Freschi, director of large systems sales at security integration company North American Video has earned the designation “Certified in Homeland Security” by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security.

Olympic Security System Hindered by Construction Delays

Delays in construction of facilities for the Olympic Games are to blame for the high-tech security system not being ready as of late April, according to the lead integrator on the project, Science Applications International Corp.

The statement comes in response to a report by Agence France Presse quoting unnamed officials expressing concern that the its late delivery leaves little time for training.

“That’s absolutely correct it’s not in place yet. We obviously cannot get in to complete our system until the venues are completed,” says David Tubbs, senior vice president of SAIC.

Tubbs has worked on three Olympic Games and is a former FBI agent.

He says training involving Greek firefighters, police and Coast Guard agencies on the C41 system has been ongoing since February. “It’s just a matter of having all of the system complete because of the delays that have been encountered,” he explains, referring to the ongoing construction issues, over which Tubbs says the Greek government and SAIC have no control. “We fully intend at this point to provide a complete system in time for the Games,” Tubbs says.

Greece awarded in March 2003 a nearly $300 million contract to a consortium led by SAIC with a 12-month implementation deadline.

SAIC’s C4I system is a central command for a network of security cameras and communications devices linking security agencies and venues in different parts of the Greek capital.

The Athens Games, to be held Aug. 13- 29, is acknowledged to be the largest security undertaking to date. Greece has set up an international security advisory group comprising Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Israel and Australia to exchange intelligence and training. Greece’s $800 million plan involves deploying more than half of the country’s security personnel including police, coastguard, military and special forces. Reuters reports 45,000 armed personnel will be present. Greece will receive NATO assistance for air and sea patrols during the Games.

Amid continued concerns about the strictness of the security, Greek ministers said in late April they are working to strike a balance between maximum security and celebration.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has released a report identifying serious weaknesses in 11 university laboratories that work with agents such as anthrax. The security reviews were conducted during 2002 and 2003.

“Physical security weaknesses left select agents vulnerable to theft or loss, thus elevating the risk of public exposure,” the report reads.

“Inadequate inventory and recordkeeping procedures prevented us from concluding that the universities had complied with the select agent transfer requirements. At least half the universities had inadequate procedures for identifying persons barred from accessing select agents.”

The report calls for a variety of access controls, including locked doors, card key access, logs of people entering labs and locked refrigerators and freezers for storing certain substances. “All of the universities had weaknesses in preventing unauthorized entry into “hot labs” and unauthorized removal of select agents,” the report reads. “Intruders could have accessed buildings housing hot labs by entering through unlocked doors and hallways, “piggybacking” (following closely behind authorized people), bypassing security officers, or forcing access through unalarmed doors. Further, at all 11 universities, once inside the buildings, intruders had unobstructed access to the floors with hot labs.”

The Associated Press reported the names of the universities were not disclosed for security reasons. The Office of Inspector General wrote that the universities generally agreed with federal recommendation and began implementing corrective actions.

Madrid Bombings Prompt Homeland Security Initiatives

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking additional measures to help protect transportation systems following the March 11 bombings in Madrid where 191 people were killed on commuter trains.

In a pilot program, the Transportation Security Administration will test screening luggage and carry-on bags at rail stations and aboard trains.

During a press conference in March, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge says the government would start the pilot program by the end of April or beginning of May, but he would not say where it would take place. The Department of Homeland Security will implement the initial program at one station with commuter rail service in concert with Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration.

“The security environment for trains will never resemble that for aviation, but we think this program will provide the department with an opportunity to test new technologies and screening concepts that could be used to deploy targeted screening in high-threat areas or in response to specific intelligence,” Ridge said.

Ridge also says the Homeland Security Advance Project Agency will invest in the research and development of technology for high explosive countermeasures. The countermeasures, he said, could intercept suicide bombers and car and truck bombs before they reach their intended targets. The initiative is part of broader efforts to develop technology designed to prevent biological, chemical and explosive attacks.

As part of the new initiatives, the Department of Homeland Security will develop a rapid-deployment mass transit K-9 program to assist state, local and transit authorities to help detect explosive threats. The response teams would be specially trained to work underground and in tunnels. The Department of Homeland Security also says it will work with local authorities to train local K-9 units.

Government officials say the new initiatives build upon work it has done to safeguard transportation systems since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. For example, federal agencies have conducted vulnerability assessments of rail and transit networks operating in high-density urban areas. The assessments have provided information concerning where security resources must be directed to reduce vulnerabilities to terrorism.

The officials add state and local mass transit and rail commuter operators also have assessed their exposure to terrorist attacks. Among other things, sample protective measures include adding the number of uniformed and undercover patrols on subway and light rail trains, using intrusion detection equipment and increasing the number of bomb-detecting canine teams and the frequency at which they patrol areas.

—By Josh Long

NEARLY 20,000 SECURITY industry professionals attended the ISC West Expo in Las Vegas March 31-April 2, drawn to a glitzy show floor overflowing with big booths and the latest technologies. This year’s show marked the largest in history, with 19, 439 industry professionals in attendance and 282 new companies exhibiting to increase the square footage 38 percent to 204,000. Attendee numbers were 17 percent higher than last year. Nearly 750 exhibitors, a 6.6 percent increase over last year displayed products ranging from 360-degree CCTV to addressable fire alarm panels to high-tech turnstiles and new badging options.

The expo kicked off with a standing-room-only keynote address by Bernard Kerik, who was the New York City police commissioner at the time of the World Trade Center attacks. Kerik exhorted the crowd to stand behind the president, not allowing media or politics to distort the reality that America remains vulnerable to terrorism. The anti-Iraq war factions within the United States are “dead wrong” about America being out of danger, he said. Kerik called on security professionals to continue securing buildings, landmarks and venues around the country because Islamic extremists will try for another “spectacular event.” He instructed the audience to stress the message of security to corporations and other clients because “they have already forgotten the threat.”

Kerik ended his speech to a standing ovation, and then cut the red ribbon opening the trade show floor.

ISC West hosted more than a large exhibit; organizers and sponsors — which include the Security Industry Association — also held a number of educational conferences and seminars featuring speakers including Panasonic Security Systems Vice President Frank Abram discussing IP technologies; ObjectVideo’s Chairman and CEO Raul J. Fernandez talking about CCTV; Allan Griebenow, AXCESS Inc.’s president and CEO, addressing “active” RFID badging in access control; Hirsch Electronics Corp.’s Vice President Robert Zivney, sharing insight on integrating security and building systems; and more.

AFTER THE 24TH annual National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) Systems Integration Expo wrapped up in March, organizers touted it as the largest such event in the consortium’s history. More than 11,000 systems professionals attended, taking advantage of the biggest event floor to date — up 26 percent over 2003 — with 600 exhibits.

Tom DeWitt, Pelco; Bill Bozeman, PSA; and Ryne Thompson, CSC

This year’s show in Las Vegas also marked the first time NSCA partnered with the electronic security cooperative PSA Security Network, which has held its own conferences and exhibits during the past 15 years in Denver. The PSA sponsored 15,000-square-feet of space that featured more than 80 of the security industry’s big names, including Bosch, GE, Honeywell, Wheelock and Pelco. The group opened its conferences to non-members, making learning sessions available to anyone who wanted to take advantage of them, and offered security tours of the Bellaggio, the Flamingo and the MGM Grand.

The PSA Security Team

NSCA executives say that 2,800 systems professionals went to the PSA-hosted conference for integrated commercial systems. The number was up over 25 percent from last year. The PSA Security Network conducted more than 400 combined hours of education in the areas of audio, business and security/life safety.

PSA also presented annual vendor appreciation awards. As for the past several years, Pelco and CSC won Superstar Awards. Altronix, GE Security Sentrol, Amag Technology, CBC America Corp., Winsted, Dedicated Micros and Securitron received Star Awards.

Tamron, GE IFS, Rutherford Controls and HID Corp. won Rising Star Awards.