Corporate Security Learns To Be Streetwise

Oct 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By RANDY SOUTHERLAND

It can be one of corporate America's worst nightmares. A security guard engages in a tussle with a customer or visitor to their building. Heated words turn into violence, and soon the event becomes the stuff of evening news broadcasts and attorneys' briefs. An injury turns into a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, and a company's reputation is forever tarnished.

That dire possibility helps explain why Anthony Celano has become a popular figure whenever management thinks about liability. His Streetwise Communications training program provides security guards with the tools to recognize problems and the communications skills to keep the problems from escalating.

After 22 years on the New York City Police Department — much of it undercover work — and stints as an internal investigator for a large security guard company, Celano knows where most problems begin that end in confrontation.

“It's sort of a damage control situation,” says Celano. “I was able to see that solving a lot of the problems (in security) hinged upon an ability to communicate.”

Communication is one of his strong points, and Celano found there is a demand for that kind of skill. The realization led to the creation of his trademark training program — Streetwise Communications.

Combining lectures and a series of role-playing exercises, security officers are given the opportunity to learn new skills and quickly put them into practice.

“Many security officers are very limited,” he explains. “Number one is that the officers on the front lines are young. They're under-paid and they don't have the experience in dealing with these situations. Wisdom comes with gray hair. That's on-the-street experience.”

Streetwise aims to give guards a taste of what it's like to deal with a problem in a low-risk environment without the danger of hurting someone, and where they can be critiqued.

“People don't make mistakes intentionally,” Celano says. “It's just a question of taking time and showing people there's another way of doing things and how bad certain actions can look.”

Each course is customized to a particular organization, and it is always taught on-site to make situations as realistic as possible. Celano and his team look at the security environment and the challenges the security force faces. They interview the client to understand their perspective of the problems that need to be solved.

Training is then offered in 2-, 4- and 8-hour blocks that can focus on communication skills, security awareness training and/or supervisory instruction.

Celano's lecture lays out the principles coupled with a call for pride, professionalism, courtesy and respect. Then he hands off the course to a professional psychologist who can convey the finer points of body language, vocal tone and inflection and even cultural differences in communication.

Then, a series of role-playing exercises is put into effect based on problems experienced by the organization. These can range from two customers in a restaurant getting into a fight to how to handle a street merchant who has set up shop in front of a building.

“We cover how to dance around situations and defuse situations by presenting tactical ideas,” Celano says. “You don't put yourself between two guys who may be slugging it out. There are tactical things you can do to avoid an altercation.”

Students act out scenarios as they would in real life. Then class participants are asked to evaluate how the particular problem was handled. Then those comments and observations are summarized in an analysis of the training.

The end-result is guards who are more sensitive to the nuances of communication and better equipped to deal with confusing and potentially dangerous situations.

Since he first offered the program in 2001, Streetwise Communications has caught the attention of some of the nation's biggest corporations and organizations. Celano's national client list includes major corporations such as Morgan Stanley, UBS PaineWebber and Durst along with Rutgers University and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

None of these organizations have to imagine the potential for liability presented during confrontations with members of the public. They need look no further than numerous media reports surrounding the $3.8 million judgment against Kmart after an overzealous security guard tackled a customer.

With an extensive background in law enforcement, Celano has perhaps the ideal resume to teach the finer points of security-related communications. While he incorporates proven psychological techniques into his program, they are always saturated with a wealth of practical experience.

Take, for example, the time he and a partner were conducting surveillance of famed Mafioso John Gotti. The mobster saw them and rushed up and started pounding on their unmarked vehicle.

His partner reached for his gun, but Celano got out of the car and began to talk to the angry man. He told him that they had been sent by higher-ups and were just doing their job. Gotti relented and even apologized — thanks to some soothing words.

That ability to talk his way out of confrontations was honed in some of New York City's most diverse and challenging police precincts.

“Every few miles you have a different ethnic group that predominates the precinct,” he explains. “I had the ability to understand most ethnic groups.” People from different economic backgrounds also tend to behave differently.

“Once you know what you're up against, it's just a question of applying the right technique and understanding why that person behaves the way they do,” Celano says.

Celano left the NYPD in 1995 to launch a guard training program in a rented church in Brooklyn. Later on, his career took him into a position of heading internal investigations for a security company that became part of Pinkerton. After tiring of corporate restrictions, he quit to form Manhattan-based Full Security Inc., in 2000, with another former cop named Joseph Nicolosi. He also co-authored a book “Basic Security Investigation.”

In addition to offering valuable training, the company also provides a range of services including corporate investigations, background checks, due diligence research, and executive protection.

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