Security Honor Roll Joseph Mansfield puts together a nationwide network for Sprint PCS

Sep 1, 1998 12:00 PM, GEORGE PARTINGTON

In his rare leisure time, Joseph L. Mansfield enjoys a round of golf, even though, he says, he spends more time going sideways than he does straight to the hole. Mansfield's professional life is another story. As the security director for Sprint PCS, Kansas City, Mo., Mansfield has been on target in his aim to build from scratch an exemplary security program. In the three years the telecommunications company has been in existence, Mansfield has overseen the development of security for more than 150 sites with more than 10,000 personnel covering almost every state in the union. The growth of the company has been phenomenal, Mansfield says, adding, "I am still overwhelmed by the accomplishments over such a short period of time." Mansfield attributes the company's rapid rise to the visionary founders in Kansas City, who enlisted his help at the outset. He took the job, he says, because they gave him the opportunity to build an organization and its processes from the ground up and because he knew Sprint would support his endeavors. He says his first challenge was "deciding what we wanted to do and how to develop the path to get to that vision." The second step was identifying and hiring the team to make that happen. Mansfield hired two experienced professionals, Joe Sweeten, with more than 20 years experience, for the physical security side, and Charles LaCroix, who has 17 years in the commercial wireless business, for network security. Acquiring those two individuals was key, says Mansfield. "I couldn't have chosen a better team," he says. After putting together the staff, Mansfield sat down with them to select the security equipment. What they put together is a security director's dream, says Mansfield. Systems are standard across the company and control is centralized using a system from Security Technologies Group. All employees have badges that are operable throughout all facilities and can be programmed and monitored from the Kansas City facility. The system resides on a server that supports the nationwide system but has redundant backup. A centralized monitoring and alarming system keeps Mansfield on top of any problems that crop up. Although the security for Sprint PCS is top of the line, Mansfield did have to work within financial constraints. "We've made some cost-effective decisions," he notes, but adds, "It was not an uphill battle, as it often is, to educate upper management on the requirements and needs of security in their business - that was an easy sell. When presented with a cost-effective method of addressing security, they wholly support it."

Nationwide program Mansfield takes a business-like approach to security, looking to reverse the negative effect on the bottom line that has been a traditional feature of security departments. He and his team developed the site and network security liaison program, which provides a cost-efficient security presence in all facilities. Mansfield's staff identify needs for network and the physical security at Sprint PCS's far-flung facilities; then they develop processes and train individuals to support the needs. "It has given us local presence, local viewpoints and also given us some eyes and ears and hands to complete security tasks on a national level," says Mansfield. The Sprint PCS security staff also includes regional security managers who do physical security audits and implement compliance initiatives at sites throughout the country. The security staff is complemented by Pinkerton officers who work at customer-care facilities and network management centers. Mansfield says he could not have picked a better profession. "If you are bored with the static, with doing the same things over and over again, day in and day out, then this is the business you want to be in," he says. "There are always new challenges, and that is what the security business has provided me with for the past 30 years - and I get paid." The latest challenges spring from rapid technological advancements, says Mansfield. "If you don't grow with the technology and the scale of technological criminal advances, then you become a dinosaur," he says. "I have made it a point in my career to get on top of technological advances and see where they lead from a security perspective."

A proud grandfather Mansfield's 35-year marriage to his wife, Liz, has been every bit as stable and rewarding as his professional career. The couple have four grown children, a son and three daughters, and six grandchildren. His son, Jaime, inherited his father's love of the security profession; he is a senior investigator for Target Department Stores in Detroit. An automobile enthusiast, Mansfield owns two classic cars, a Corvette and a Mercedes that he is restoring. He enjoys all types of racing and even raced in his "younger, more foolish days." For one who loves to travel, Mansfield finds additional rewards from his professional life. He is regularly asked to speak at international engagements on a range of security issues. In March, he spoke in London on Internet fraud. In May he spoke at a telecommunications fraud and security conference in Singapore and he plans to speak at another conference in Geneva this fall. His background includes 20 years with the U.S. Army, where he served as a military policeman and criminal investigator. He finds time to be on the board of directors for the Communication Fraud Control Association (CFCA), a member of the American Society for Industrial Security, and a member of the National Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a national organization dedicated to addressing telecommunications fraud. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and has earned the designation "Certified Communications Security Professional" from the CFCA. He is also a guest instructor for the "Telecommunications Fraud Investigations Training Program" at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, Ga.

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