Standards through regulatory law

Jan 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Gail Simonton

NASCO celebrated its 25th anniversary last month. Originally called the ommittee of National Security Companies (CONSCO), it was founded when six companies met in December 1972 to address security issues that had arisen in various state legislatures.

The six companies were:

* Advance Industrial Security, * Burns International Security Services, * Guardsmark, * Pinkerton, * Wackenhut, and * Wells Fargo Guard Services.

CONSCO's agenda was quickly expanded to include federal issues as well. The name was changed to National Association of Security Companies (NASCO) in 1992 to recognize the evolution of the organization.

Today, NASCO's membership includes major national and regional companies in the private security officer services industry, with employment of roughly 250,000 security officers. The group's focus continues to be state and federal legislation, but its mission has broadened to include other areas.

NASCO has become a frequently quoted source about the private security officer services industry and has contributed to news stories and documentaries, helping to raise awareness of the importance of its personnel in maintaining the safety of the American public.

Over the past 25 years, NASCO's positions on specific security personnel issues and level of active involvement in the legislative processes have also developed. Participation in legislative and administrative rule formulation reflects an interest in standards through regulatory law - a necessity in an industry comprised of more than 10,000 companies. Because price often determines security contract decisions, NASCO's members agree that maintaining the quality of selection and training of security officers is critical for industry integrity. In the absence of standards shaped by competitive market forces within such a fragmented industry, we are committed to minimum criteria for security officers through legislation.

NASCO's recommendations for company qualifications and for individual security officers' screening and training minimum standards are set out in the "Model Regulatory Code," originally adopted in 1984 and amended in 1992. Those recommendations are provided to state legislators interested in adopting or amending requirements for security companies and personnel.

As an essential complement to background investigations of candidates for private security officer licensure, NASCO advocates checks through state and federal criminal record databases. NASCO has actively supported passage of federal legislation that will authorize more efficient processing of security officer applicants' fingerprints through the FBI's criminal history records. Such authorization already exists for the banking and pari-mutuel racing industries, and NASCO believes that such a system for security officers is vital. In the current Congress, the House of Representatives has already passed H.R. 103, The Private Security Officer Quality Assurance Act, by a unanimous voice vote, and the companion bill, S. 173, is awaiting Senate action.

NASCO recommends that each security officer should receive, as a minimum, eight hours of basic instruction, supplemented with additional site-specific training appropriate for the assigned position and ongoing refresher training. All such training should be administered and supervised by qualified trainers whose ability to train effectively has been established.

NASCO's members look forward to sharing with Access Control & Security Systems Integration's readers our suggestions and insights for enhancing security, in hopes they will improve security at the sites for which readers are responsible.

Focusing on integrating security equipment and technology with the human element - private security officers - to maximize security system effectiveness, the column draws on the expertise of members of the National Association of Security Companies (NASCO). The column will feature different writers addressing aspects of the roles security officers play in today's systems. The author of this month's column, Gail Simonton, is executive director and general counsel for NASCO.

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