Trading Places

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, BY STEPHANIE SILK

Last year, Una Riley of SectorGuard PLC, a United Kingdom provider of security solutions, shook hands with Bonnie Michelman, director of police, security and outside services for Massachusetts General Hospital. The two agreed to start a program in which two American and two British security professionals would trade places for a short period of time to gain insight into the security profession across the pond.

The first program of its kind, called the SectorGuard Anglo-American Exchange (SAAE), has an educational goal to compare the security profession in each country related to training management, methodology, best practice and more. Riley approached Michelman about the idea for the program. “I thought it was a fantastic idea,” Michelman says.

“The model of the SAAE is based upon best practice, education and professionalism,” says Riley, who admits the general perception that security personnel in the U.K. are not as highly skilled as those in the States is a correct one. “It's considered more of a profession in America than in the U.K.,” Riley says. “It hasn't been a top-of-the-tree job, but it's beginning to be, so we hope this will aid both sides.”

The U.S. security professionals, who travel this month, were chosen by a panel of judges. “From the 20 that applied, we looked at length of service, productivity, performance appraisal, involvement, awards and good ambassador qualities,” Michelman says. “We also wanted those chosen to have the ability to write and talk about their experience.”

The U.K. officers can apply soon and will be chosen by a panel of judges later this year to travel in October. Those chosen will watch, or “shadow,” security officers for a week in a different place every day, each with unique qualities.

For the Americans, these locations will include the House of Parliament, where they will shadow the House's officers; the Tower of London, which includes attending the ancient “Ceremony of the Keys”; shadowing in a retail environment at Harrods; and shadowing in the education and hospital sectors at University College London (UCL) and University College Hospital (UCH), respectively.

Riley says the American officers will benefit because they can study the more traditional way of security that she says still exists in the U.K. “They will see that the private security profession has grown out of the ancient ways of doing things. They can contrast our profile with the modern profile.”

During the trip, the officers will hold debriefing meetings with the judges and other relevant associations to share what they have learned. They can also relay information to their peers through a blog on the social networking site Facebook.

When the U.K. officers travel to Boston, their itinerary includes days at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts State Police Headquarters to tour the facilities; shadowing security operations at the Park Plaza Hotel; and meeting with campus police staff at Harvard University.

Riley says that another goal of the program is to heighten the profession within the wider world of security. “This is a chance in a lifetime not only for the officers involved, but for the profession as a whole,” she says. “I want to watch the guarding side become a profession to be proud of.”

Michelman sees this program as an award for security personnel, and expects people to bring back broadened experience and exposure. “Hopefully, they will come back with the knowledge to reinforce certain things they saw in the other country that their country has slipped away from.”

Michelman, who will manage the U.S. side of the concept, is a former president of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) and is a Life Honorary member of the Company of Security Professionals within the City of London. Riley, managing the U.K. side of the SAAE, was the first woman to become Master of the Company of Security Professions and is senior warden of the Guild of Public Relations in London. The SAAE is an original idea by the two women. “It sure sends out a positive message to the industry, doesn't it?” Riley says.

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