Blog Archives
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How Observant Are You?
The other day I gave a talk to a large group of business professionals. The topic I spoke on was the interpretation of visual linguistics and body language and its relationship to truth detection. As part of my presentation we discussed the powers of observation, the role it plays in our everyday lives and showed three YouTube video clips. The clips are narrated by Simon Baker, who plays the character of Patrick Jane on the hit television series, "The Mentalist". Click on the links below to view the videos and rate your own powers of observation: The Mentalist - Football Awareness Test The Mentalist - Guards Awareness Test The Mentalist - Cards Awareness Test How well did you do? On the first test I asked the... -
IAPSC Holds Texas Conference
The International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC) is holding a Security Conference in Texas on September 15, 2010. Learn These Key How-To Secrets...in just one day! - Stop Crime with Design! - Get Your Security Projects Funded - Conduct Security Risk Assessments that Really Work! - Travel Internationally, and make it back home in one piece! - Network Video Surveillance — Stop feeling so 20th Century ! Detailed Agenda 12:00pm: Lunch and Networking (optional - $35) 01:30pm: Funding Security Projects 02:00pm: Security Risk Assessments 02:45pm: Networking 03:00pm: International Travel 03:45pm: Network Video... -
Counterfeit merchandise flying off the shelves in Philadelphia
The other day on the South side of Philadelphia, Federal authorities raided four businesses who were selling counterfeit merchandise. ( South Street Businesses Faking It ) Rolex watches, Gucci bags and more - all high end merchandise, you name it they had it except it was all counterfeit. In all, investigators removed over $500,000 in fake products, the businesses were closed down and the owners arrested. To make matters worse, this is not the first time some of these same "retailers" had been raided. Back in February (2010) the Federal authorities raided some of these same businesses, taking all of their merchandise. There are two reasons there is such a high demand for counterfeits products, 1) People looking for deals see that Gucci... -
Starting a Conflict of Interest Program
Last week I wrote about Conflicts of Interest in the Workplace where I talked about the need for employers to establish a workplace conflict of interest program. I though I'd take some time to outline how to get an effective conflict of interest program started. It's important to have a program in place that allows employees to report and seek guidance and resolution to potential conflicts they may have. When creating a conflict resolution program it is important to remember every company needs a strong policy and procedure addressing what is expected of employees. These policies need to be updated and issued on a regular basis and contain a signature page where the employee acknowledges having read and comprehends the policy... -
Conflicts of Interest and the Workplace
Every business should have a plan for employees to disclose potential conflicts of interest and a way to resolve them. As an example, if your business is selling paint products do you want an employee who sells paint as a side business? Probably not. A definition of a conflict of interest is any activity, financial investment, interest, association, or relationship, (including relationships with family members, relatives, friends, and social acquaintances), that conflicts with an employee’s independent exercise of judgment concerning their employment. Although it is not possible to identify all possible situations, reasonable business judgment should be sufficient to evaluate most situations. Managing a potential conflict of... -
IAPSC to conduct Successful Security Consulting seminar
October 10 & 11, 2010 – Successful Security Consulting Dallas, TX – ASIS Annual Seminar Pre-conference Have you ever thought about starting your own business? A two-day seminar on how to start your own practice and SUCCEED! From start-up, to marketing, to client retrieval and referral, the program provides experienced-based knowledge on how to become a successful security consultant, taught by experts who have started their own business, gained the right experience and learned from their own mistakes. This seminar is a Pre-Conference Seminar at the ASIS Annual Meeting. Click here for more details. On a personal note - I attended this conference in 2006 before I joined the International Association of... -
Alleged shoplifter dies when CVS employee applies choke hold
I recently returned from the International Association of Professional Security Consultants annual conference in Savannah, GA and a well deserved vacation at Universal, Orlando only to see a Chicago Sun Times news article that has really struck home with the article I recently wrote for Security Technology Magazine titled, " How Litigation Shapes Retailers' Security and Loss Prevention Strategies ." According to the article, "shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, an employee chased Kyser from the store and put him in a choke hold for what appeared to be several minutes as three other men held Kyser down in an alley in the 2600 block of South Pulaski, witnesses have told the Sun-Times." The "employee" was from the CVS drugstore chain and... -
Deciding Ethical Dilemmas - The Three Principles
Three Principles for Deciding Ethical Dilemmas Solutions to ethical issues are not always addressed by a written company policy, and you must think through the process of solving ethical dilemmas. I follow three main guiding principles for deciding ethical dilemmas. Applying these principles aids me in deciding not only ethical dilemmas in my business life, but also the dilemmas I face in my everyday personal life. These guiding principles are: 1. Is it legal? Will this action be against either civil or criminal laws? By taking this action, will you jeopardize yourself or your company in the eyes of the law? 2. Will I feel good about my decision? This is where your personal... -
Investigating in Facebook and other Parlor Tricks
Cynthia Hetherington, MLS, MSM has written an article that appears in the recent issue of Loss Prevention magazine. No matter there are thousands of social networks spanning corporate worlds, embedded in geographic regions, or focused in cultural norms to attract specific masses, Facebook.com is the go-to leader in social networking. read the article to discover the tricks used by investigators to find information about Facebook users. Facebook and other Parlor Tricks - This is a very interesting article. Curtis Baillie - Security Consulting Strategies, LLC -
How litigation shapes retailers' security and loss prevention strategies
I recently wrote a feature article for Security Technology Executive magazine titled, How litigation shapes retailers' security and loss prevention strategies . The article focuses on how civil litigation may affect retailer's security / loss prevention decisions and includes some dont's to help retailers avoid litigation. Curtis Baillie - Security Consulting Strategies, LLC
