Travel Safety

Situational Awareness – Trusting Your Instincts

08 November in Crisis Response, Personal Safety, Travel Safety by admin

Lessons from an FBI Special Agent As a security professional and retired federal law enforcement officer with a total of 34 years in both fields combined, I have spent almost half my lifetime in public service and the private sector. Both fields have included serving and protecting; responding to incidents of crime against persons and property; conducting investigations; arresting and interrogating subjects and interviewing witnesses; collecting evidence and information that is key to sorting out facts from fiction. Although the role of the law enforcement officer and...

Parking Lots and Personal Security – 15 Key Tips to Keep You Safe

27 September in Personal Safety, Travel Safety by admin

A Normal Day Gone Bad and Never to Be Forgotten The day was September 30, 1991 and I was working as an FBI Special Agent in Houston, Texas, when I heard the news through local law enforcement sources that an eyewitness reported a woman, returning to her parked car just outside a local mall, was forced into her van and abducted by two unidentified males. The abduction occurred sometime around 7:30pm that evening. The torched van was later recovered by law enforcement and inside was the...

Run, Hide and Fortify®: A Recommended Approach for Businesses

27 September in Business Continuity Planning, Corporate Security, Crisis Response, Personal Safety, Security Consulting, Travel Safety, Workplace Violence by admin

John Farrar, our guest blogger this month, brings us the final article in the Run, Hide and Fortify® series. This article concentrates on businesses pre-planning for the worst-case scenarios - A recommended approach for Businesses. Businesses that take steps to prepare for the types of incidents discussed in Article I and II of this series, will find a carry over to improvements in their overall functioning to other types of events and increased business resiliency. People would be surprised to know how many...

Run, Hide and Fortify®: Individual Preparation

27 September in Business Continuity Planning, Corporate Security, Crisis Response, Personal Safety, Travel Safety by admin

John Farrar, our guest blogger this month, brings us part two of the Run, Hide and Fortify® series – ‘Individual Preparation and Situational Awareness’ – become aware of your surroundings and what to do when crisis situations occur. Individual Preparation Everyone should strive for a general awareness of his or her immediate environment. It doesn’t take years of meditation or graduating from some High-Speed Low Drag training course. The idea is to just be present in the here and now. Try not to be so engrossed in...

Run, Hide and Fortify®: The keys to survival in an Active Shooter Incident

27 September in Corporate Security, Crisis Response, Travel Safety, Workplace Violence by admin

John Farrar is our guest blogger this month with a three-part series that will cover topics such as how to respond and what to do in an Active Shooter Incident (Part One), Individual Preparation and Situational Awareness when situations arise (Part Two) and finally A Recommended approach for Business continuity planning to deal with potential threats to a company be it manmade or a natural disaster (Part Three). Introduction The concept of “Active Shootings” is rapidly going the same route as the concept of Terrorism with multiple...

3 Important Tips for Safe Holiday Shopping

27 September in Personal Safety, Travel Safety by admin

With the Holiday Season in full swing, spirits are high, mall parking lots are full, and the streets are congested with shoppers inching their way to retail stores to find that perfect gift. Even with the vast onset of online shoppers, there still exists those incredibly tenacious folks who love to brave the elements, the traffic, and the pushing and shoving that goes with the exhilaration of the holiday retail shopping experience. While shoppers focus on the season, big bargains and discounts - the criminal element...