Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Security Practices in the Private and Public Sectors

Within recent years the threat of terrorism attacks in publicly accessible spaces such as malls and other public venues and gathering spaces has been an increasing concern. These usually inviting locations include office complexes, retail complexes, hospitals and many other places where people come together in moderate to large numbers. They represent locations in which the nation's commerce and business functions, which are critical to the continued operation of our country, take place. Unfortunately, the open and inviting nature of the facilities and spaces are many times exploited by terrorists. A lack of protection in the form of technical or procedural security practices in the form of manpower, equipment, planning and training are not adequate to identify threats, determine likelihood of attack, or respond to acts of terrorism. The study explored perceptions of security specialists regarding security practices, in the form of security controls and enablers. The security practices, were compared and contrasted, are utilized in the protection of commercially owned and government controlled publicly accessible facilities and spaces. The use of office building environments of comparable square footage were utilized as a basis of comparison between the two sectors. This research approach incorporated a qualitative multiple case study that includes a comparative analysis. The comparative case study explored the perceptions of security practices currently in use at government facilities with the perceptions of security specialists at privately owned facilities and spaces. Participants in the multiple case study were security specialists meeting established experiential criteria. A baseline experiential requirement of study participants was comprised of requisite competencies and knowledge in the protection of publicly accessible facilities and spaces. Findings and results indicate a pronounced disparity between private sector and government sector security specialists, in perception of the effectiveness of security controls and enablers utilized in the protection of publicly accessible buildings and spaces. As a result of the study, recommended future actions include discovering assessment methodologies and security controls and enablers that more effectively communicate and fit within a revenue driven business model.