Growth in the Post- 9/11

By Paul Adams - 09/12/2002

The process of recovery is attributed to the heightened sense of security Americans currently feel. Who hasn't noticed a doubling or more (seemingly) of security staff at terminals, office and apartment buildings, parking garages, and municipal buildings?

But if you assume that job opportunities in what insiders call the 'protective services' industry will be plentiful, you'd be very wrong.

A TEMPORARY INCREASE

Private security companies did receive a flood of orders for additional staff immediately following the terrorist attacks. Businesses beefed up surveillance, and the federal government dedicated big money and resources – including armed National Guardsmen at the nation's airports and frequent fighter patrols over the nation's largest cities.

But the protective services industry isn't likely to sustain the temporary staffing growth it experienced in the fall, according to Dennis Dalton, a California-based security expert, president of Dalton Affiliates Ltd., and security consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Most of the federal money dedicated to security in the Homeland Security Act last fall was for the protection of federal installations, for vaccines, and for federal law enforcement. However, as recently as mid-June 2002, the federal government was indeed moving ahead with plans to funnel more of its security budget to states and localities, and it's presumed that there will be increases in uniformed security staffs. Still, there are signs that pre-9/11 staffing levels – and a kind of pre-9/11 complacency – have returned. Why?

• The terrorist attacks coincided with a national recession. American companies and municipalities, already feeling the pinch of reduced revenue, haven't the resources to increase security significantly or long-term.

• The successful military campaign in Afghanistan made Americans feel, prematurely, that the most immediate threat to national security had been eliminated. Recent headlines and occasional security 'alerts' should remind us that threats, small and large, abound.

• American corporations generally have been cavalier about security and have historically under funded security efforts. "There simply hasn't been," says Dalton, "a sustained, long-term approach to corporate security and to people and asset protection." And if facility security has been deficient, the security of company websites and databases and procedures is even worse.

• Business travelers are losing their patience with long lines and complicated check-in procedures; customer-friendly airlines will feel the need to relax (or streamline) security procedures or risk losing business.

• Americans have typically perceived security work for what it is: unglamorous, hourly work characterized by low pay, inadequate training, and limited career potential.

So those whose interest in the industry has been sparked by the heroic work of cops, firefighters, rescue workers, and others - young people just out of college, career-changers, documented immigrants, retired but youthful seniors - shouldn't be surprised by the absence of help-wanted ads for security workers. Growth at all levels, according to Dalton, may be steady, but it will be slow.

SILVER LINING?

There are areas of growth in protective services, but they're much more 'high tech' than 'high touch'. Security technology, $50-billion industry today, is reinforcing and replacing warm bodies at security checkpoints across the nation, and new security devices are being imagined, developed, miniaturized, tested, and marketed at an amazing rate.

Want some examples?

• Infrared devices detect people in defined but difficult-to-monitor areas.

• 'SmartEye' technology matches a still or video image to information stored in a database of suspects.

• New cameras have extraordinary capacity to pan, tilt, and zoom, eliminating 'dead' zones in camera surveillance.

• 'Smart cards' allow instant 'identity recognition'

And this is just the beginning. Sophisticated sensors, optical technology, super chips, eye and voice-recognition technology, and much more are changing the landscape of protective services. The development, testing, installation, maintenance, and assessment of surveillance technology provide exciting alternatives to traditional underpaid and under trained security work. But the opportunities will be less for mid-career professionals than for younger, educated, skilled workers.

Want to learn more? Check out the website of 'Security Electronics' magazine (www.semweb.com) to get an eye-opening view of where electronic security is headed. It's this segment of the protective services industry that offers the kinds of jobs, salaries, and opportunities that workers can build a dream, and a career, on.

Additional resources include the websites of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (www.iapsc.com), where you'll find information on Dennis Dalton; the International Professional Security Association (www.ipsa.com), and the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (www.iacsp.com).

Paul Adams is Director of Communications at Recruitment Marketplace. He can be reached at adamslmg@tiac.net.

Copyright @2002 Landon Media Group, LLC