Whether It’s Your Child’s School or the Olympic Games In light of recent reports declaring the upcoming Sochi Olympic Games to be the “most expensive in history”, buyer beware as money cannot buy security. Using financial commitments as a hallmark metric for a successful security plan frequently leads to the confusing of access control and detection technology, (major cost-drivers of an elaborate security plan) and a secure environment. Although they are not completely unrelated, expensive access control mechanisms and detection technologies are not always the bedrocks of a secure environment. During my time with the Secret Service I always admired their tenacity in vetting new and expensive technologies before they considered incorporating them into their security planning. The Secret Service imbued in me a healthy respect for the benefits of technological security but, with it, a corresponding understanding that many of these technologies can lead to a diminution of the human component, and an over reliance on the aforementioned technology, as tasks are mechanized. A real-world example is the current trend in school security towards expensive entry systems as a response to recent school shooting incidents. Bullet-resistant front doors, expensive cameras, and buzzer-based doors controlled by staff, are all well-intentioned […]
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