Facilities Security Archives

Perimeter Control as the First Line of Defense

Written by Jim Willis, CMAS, CHS-V on June 29, 2024. Posted in Facilities Security.

For many utilities, physical security begins at the door or the parking lot. However, robust facility protection starts at the perimeter. But we often abandon this defense resource to aesthetics, budget restraints, or misplaced values. This makes a secure perimeter the least considered and most often overlooked element of facility security. However, resilient perimeter protection should be your first line of defense, and establishing and maintaining rigid perimeter security should not be discounted or ignored. A robust perimeter security system should be an element of a comprehensive asset protection...

Partnering with Law Enforcement to Improve Bomb Threat Prevention and Response: A Conversation with the Office for Bomb Prevention’s Charles Leas

Written by Curtis Marquardt on May 30, 2024. Posted in Facilities Security, Infrastructure Security.

With attacks on utilities growing every year, it is more important that ever to have a sound bomb threat response program in place. A key element to that program is to work together with state and local law enforcement to establish lines of communication about potential threats as well as establishing an effective response plan. Utility Security magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Curtis Marquardt Jr., had a chance to sit down with the Office of Bomb Prevention’s Operation’s Chief, Charles Leas, to talk about how utilities can create or improve their bomb threat program. Curtis Marquardt Jr.: At...

Are Assumptions Compromising Your Substation Security?

Written by Jim Willis, CMAS, CHS-V on February 29, 2024. Posted in Facilities Security.

How many substation security or protection articles have you started reading, assuming the subject was one thing, only to discover it was something else? The problem stems from the fact that there are multiple definitions for substation security and protection: one digital/data, one electrical and another physical. When utility professionals hear “substation protection,” many immediately think about electrical protection. Circuit breakers, fuses and switchgear come to mind; some visualize coordination study time & current graphs. But as crucial as electrical protection is, it’s only one...

From the Battle of Fallujah to Helping Utilities Respond to Active Shooter Incidents

Written by Curtis Marquardt on February 29, 2024. Posted in Facilities Security.

Utility Security Magazine: Tell our readers more about how you got into active shooter response training and what made you passionate about it. Jake Edwards: It really started for me right after 9/11. After that attack happened, I joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq. I was in the Second Battle of Fallujah, which was a massive and deadly battle and one of the largest urban combat battles in recent U.S. military history. When I was in that battle, facing gunfire, it helped me understand what was needed to survive that sort of conflict. I had to trust and work with new people under...