As the world and society become increasingly aggressive and complex, it’s important to know how to spot and respond to dangers in public spaces and act in ways that reduce the likelihood of violence As we see more criminal and aggressive incidents committed against utility workers, it’s important that your frontline workers be equipped with training that helps them act in ways that reduces their risk. Personal attacks on utility employees often happen unexpectedly and are preceded by a variety of customer threats—whether verbal, physical, using animals to intimidate, displaying weapons and so on. These incidents might be caused by customer anger of bills or service outages or could be instances of workplace violence committed by either a…

With the rapid advancement of AI and other technologies, utility customers are going to face increasing and more deceptive scam efforts than ever before. This, of course, means that utility organizations will have an increasingly difficult task of educating and informing customers about utility-related scams they may encounter.  Utility Security magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Curtis Marquardt Jr., sat down with Monica Martinez, the executive director for Utilities United Against Scams (UUAS). UUAS is a consortium of more than 150 U.S. and Canadian electric, water and natural gas utilities and trade associations that is dedicated to combating imposter utility scams by providing a forum for these participating organizations to share data and be…

  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 the time of this interview, it’s National Police Week. So, it’s great that Utility Security magazine gets to talk about the value of utilities par…

The names Nathan Baker, Zackary Randalls, Alex Boschert and William Froelich may not be familiar to you, but their stories are tragically important for utility workers. Nathan worked for East Mississippi Electric Power Association in Clarke County, Mississippi. Zackary was employed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in Fresno, California. And Alex and William worked for Laclede Gas Co. (LGC) near St. Louis. Except for Alex and William, who were employed by the same company, there is no evidence that these men knew each other or their paths ever crossed, so what thread binds them together? They were murdered while doing their jobs for their respective companies. In a horrible twist of fate, three of the men were killed within a week…

Can we “Talk Tech”? Leaders are charged with growing profitability, mitigating risks, and improving productivity, but in the utility space reducing threats to infrastructure is also a key deliverable. Although many methods are available to ensure regulatory compliance, the Security Industry Association (SIA) states, “Perimeter security and access control were cited as key components of protecting utilities’ sites, with video surveillance and other technologies playing important supporting roles.” Securing the border, so to speak, is an area where technology can be an indispensable asset. While hardening any perimeter is paramount, a “layered effect” should be considered in any robust design. Consider early detection options such as short-r…