Per Mar Security Services employees man the hallways and grounds and check in visitors.

Per Mar Security Services employees man the hallways and grounds and check in visitors.

The Ankeny school district's switch to private security at the high school and Northview Middle School has been smooth so far, officials said last week.

Per Mar security employees began their work at the schools in late March, following spring break. The two Ankeny police officers who had been assigned to the schools are transitioning into full-time detective positions with the department.

Randy Evans, business development manager for the Des Moines Per Mar office, praised his company's partnership with the district and the police department as a major factor in the initial success of the new program."Our role, in the presence that we've been able to establish, far exceeds what was expected," Evans said. "We're off to a wonderful start."

Ankeny Superintendent Matthew Wendt said the new program provides more coverage. With five of the six security guards stationed at the high school, there are enough people to patrol the grounds and check visitors entering the building, as well as walk the hallways with students.

"I'm very confident in the services that are being provided," Wendt said. "I feel that way not only as a school superintendent, but as a parent."
Chad Bentzinger, on-site program manager for the Ankeny security team, said Per Mar staff members meet weekly with school leaders.

The new security squad checks exterior doors to make certain they are secure and patrols the parking lots, in addition to watching over students in the halls. One member is stationed at the public entrance to the high school during the school day to check in visitors.

"It's a continuous operation at all times," Bentzinger said.
Evans said the security officers were selected by both Per Mar and Ankeny district leaders.

Three of the six security officers are armed; all have gone through a statewide program for school employees, along with security training. Evans added that many have a military background, one is a sworn law enforcement officer and another has a teaching degree.

School leaders said they began discussions about a year ago about how to provide additional oversight as the district opens new buildings. The new high school and middle school campus opens in August; Ankeny Centennial High School opens in August 2013.
Wendt said officials knew the local police department was short-staffed, and there would be significant costs to add more school resource officers.

Another factor was that most of the issues in the secondary schools don't require the presence of law enforcement to be resolved, he said.

"We quickly realized there was a significant difference in the services being provided and the services we actually needed," Wendt said.

Ankeny district officials said during the 2009-10 school year, there were 24 incidents of misconduct at the high school - ranging from simple pushing or shoving to what could be considered a fight or violent behavior. There were 19 such incidents at Northview. Of all these incidents, only eight involved any form of injury to a student, officials said.
Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec said he supports the move, noting his department is short-staffed and the majority of problems at the schools don't require police intervention.

Mikulec said there are perhaps just four to six fights a year that result in assault arrests. Police handle a total of 50 to 60 cases a year stemming from other situations, including drug and alcohol offenses and thefts.

District officials said any searches of students and their lockers will continue to be handled by school personnel, with the assistance of police if needed.
Officials have said the security-program change is being made for roughly the same cost as the current year's security budget.

The contract with Per Mar for the 2011-2012 school year will be $139,700 to provide 24-hour security, including staff in the schools, campus monitors, and coverage for athletics and activities.

The district's security personnel budget, estimated at $136,000 for this school year, included $64,000 for half of the Ankeny Police Department's two school resource officers' salaries, $57,000 for part-time campus monitors at the high school, and $15,000 to pay police officers to handle event security as needed. There is money left in the 2010-11 security budget to cover the cost of the integration period for Per Mar through the end of this school year.

Alpine Access Meets HIPAA Privacy and Security Requirements to Protect Patient Information 

Alpine Access, the premier provider of virtual contact center solutions and services, today announced it completed an independent, third party audit for compliance with HIPAA and HITECH Act data security requirements. After an in-depth review of its policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the administrative, physical, and technical requirements of HIPAA's Privacy and Security Rules, the company's independent data security auditor determined that the existing data security program incorporates all necessary controls to validate compliance with the new rules.

"Information security and privacy is something Alpine Access has always taken very seriously," said Christopher M. Carrington, President and CEO of Alpine Access. "We were the first virtual call center to achieve PCI DSS Service Level 1 compliance and we are now taking another leadership role by meeting the rigorous standards for securing Protected Health Information (PHI). Although it took a serious commitment from our entire organization, deploying program controls in compliance with the HIPAA and HITECH Acts gives our healthcare clients peace of mind knowing they are getting the best and most secure service possible."
Alpine Access undertook an in-depth review of its policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the administrative, physical, and technical requirements of HIPAA's Privacy and Security Rules, as well as the privacy requirements mandated by Subtitle D of the HITECH Act. The company also engaged Coalfire Systems, a leading independent IT audit firm, to complete the program review. "Alpine Access has not only demonstrated a seasoned security program with controls designed to achieve full compliance with HIPAA and HITECH, we have also audited them as being PCI DSS Level 1 certified for three years in a row," stated Rick Dakin, president and co-founder of Coalfire Systems. "They have taken a leadership position in proving the viability of a highly secure and compliant environment across a large and distributed workforce."
As a service provider operating in compliance with the HIPAA and HITECH Acts, Alpine Access is well positioned to continue applying the benefits of its virtual contact center model to the growing customer service demands of national healthcare organizations. According to reports from Frost & Sullivan, a business research and consulting firm, healthcare organizations are the biggest proponents of using home-based agents, with 52% indicating they would increase the use of home agents in the next two years. These work-from-home representatives handle a wide range of patient needs, from customer service and account inquiries, to over-the-phone triage and medication help lines.
About Alpine Access
Alpine Access pioneered the virtual contact center model in 1998 to deliver high quality customer service at a lower cost for brand-conscious companies. With more than 4,500 professionals in the U.S. and Canada, Alpine Access was recently named the best contact center and CRM outsourcer for client satisfaction by the Black Book of Outsourcing. Alpine Access' clients include ten of the Fortune 100 companies in the financial services, communications, technology, healthcare, retail, travel and hospitality sectors. Visit www.alpineaccess.com or call 1-866-279-0585 for more information.
About Coalfire Systems, Inc.
Coalfire Systems is a leader in the IT Governance and Compliance Management industry. Coalfire has been certified by the Payment Card Industry as a qualified assessor for both payment card transaction processing merchants and services providers as well as application developers for electronic payments. Coalfire has completed over 1,000 IT audits and is recognized as a leader in the computer forensic investigation market.

Criminal guards to lose licences 

MORE than 100 security guards found guilty of sex crimes, drug dealing and assault will lose their licences as part of the latest clean up the industry. But six years after a big industry shakeout, a hard core of criminals retain unofficial links with local security firms and doubts remain about security at airports and government sites.
A Herald Sun investigation has found:
REGULATOR Victoria Police will cancel the credentials of 105 private security licensees found guilty of serious crimes - such as drug dealing and sex attacks - under a new regulation scheme effective from July.
A GUARD was sacked from Melbourne Airport for failing to properly check freight for explosives.
THE tax office is investigating sham contractors and security companies notorious for going bankrupt and closing while owing tens of thousands of dollars to workers.

FORMER schoolteacher Karl John Aschhoff is frequently seen at the Wheeler's Hill offices of his former security company, ACCS, despite resigning over child pornography charges. ACCS did not return calls.
The Herald Sun can reveal Melbourne City Council renewed National Protective Services' $5 million contract for collecting coins from council parking meters last July, less than a month after a former NPS guard confessed to his role in a lucrative coin theft ring. MCC said NPS had introduced tough new controls. NPS could not be contacted.
One former security officer said Avalon Airport, which handles a million passengers a year, has only one guard patrolling the terminal, the carpark and sensitive sites that include the control tower between 10pm and 6am.
"If anything happens, they're alone. There is no one else," he said.
It is believed that at least one other guard is present at the airport at those times but does not patrol public areas. Avalon could not be contacted, but security operator Charter Resources' boss Mike Ramsey said: "There's adequate security at Avalon."
The death of cricket legend David Hookes in 2004 prompted an overhaul of private security regulations - 500 of the state's 30,000 private security operators were shown the door.
Fears that bikie gangs have infiltrated the $3 billion-a-year national industry are well-known, but experts believe the risk from unscrupulous employers is just as great.
"They drive down prices, forcing many security firms to engage in inappropriate and illegal practices that attract the wrong people with the wrong attitude being paid the wrong wages," Victorian Security Institute executive Brett McCall said.
The Australian Security Industry Association's Chris Delaney said: "Shonky operators choose to fly under the radar."
Guard union United Voice's state secretary Jess Walsh said: "The Victorian security industry is a snakepit."

Security guard sues after losing job following on the job injury

Security guard sues after losing job following on the job injury

A former security guard at the Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse has filed a lawsuit against her employer after she was terminated following an on-the-job injury.

Joann Jackson filed suit against Securitas Security Services USA Inc. and XYZ Insurance Co. on Feb. 28, 2011 in St. Tammany Parish District Court. The defendants removed the case to federal court in New Orleans on April 11.

Jackson was hired by the defendant as a security guard in August 1992, the suit states. Jackson states she was injured in December 2009 while walking out of her work building towards the parking lot in a dark area and fell into an uncovered piling hole. She did not return to work for two weeks following the accident and when she did return, she states she was in pain and notified her employer.

According to the complaint, Jackson was terminated in March 2010. She claims her employer did not have valid reasons for her termination.

The plaintiff is seeking damages for lost wages, penalties, attorney's fees, court costs, interest, mental and physical pain and suffering, physical impairments and disability, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life and attorney's fees.

Jackson is represented by New Orleans attorney Brett E. Emmanuel. A jury trial is requested.

U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk is assigned to the case.

G8/G20 security firm charged for licence violations

G8/G20 security firm charged for license violations

Ontario provincial police have laid charges against the private security firm and many of its top executives hired by the RCMP to do screening and metal detection at checkpoints during last summer's G20 summit in Toronto.
Contemporary Security Canada (CSC) is accused of a string of provincial offences under Ontario's private security guard legislation, including three counts of offering services while not licenced, hiring an unlicenced guard at the G20 and G8 and two counts of failing to ensure proper uniforms.
During the probe, the OPP made the unusual move of executing a search warrant on RCMP headquarters in Ottawa on Nov. 24, 2010 and seized documents about the bidding and tendering of the contract.
It all stems from the RCMP's controversial tendering of a $21-million contract for two weeks of work doing metal detection, spot checks and x-ray screening inside summit security zones.
Lecia Stewart, of a public relations firm working on behalf of CSC, said Friday she was "disappointed and surprised the OPP are going ahead with this" given CSC's flawless delivery of service at the G20. She rejected suggestions CSC did anything wrong, insisting that given their specialized skills and experience delivering private security at 25 Olympic venues, they felt entirely up to bidding on the Toronto G20.

Ex-RCMP ties

CSC and its partner company Aeroguard both worked on the G8 and G20 contracts and won the $87-million contract to do private security at the Vancouver Olympic Games, despite the fact CSC — an American company — did not exist in Canada until just before the Olympics.
CSC vice-president Jane Greene was one of the executives charged Friday, accused of selling services when not licenced. Greene is also Aeroguard's president and CEO. The two companies call themselves "joint-venture partners."
Some in Ontario's private security guard industry question whether the presence of Terry Smith played any role in the RCMP awarding the contract. Smith joined Aeroguard in Dec. 2009 — a partner company of CSC. Before that he had been chief coroner in British Columbia and had spent 35 years in the RCMP, rising to the position of officer in charge of the Surrey Detachment.
The RCMP has denied any favouritism — nor has the CBC found any evidence of favouritism.
Greg Cox, an RCMP spokesman, told CBC News on Friday that the RCMP had "no prior knowledge" of Terry Smith's connection to the winning bidder.
Smith is not facing any charges.

Reached at his home in British Columbia, Smith told CBC News "I am not involved with CSC — I work for Aeroguard."
Smith acknowledged he's aware of the CSC contract dispute at the G20, but he wouldn't discuss his precise business relationship with CSC.
"I had no involvement," he told CBC.
CSC had no staff and was not licenced to operate in Ontario when it bid on the RCMP contract for the G20 and G8 summits, but still won the contract over three other companies which bid millions of dollars less.
RCMP spokesman Cox said the "procurement process on this file was conducted in an open and competitive manner requiring that the successful bidder meet local licencing requirements at time of operation."

Competitors felt shut out

The original tender for the G20 contract was put out on April 6, 2010, three months before the summit.
That alone raised suspicions, said Dwayne Gullsaby, head of Toronto-based Securitas, which decided not to bid.
"Given the lack of detail in the RFP [request for proposal] and the one-week turnaround time [in which bids were being accepted], I felt this opportunity had already been teed up for somebody, if you will," Gullsaby told CBC News.
It was as if "a company had already been identified to provide these services." he said.
By April 22, the RCMP narrowed the bidding to four companies, including CSC, the only one not qualified to work in Ontario. CBC News contacted the other three competitors — Garda, G4S and Federal Security Agency — and they all confirm their bids came in the $8 million to $16 million range, below the $18 million CSC originally bid [later billing for $21 million.]
"The money the taxpayer paid for the private security portion of the G8/G20 security is outrageous," said Ross McLeod, head of the Association of Private Security Agencies based in Ontario.
He says CSC inflated its billing rates to almost double the industry standard.
"How does an unlicensed company with unlicensed employees get the contract?" Ross told the CBC. "It just boggles the mind.
"The contract was let by the RCMP and that's ultimately where the questions have to go."
The RCMP has told CBC News they selected CSC over the other bids because of its experience and specialized skills at large events.
The RCMP disqualified Garda from the bidding saying their x-ray machines were not up to the job, even though Garda is qualified and contracted to run airport screening at many Canadian airports.
The RCMP also disqualified G4S by saying they had unsatisfactory references, even though the company won contracts and did work at previous international summits in both London and Pittsburgh.

Private Security Agencies

Yuma firm contracts for security services

When a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 landed in Yuma after losing cabin pressure April 1, special armed security was needed to guard the damaged plane — worth several million dollars — while it sat in Yuma.

One local company, Arizona Southwest Patrol (AZSWP), was up to the challenge.

“When we got that call, I was really surprised they picked us,” said Sgt. Lorenzo Vazquez, who owns and operates the company. “Getting the credibility to be out there and provide professional service was awesome.”

AZSWP is now contracted with Yuma International Airport to provide security services in the future.

“We will now start doing training exercises along with them for anytime they have any major incidents,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez is proud of his Yuma-based company.

“There is a security guard company here that is really professional. You don't have to go all the way to Phoenix. We are right here locally.”

Vazquez, a native of Ventura, Calif., founded AZSWP in 2008.

The company includes about nine certified armed guards who provide private active patrol and onsite armed security services. The officers have pistols, shotguns and AR-15 assault rifles at their disposal, as well as a trained K-9 unit.

The company is also certified to provide security and traffic control in east Imperial County, where it is known as Metro Anti-Crime.

AZSWP is even called upon from time to time to watch over bank ATMs and can help area law enforcement agencies respond to incidents if requested.

Since its inception, the company has grown from patrolling one residential subdivision to guarding about 16 properties.

In the future, AZSWP will train all armed and unarmed security personnel in the Yuma area.

“I am a certified pistol instructor through Arizona Department of Public Safety, and we are going to start providing the training for all their operations licensing unit for armed security officers,” Vazquez said.

“Anyone who wants to get into armed or unarmed security will go through us. We are the only ones who provide certified training here in Yuma.”

The Wackenhut guards who transport illegal immigrants in the Yuma area and the armed guards who stand watch over the Yuma Desalting Plant were trained by AZSWP.

Even though Vazquez is the owner, he is content to be a sergeant.

“I'm a young guy still. I don't see a need to be the chief or the captain — that is for the older guys. I like to be out in the field. I can't be stuck on the computer all the time. I need to be out there.”

Because AZSWP guards are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Vazquez gets plenty of street time.

Vazquez and his fellow security officers are fully equipped and, like their law enforcement counterparts, wear badges and drive marked Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors.

Even though Yumans give them plenty of double takes, Vazquez said they are still considered private citizens. “The only difference is we have a little more authority because we are in uniform, based on the Arizona Revised Statutes and the training we have.”

Vazquez commands a high standard from his officers.

“We stick with a professional image. I'm sure a lot of people are used to seeing the flashlight-carrying, long-haired with their shirt untucked security guard. But times are changed and clients need to have a professional security service — and we are it.”

Even though AZSWP is a private company, it does have authority to make arrests and maintains a relationship with the Yuma Police Department and the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, Vazquez said.

“If people commit a crime in our presence and we have reasonable cause to believe they committed that crime, we can actually arrest them. We can arrest for any felony.”

Once they arrest somebody, AZSWP officers contact a local law agency with jurisdiction to hand over the arrested party.

But arrest is a last resort. Vazquez would rather deter a crime in the first place, and carrying a gun and a badge is an excellent deterrent, he said.

“From a criminal mindset, if they see one of us they will probably think twice before doing something,” said Sheldon Vicks, AZSWP reserve volunteer officer.

Since his officers carry loaded weapons, Vazquez puts them through a stringent hiring process.

“Vazquez needs to know he can rely on me, and I have to know I can rely on him and vice versa with other officers,” Vicks said. “I need to know they are trained. I wouldn't want just anybody having that weapon. There is a reason to use it, but that weapon doesn't even have to be drawn to get respect.”

The officers can also rest easy knowing backup is a radio call away.

“Of course, you don't want to do this by yourself,” Vazquez said. “That is why we have two-way radios and multiple officers to assist us. We have central dispatch and if we need police, they actually respond really quickly for us.”

Picking up lesser infractions allows local law agencies to concentrate on more serious crimes, Vazquez said.

“They know we handle the minor stuff, so if we call them they know its something big — it is a felony and we need their help.”

For more information about the company, call 783-4700 or log on to arizonaswpatrol.com.