Education at the Academy

Based in impressive buildings located on the 200-hectare Government-owned site that is also home to the renowned Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh, The Security Operations and Education (SOE) Academy has opened its doors as a dedicated centre for holistic training in all aspects of security and counter-terrorism awareness.

The brainchild of professional psychologist Nikki Heath and director of operations Major General John Holmes – former director of Special Forces and leader of Project Unicorn – the privately-owned and funded Academy was established last November when chief executive Heath pinpointed a gap in training provision within UK security. In her eyes, the educational needs of the commercial world, the private security sector, the police service, Government operatives and the military need to be brought closer together such that there is a transparency between them.

“Security training is highly fragmented, and standards can vary quite significantly,” suggests Heath. “It is fair to say that many buyers don’t really know what they’re letting themselves in for. There’s no overall supervisory body for training, while communication between the Government, the police, the military and training concerns across the country isn’t joined up. We want to work towards a universally recognised and fully-accredited career path for all security professionals.” Tellingly, Heath adds: “Training should anticipate security events, not react to them.” A statement containing more truth than that you’d be hard pressed to find.

“The Government and industry are increasingly outsourcing training,” continues Heath (who also runs her own company, Symbiotics, which concentrates on psychological profiling). “It is our stated policy to become the preferred supplier for such outsourced training, not only from the Government and commercial organisations, but also for a host of overseas bodies. There is a point at which the Government begins to leave anti-terror training alone and the private sector picks up the baton. That is where our focus needs to be.”

Heath is hugely respected in both the public and private sectors for her work on the psychology of terrorism, security and post-event trauma, and holds firm views on the subject. “In this day and age,” explains Heath, “insurers are beginning to hike up premiums for those client organisations who make little or no effort to train their staff on counter-terrorism awareness. The time has come where Government, commerce and society at large is crying out for an all-embracing approach to security training. We can provide that at The SOE Academy.”

Built on solid foundations

A rather bold ambition, you might think, but having travelled to Gloucestershire for subsequent and lengthy discussions with Stephen Adams – until recently the BSIA’s marketing and export services director, and now head of sales and marketing at the Academy – one begins to deduce this business premise is not without solid foundations.

Heath is well supported by chairman David Sebire (a businessman boasting over 30 years’ experience in the City) and vice chairman General Sir Jack Deverell. It’s clear that The SOE Academy’s senior management team has considerable depth… specialist counter-terrorism knowledge is reinforced by psychological perspectives on the minds of criminals and terrorists as well as wide-ranging business acumen. Pretty much the ideal combination, then.

For his part, Stephen Adams is quick to point out that training courses thus far devised under the stewardship of Bob Tonkins (head of training) and senior instructor Rick Festorazzi are available in five main areas:

• threat assessment (eg business continuity);
• threat detection (search techniques and electronic surveillance);
• threat protection (manned security, barrier and access control);
• security management (eg legal obligations and risk management);
• security technology (including comms security and future systems).

“In the short term there is going to be a huge demand for training public space CCTV operators in line with the Security Industry Authority’s (SIA) licensing requirements, which include having trainers with two years’ CCTV monitoring experience,” states Adams. “There are only a few providers who can offer the necessary training. Contractors will not be allowed to train on live sites for obvious reasons, so we are installing the necessary CCTV systems and instigating a residential course which will be Edexcel-approved in line with the SIA’s needs. We are also offering the four-day, SIA-approved Basic Job Training, and at the same time running a two-day conflict management course.”

In fact, the Public Area CCTV Monitoring course launches this month at the Academy’s mightily impressive City & Guilds (C&G) and Edexcel-approved centre. Meantime, the C&G 7302 Certificate in Delivering Learning is available for either on-site or in-house delivery, while the need for rigorous staff checking is also top of the list… Instruction in Vetting to BS 7858 is administered over a single day.

Diverse training programmes

The educational programme proposed by The SOE Academy – which takes into account the views of the Prudential’s John Smith and Professor Trevor Taylor of Cranfield University, both of whom have been brought on board as advisors – is necessarily diverse.

Take the IEDD Explosives Awareness courses, for example. Available on three levels, the half-day Basic Awareness module is for security staff, the two-day First Responder element aimed at managers and the Command Level Action module (run over five days) devised for senior security managers and members of the emergency services.

There is also a Search and First Responder course for enhancing the basic skills of security operatives.

In the short term there is going to be a huge demand for public space CCTV operators in line with the Security Industry Authority’s licensing requirements. Contractors will not be allowed to train on live sites for very obvious reasons

“With these courses we are really looking at instruction for people directly responsible for a given site or multiple sites,” adds Adams. “There are only so many bomb squads dotted around the country, so if we can educate key individuals in the security industry that will make sites a good deal safer and assist the police into the bargain.”

At present, The SOE Academy is developing several bespoke courses for managers. These will be looking at maritime security, close protection – again taking into account the wishes of the SIA – and a formal store detective course. “In terms of the latter there is very little available at present,” comments Adams. “We are talking to the major retailers so that we can devise a suitable solution to meet their needs.”

Management in hotels

Professional hotel managers are facing a host of security challenges that, if allowed to pass unchecked, could have devastating effects.

With this in mind, SOE Academy instructor Ian Williamson – a former regional security manager for the UK and Ireland with the Intercontinental Hotels Group – has developed an excellent one day course in three modules covering building security (surveys, physical security, CCTV and hazards), theft/fraud (prevention, weaknesses, investigation, vetting and card fraud) and crisis management (encompassing emergency planning, assessment procedures and communication).

“This is a genuine ‘first’ for the hotel and catering industry,” enthuses Adams. “We have held detailed discussions with several major hotel groups, all of whom are realising that this course will have direct bottom line benefits for their businesses.”

The Security Specialist

Security managers and consultants should certainly be aware of The Security Specialist. This 15-day learning programme is aimed squarely at those practitioners tasked with carrying out audits and surveys for site security, and preparing security plans.

The course is split into five separate units. Unit 1 concentrates on Threat Awareness. Unit 2 – entitled Vetting and Best Practice: BS 7858 – looks at applying vetting procedures in accordance with BS 7858. How to manage the vetting process (and implement the correct aftercare protocols) is also covered.

IT Security is the focus for Unit 3, whereupon security managers can learn about applying information security protocols.

Unit 4 tackles communication issues, in particular the selection of Best Practice techniques in relation to BS 7799 (the information management standard).

Unit 5 is all about security management itself. Applying risk management protocols. Conducting threat assessments. Surveying physical security provisions and analysing their limitations. All of these topics and more are covered in great depth.

• Security Management Today would like to thank Nikki Heath and Stephen Adams for their invaluable assistance during the preparation of this article
• To promote awareness of the problems and solutions of hotel security, a seminar is being held at The SOE Academy headquarters on Wednesday 27 July. Topics to be vered will include fraud prevention, ‘travelling criminals’, privacy legislation and security management
• For further information on this seminar and the courses offered by The SOE Academy visit the web site at: www.soeacademy.com, send an e-mail to: info@soeacademy.com or telephone The SOE Academy direct on 0870 066 8480