Managers in commercial and institutional facilities undoubtedly tire of trying to explain to those outside their organizations — and within, sometimes — just how difficult it is to find site-specific solutions to ensuring the security of their buildings. So let’s let someone else give it a try:"Perhaps more than any other sector — certainly as compared with chemical, or nuclear, or financial services — the commercial facilities sector encompasses a very broad category of infrastructure with a huge range of assets: hotels, casinos, sporting facilities, amusement parks, convention centers, office buildings, shopping malls, religious and cultural facilities, and some industrial assets, like manufacturing plants. How do you come up with a plan that addresses all of these?"The speaker? Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The plan? One of 17 recently announced sector-specific plans from DHS designed to give business executives and managers guidance in protecting what Chertoff calls the nation’s “critical infrastructure and key resources” from attack.DHS also developed plans for government facilities, public health and health care, and national monuments and icons. The plans are guidelines, not mandates, and the department is offering ongoing support and information to organizations looking to beef up security in and around their facilities.
Obviously, two of the major hurdles for commercial and institutional facilities are developing effective plans to upgrade security and — especially in the public sector — finding money to perform the work.Finding the resources and incorporating these projects into other priorities obviously won’t be easy. But managers involved in planning security upgrades might find at least a little reassurance in DHS’s recognition of their facilities as critical, as well as in the understanding from outsiders of how challenging the process is likely to be.