INTRODUCTION

The demand for increased professional particularly at the managerial level has become more evident
with the passage of time. An indication of the increased demand for professionalism is reflected in
the status of academic programs. Although in some few years back there was no university offering a
degree program in the related field of security, we now have two universities Egerton and Masinde
Muliro offering Bachelor degrees in criminology and security management, also other colleges have
come up with diploma and certificates courses in security related studies.

This data indicate both the academic community growing recognition of the demand for increased
professionalism and student interests in security as a profession.

A demand for increased professionalism

An examination of display advertising for security managers and assistant security managers is yet
another indication of the extent to which the demand for professionalism has increased over time.
For years the qualifications most often called for in such advertisements was either law enforcement
or persons who had worked for the police or in the military especially those who had been senior
officers in rank were also considered. Occasionally service in the high commissioned ranks of the
armed forces was acceptable in lien of the law enforcement or investigators experience but this is no
more. For all intents and purpose there were no academic qualifications.

The emphasis on this kind of experience was a reflection of executive management continued
perception of security as but another form of policy and their failure to recognize and accept it as a
management responsibility and function. Too often a security manager success was measured by the
number of errant employees identified, apprehended and punished either administratively, or by the
criminal justice system this being a method adopted when working with the law enforcement where
success is measured by a successful prosecution but this is not so in the private security sector where
the recovery of a loss is more important than prosecution.

Even in cases where those employed as security managers may have had prior exposure to
managerial functions their experiences were vastly different from what is normally encountered in
private sector management. Very few had been in position where they were directly involved in
either preparing budgets or managing expenses. Most of them had never found themselves in
situations where there superiors overriding concerns involved such diverse issues as competition,
profit and loss, solvency and customer relations government regulation and relationship with
stockholders.

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The law enforcement or investigative experience requirements has not disappeared completely from
advertisements placed by institutions in search of security managers, however in the last few years
this requirement has become increasingly less frequent, more often than not the qualifications now
set forth in advertisements are a combination of security and other management experience and work
in position that provided the individual with progressively increased responsibility. Human relations
skills and the ability to write and speak clearly are among the qualifications now included in
advertisements. A minimum of a bachelor degree preferably in criminal justice now is a common
requirement.

A good security manager

Being a good security manager differs from being a good manager only in that the security manager
focus is on the protection and conservation of the employer’s assets regardless of whether those
assets are tangibles or intangibles and unlike other departmental heads the security manager
responsibility rather than being limited in scope tends to cross to all the departments. However
security managers must also be able to apply good managerial skills to ensure that the department
objectives are met in efficient effective and economical ways. They need to define their departments
duties establish goals determine priorities control expenses direct personnel, prepare appropriate
policies and procedures when needed and oversee compliance there with and implement their
programs.

Security managers learn quickly that no matter how effective their loss prevention programs may
sound in theory or look in paper their successful implementation will depend on the manager’s
ability to involve all employees generally and line managers and supervisors particularly. (Burstein
H. 1996)

Corporate security

The security professionals of the twenty first century must posses many skills that differ from those
skills possessed by the law enforcement officers and in particular those in the police service.

Many changes have occurred over the years in the duties and responsibilities of the security
professional and mainly in the corporate security which include:-

• Complexity.

• Rapid change.

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 • Dependence on technology.

• Driven by technology.

• A more sophisticated workforce.

• A more competitive business world.

• A massive amount of instant communications.

• More information available to more people than ever before.

• More incidents of corporate fraud waste and abuse.

• More competition for high level security positions

Because this twenty first century environment means more competition for security positions, those
who want to succeed in this career field must gain more experience and have more education than
ever before or at least more than the other security professionals they are competing against. Whether
a business or a government agency the main goal is still to protect the assets of the company. The
private sector wants to hire security professionals who can do that successfully at least to impact cost
and schedules. (Dr Sharma P.R.2004)

The twenty first century corporate security professional must know how to use and protect
information technology. Many of the systems and processes employed by security professionals to
provide protection are and will continue to be technology dependent. Security professionals will find
themselves working with professionals from many other disciplines to develop and implement
methods and assets protection processes. To be effective the security manager must posses’
facilitator skills, team building skills, management skills and time management skills therefore the
emphasis on cost effectiveness would drive the security manager to become a more highly skilled
person and therefore in addition financial and accounting skills would be of great benefit.

The future of high technology

As the global market place continues to change and becomes more dependent on technology the need
for corporate assets protection will become greater and more complicated. It will be mandatory that
security organizations are staffed with professionals who are technologically savvy. The
stereotypical view of the security professional being just a security guard at an entrance to a facility
or an ex-policeman is totally unrealistic today and in the future.

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The future security professional job will be much more sophisticated and a time may come when the
retired police officer will not be qualified to become a security manager as many of them are not
qualified even today.

Risk assessment and management

For the modern day security manager in the private security, the manager need to be informed in risk
assessment and management something which was not learnt in the disciplined forces and risk
assessment and management can be defined as a method to identity precisely, the risks and all the
probable effects those risks will have on the person and or the organization being protected to
minimize that risk to an acceptable level and the proper implementation of measures to deal with the
remaining elements associated with that risk. (Fenily L. J. 2004)

Good security and crisis management policies and procedures evolve from an accurate analysis of
perceived risk. As a security manager one need to know exactly what he is up against. A manager
cannot know which policies and procedures are necessary until one has properly assessed the risk.

Therefore, risk assessment as a manager can be concerned with, deals with the methods utilized to
identify all the risks involved by determining the risks probability and predictability as it relates to
security. Risk assessment deals with the security manager ability to properly implement and maintain
an effective security plan or better yet a definitive protection plan based on what is known derived
from our assessment in the security management sector one should always expect the unexpected,
one should not fall in along side those who have thought it could only happen to another person, in
the disciplined forces officers are incident driven but in the private security this should not be
allowed, just because something has not happened yet does not make a good excuse not to enact
preplanned proactive preventive measures.

Security surveys

In the law enforcement and in particular in the police service whereby in the past security managers
were drawn to join the private security and they did not have any training to do with what is required
in the private sector.

Crime prevention or lessening the potential for crime begins with a major in depth security analysis
of the business or facility. A survey of the interior and exteriors will point out security deficiencies
and potential for intrusion or the probability that a crime will occur at the spot after the survey an

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appraisal and recommendation for action should be immediately undertaken. A timetable for
implementing the recommendations should be originated and strictly followed, but this is beyond the
ability of public service.

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CCTV surveillance

The application and integration of closed circuit television (CCTV) to safety and security application
has come of age and this is mainly found within the private security sector, those working in the law
enforcement and mainly the police service may not have been in a position to know the operations of
these gadgets.

CCTV is a reliable cost effective deterrent and a means for the apprehension and prosecution of
offenders. Most safety and security applications require several different types of equipment e.g.
alarm, fire, intrusion access control with CCTV most often being included as one of them.

In today’s complex society personnel are responsible for the many factors required to produce an
effective security and safety systems. With today’s spiraling labour costs CCTV more than ever
before has earned its place as a cost effective means for expanding security and safety while reducing
security budgets.

Loss of assets and time due to theft is growing cancer in our society that eats away at the profits of
every organization or business be it government, retail or manufacturing. The size of the organization
make no difference to the thief. The larger the company the larger is the theft and the greater the
opportunity for losses. The more valuable the product is the easier it is to dispose of and therefore the
greater the temptation to steal it. The implementation of a CCTV system, properly designed and
applied can be an extremely profitable investment to an institution. In the law enforcement their main
objective is to apprehend and punish an offender. But the main objective of the CCTV system should
not be in the apprehension of thieves but rather in increasing deterrence through security so as to
prevent theft. If an organization or company can deter an incident from occurring in the first place.
The problem has been solved.

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CONCLUSION

The changes by the institutions as evidenced by the qualifications they now seek for security
managers represents acknowledgement of the continuing evolution of security. The demands
confronting today security managers are not only many and valid but are complex and in constant
state of change.

The wide range of organizational assets that need to be secured in today’s world no longer can be
protected adequately or cost effectively by continuing to adhere to relatively simple and more
traditional approaches constant patrols, monitoring alarms access control, highly visible security
officers and the speedy identification apprehension and punishment of malefactors are but a small
part of what is now needed to protect and conserve assets and prevent losses.

In order to do the job that has to be done and satisfy the need of employers in today highly
competitive environment, security managers and their assistants are expected to do their jobs with a
degree of professionalism previously unheard of for position of this type.

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REFERENCES

1. Fenelly L.J. (2004) loss prevention and crime prevention (3rd Edition) Elsevier Butte worth

Heinemann U. S. A.

2. Sharma P. R. (Dr.) C (2004) industrial security management, New age India.

3. Burstein H. (1996) security Printice Hall U. S. A.

4. Warne E. A and Brown G.D. (1977) industrial security Barry Rose, London.