Posts by Chesley Brown
Security Audits for Compliance: How to Prepare for Internal and External Audits
Written By: James Hart Conducting a security audit of your business or property isn’t just a good idea. Sometimes, it’s required for compliance reasons. Organizations may have to complete a review as a condition of their insurance policies. Sometimes regulations or business partners demand it, especially if those audits are related to cybersecurity or data…
Read MoreStrategies for Securing Parking Lots and Parking Garages
Written By: James Hart Safeguarding a building’s parking garages and parking lots can be one of the more important – and more challenging – security tasks for property management. After all, those areas must be relatively open so employees, customers, vendors and other visitors can access them. However, that openness also makes it easier for…
Read MoreCreating a Culture of Safety: Building Trust and Accountability in the Workplace
Written by: James Hart Your team’s culture could be its best defense against threats to its safety and security. When organizations experience a fire, a product recall or other incidents, they often spend time reviewing what happened. They work to understand the causes so their team can prevent future occurrences. Often, the fault doesn’t belong…
Read MorePreventing Retail Theft: Strategies for Loss Prevention
Written by: James Hart Shoplifting is one of the most persistent threats to retail businesses — and one of the toughest to solve. Fortunately, you can substantially lower your company’s risks with two basic strategies: consistent training and more effective store design. “Shoplifting has always been a problem,” said Josh Noland, vice president at Chesley…
Read MoreSupply Chain Security: Protecting Logistics Operations
By: James Hart Recent years have provided almost constant reminders about the importance of supply chains — and just how fragile they can be. Pandemics, shutdowns and natural disasters have all interrupted the orderly flow of goods to the marketplace. Some of the biggest and most expensive disruptions have been caused by thieves, hackers, rivals…
Read MoreLast-Minute Security Tips for Election Season
Ensuring Safety and Reducing Disruptions With Election Day only a week away, businesses and community leaders are in the final sprint to prepare for any potential disruptions. While there may not be time for long-term strategies, impactful, practical steps can still help keep teams and property safe. And remember, political unrest can extend beyond Election…
Read MoreMail Room Theft and Fraud: Securing Your Business’s Mail Handling Processes
Your office building’s mail room could be an unexpectedly easy target for thieves looking to steal everything from banking information to brand-new electronics worth thousands of dollars. “In many properties, the mail room is usually out of the way and unsecured, making it incredibly easy for a criminal to steal something valuable,” said Max Briggs,…
Read MoreEnsuring Workplace Safety: Best Practices for Protecting Employees
Written by: James Hart In a world like ours, businesses can’t afford to take workplace safety for granted. There’s a long list of reasons why preparedness and planning must be a priority for companies of all sizes. “It should go without saying that just caring for your people — the human element — should be…
Read MoreBuilding a Crisis Communication Strategy: Effective Communication During Emergencies
Written by: James Hart During a crisis, good communication can save lives. That’s especially true for larger office buildings. Some properties hold thousands of people during a typical workday. If there’s a fire, an active shooter or some other emergency, the building staff and security must be able to quickly alert everyone and tell them…
Read MoreEffective De-escalation Techniques: Conflict Resolution Strategies
Written by: James Hart If your job requires you to talk to other human beings, then you could probably benefit from de-escalation training. De-escalation is a conflict resolution strategy where security officers or other front-line workers use dialogue to calm angry individuals, understand their problems and persuade them to choose a better course of action.…
Read MoreHome Security Tips: Safeguarding Residential Properties
residential security
Read MoreHow Premium Security Services Set Trophy Properties Apart
Written by: James Hart It’s one of the most frustrating, longest-lasting effects of the pandemic: The market for office space continues to struggle as companies keep using hybrid or fully work-from-home schedules. In the second quarter, the vacancy rate for US office properties climbed to 20.1% — a new record, Moody’s reports. Meanwhile, effective rents…
Read MoreCrisis Management at Festivals: Strategies for Event Organizers
Written by: James Hart Nothing beats spending the day at an outdoor festival. Who doesn’t love being part of a large, happy crowd enjoying delicious food, exciting music or beautiful art? Unless, of course, a brawl breaks out. Or there’s a medical emergency. Or — worst of all — a mass casualty event occurs. Fortunately,…
Read MoreSecurity Solutions for Small Businesses: Safeguarding Digital Assets
Written by: James Hart Even if you don’t think your small business has any valuable information, the average cybercriminal will probably disagree. The last few years have shown that cybercrime is a threat for organizations of all sizes, even smaller companies. Their customer lists, their payment and banking information, their patents and designs — they…
Read MoreEmergency Response Planning for Shopping Centers, CIDs, Entertainment Districts and Other Large Locations
Written by: James Hart It takes hard work and careful thought to create an effective emergency response plan for office towers and other commercial properties. But what if — instead of a single commercial building — you need to create a plan for a community improvement district, a shopping or entertainment district, or some other…
Read MoreNeighborhood Watch Programs: Empowering Residents
Written by: James Hart The neighborhood watch, one of the oldest tools for community crime prevention, can still be a useful tactic today for combating crime and nuisance activity at commercial properties, especially when combined with a professional security presence. These programs encourage the public to be on the lookout for suspicious activity in their…
Read MoreArchie Dinwiddie Promoted to Vice President Risk Management, Training, & Compliance
We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Archie Dinwiddie to Vice President of Risk Management, Training, & Compliance at Chesley Brown. With an impressive tenure of 23 years at the company, Archie has been an integral part of Chesley Brown’s leadership team, consistently demonstrating his knowledge, expertise, and passion for excellence. His journey with…
Read MoreDisaster Recovery Strategies: Business Continuity in Crisis
Written by: James Hart The best advice on disaster recovery and business continuity might actually come from the movies. As Rocky Balboa said: “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.” And that’s really the point…
Read MoreCommunity Policing Strategies: Building Trust and Safety
Written by: James Hart It’s always important to remember: Private security officers aren’t police, and police aren’t security officers. The two roles are both important, but they have fundamental differences. “Security officers can’t be everywhere, and they can’t see everything,” said Max Briggs, vice president of central operations for Chesley Brown International, the security consulting…
Read MoreSecuring Infrastructure: How to Prepare for Disruptions to Critical Services and Systems in Your Business
Written by: James Hart Infrastructure is one of the great blessings of the modern age. Flip a switch, turn on a faucet, launch a browser window, and you can generally assume the giant invisible systems connecting and powering society will work as expected. The same goes for transportation infrastructure. Running into delays on the interstate?…
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