RiskUKMarch2018

In the Spotlight: ASIS International UK Chapter
career choice, but meeting Dawn as well as
other professional women in the industry
heightened my awareness and interest.
In September 2016, I left Surrey Police to
take on the role of intelligence researcher for
the British Transport Police (BTP). As part of the
change, I relocated from Guildford to London
and, within a few short weeks, I was tasked
with developing the open source intelligence
policy, capability and training for the BTP.
Then, in March last year, I attended the ASIS
UK Spring Seminar where I met Iskander
Jefferies CPP from Securitas. At this point, I had
limited knowledge of Securitas or the private
security sector in general. However, Iskander
explained to me that there might be an -
ntelligence position in the pipeline.
Suddenly, the possibility of a new career and
further professional development was
presenting itself. Having never before placed
much faith in the power of networking, I
suddenly found new doors beginning to open.
Starting a career in security
Last July, the new role of regional intelligence
analyst at Securitas came to fruition and I left
BTP to begin my career in security. A few
thoughts were running through my mind at the
time, with some of them keenly focused on
making the transition from the public to the
private sector and what this would actually
entail. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to a
new challenge and broadening my horizons.
I’ve been with Securitas for seven months
now and I’ve fully immersed myself in the
security industry.
Law enforcement agencies have been
scrutinised and under pressure in recent years.
One positive takeaway from my experience with
Surrey Police is an understanding of the
importance of intelligence and how it can be
gleaned through open source investigation.
Although the security industry has made some
headway, many organisations could do a lot
more to investigate this pool of information.
This is now my ambition: to bring open
source investigation to the forefront of private
security as a crucial means of safeguarding our
clients and assets. As a business, Securitas
understands the power of intelligence and
enhanced vetting with a number of customers
expressing an interest in this service. The
ability to gather intelligence to counteract or
prevent incidents and offer predictive security
is critical, and particularly so in the aftermath
of so many premeditated and targeted attacks
across the UK in recent times.
Today’s companies have to face a number of
threats, and in particular the insider threat.
This is where enhanced vetting comes into its
own, and notably so for those roles with a
heightened requirement for discretion.
The development of the web and social
media channels has presented many positives,
but this has also opened the door to negative
activity. Social media platforms are a primary
source of communication for many, meaning
that there’s an enormous amount of information
and intelligence with which to work. People
report suspicious behaviour, post images and
videos of attacks and cover a whole host of
interesting topics. They even report 101
information to the police service through social
media channels.
The intelligence field is always evolving so
it’s crucial to stay ahead and keep up-to-date
on the latest developments with a heightened
emphasis on the technology side of matters.
Engaging with ASIS UK’s Women in Security
Group and the ASIS Young Professionals Group
has changed the direction of my career which
has been an exciting and rewarding journey.
That said, I believe there’s much more
adventure still to come. I’m looking forward to
learning much more about the security sector.
I often think back to advice given by one of
my former teachers when I was trying to decide
what to study at university. I was urged to
“stick to the core subjects” (which I did). I
enjoyed my degree, but I’m glad I embarked on
a completely different career path.
“Training and upskilling are important aspects of any role
in intelligence, as it’s very much the case that you have to
stay ahead of the latest developments in systems,
monitoring and technology”
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