Election of Officers 2012

The Irish Security Industry Association's (ISIA) Annual General Meeting was held yesterday in Croke Park.  For those readers that are not familiar with the ISIA it is an industry body for companies in the private security industry.  The ISIA promotes and represents the interests of it's members and with the exception of one employee is run by representatives from the membership that form a Council of Management representative of the ISIA's divisions, which are:

• Guarding Services 
• Event & Entertainment Security 
• Electronic Security & Systems (Alarms, CCTV, Access Control)
• Physical Security (locks, safes, gates) 
• Monitoring 
• Cash in Transit/Secure Transport 
• Security Consultants 

The ISIA provides its members with a fantastic opportunity to be hands on in collectively influencing the direction of it's industry and to drive and pursue items of interest and importance to private security companies in Ireland.

Because of the way the association is structured and managed the officers that serve as Chairman or Vice Chairman and make up the Council of Management of the ISIA are of critical importance.  They do the hard work on behalf of their industry working with various stakeholders to ensure private security in Ireland is continuously improved and that high standards are maintained.  Therefore, holding a role within the ISIA is of great importance to the private security industry in Ireland.

Each year the election of officers is conducted at the AGM and this year we had quite a few new officers elected.  As always at the ISIA's AGM, the new President was elected.  The new ISIA President is Sean Malone of Synergy Security and this year we have a first for the ISIA, Sheenagh McCullagh was elected to the role of Vice President and will be the first female to serve as VP of the ISIA.  Brendan Flynn of Noonan was elected as Chairman of the Monitoring Division, Chris Clinch was elected as Chairman of the CIT/Transport division and Pat Hogan was elected Vice Chairman of the Guarding Division joining John O'Donoghue of Noonan as the second Vice Chairman of that division.

The ISIA wishes to both congratulate these individuals and to thank them.  It is people like this that give their time and energy to the interests of the private security industry that makes the ISIA what it is.  This year the ISIA celebrates its 40th Anniversary and with the commitment of its members will enjoy many more years of  continuing to drive the private security forward.

Irish Security Industry Association AGM

The Irish Security Industry Association AGM will take place on the 18th April 2012 in Croke Park and will be followed by our 40th Anniversary Luncheon.  The agenda and booking information have already been sent to members.  If you have not received details please contact Sarah O'Donnell, sarahodonnell@isia.ie for further information.

We look forward to seeing our members on the 18th April in Croke Park.  

FM Ireland Security Conference Stream 22-23 February 2012

The ISIA will be at FM Ireland in the RDS for the next two days.  If you are planning on popping into the expo, we will have representatives available to answer your security related questions at stand D23.

We will also be running some interesting and very beneficial conference presentations for users of security services.  Seminars will run from 10:55 today 22nd Feb and 13:45 tomorrow 23rd Feb.  If you missed the PSA briefing held yesterday for ISIA members, Geraldine Larkin will be giving another presentation this morning at 11:30 as part of the ISIA conference stream.

Check out the conference schedule here.

The Modern Day Shoplifter, From Chef to Clergy

Chef Antony Worall Thompson's recent spat of shoplifting in Tesco has got people wondering about this criminal activity.  Who is the typical shoplifter and why do they do it?  Darragh McManus from the Irish Independent spoke to the Irish Security Industry Association and other to find out.  Have a read of what he leaned below.

The Day I Caught a Nun and Priest Shoplifting

Avoiding a Festive Feast (or similar) on Your Premises

Many of you probably heard about the recent court case against a security company by Brasserie Sixty6 which was settled out of court this week.  You probably thought , as we did, how did this happen, wasn't their a security system?  There was, but the system failed the restaurant.  This may have you wondering about your own alarm and security systems and hoping they don't let you down.  Here are a few tips to make sure you don't supply Christmas dinner, or more, to some unwelcome visitors:

1. Alarm Installation - Make sure your alarm company is licensed.  Installers of alarm systems must hold a current PSA license and that will allow you to ensure your provider is meeting their legislative requirements under the Private Security Services Act 2004. Irish Security Industry Association (ISIA) members will also hold Qualsec, the ISIA's quality standard.  For a listing of ISIA members click here. 
2. Alarm Maintenance - Keep your alarm maintained.  Maintenance contracts are critical to ensuring your electronic security doesn't let you down when you really need it.  Often business and homeowners complain about this cost, but you would be kicking yourself if you hadn't had the necessary maintenance carried out and that led to a break-in at your home or business. 
3. Alarm Monitoring - Have your alarm monitored.  The sound of an alarm going off is an irritant, but haven't you ever ignored it's irksome noise somewhere nearby.  If an alarm is monitored the alarm receiving centre will be in a position to notify you and notify the authorities.  However, for the Gardai to respond it must be a maintained alarm with a URN.  It is also important to be aware that monitoring stations should notify you or your alarm company if their is a failure during their regular testing.  
4. Physical Security is crucial.  You don't want a criminal to be able to gain entry to your premises in the first place and you should consider the quality of the doors at entry points, particularly secluded access points. 
5. Safes - Day safes should not have cash left in it overnight and should have anti-fish features.  When cash is stored overnight it should be in a euro graded safe.  
6. CCTV - CCTV can be extremely useful to those investigating the a crime after it has taken place, but you should have your CCTV system stored in a secure area, if that is destroyed the cameras won't have been much use to you.  Installers of CCTV do not currently require a license, but that is likely to change this year and if you are having a CCTV system installed it might be wise to use an installer already licensed for alarms.  
7. Secure Room - A secure room may be used for your CCTV, overnight safe and alarm control panel and have additional access control so that if someone does make it inside your premises they shouldn't be able to get into your secure room. 

If you need any further information please visit the ISIA's website. For suppliers you can trust please have a look at our member listings or give us a call on +353-1-4847206.  

If you didn't have a chance to read about the festive feast at Brasserie Sixty6, have a look at the link below. 

Fine festive feast on the menu as four eat their fill after break-in - Courts, National News - Independent.ie

Welcome to the ISIA Blog

Welcome to the ISIA blog.  We hope this will provide a useful source of information for the private security industry or those who use private security services, which is most of us!

Please post information of interest, tell us your security tips, feel free to ask questions relevant to private security and please share your answers to questions posted.

As this is a new blog, we welcome your suggestions, ideas, questions and comments.

For more information on the Irish Security Industry Association, please visit our website, call us on 01-4847206 or drop an email to info@isia.ie.

We hope this will prove to be a useful forum for you!

Sarah O'Donnell
Communications Director