The growing use of private forces to provide military and security services around the world has shifted the provision of security from the public realm to an assemblage of private sector companies — a shift that has arguably created a deficit of robust oversight and accountability mechanisms.

After much frustration trying to deal with the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch in Ontario, the association representing professional security agencies across Canada has made a strategic move and hired an executive director to help give it a stronger voice when dealing with government.

Recently I have been made aware of a security organization located in Europe called the Confederation of European Security Services, or CoESS. This organization was formed 21 years ago in 1989 and came about as a result of a joint initiative of several national associations of private security companies from various European countries. I

There have been countless debates in this magazine about the value of associations. Why be a member? What’s the value? Does the association really represent what I do? Is it worth my time?

By now, most readers of Canadian Security will likely be familiar with the recent open letter to members of the Canadian Society for Industrial Security (CSIS) by that organization’s president, Gene McLean. While the open letter outlines a number of initiatives that Gene would like to drive forward, I am here to discuss his desire to see that organization become the voice of the Canadian Security industry.

 

It has always seemed a no-brainer that if you are going to have provincial regulations that make training mandatory for licensed security personnel like security officers and private investigators, there should be one national training standard that is recognized and used in every province.

There’s been a lot of talk about how the security industry fails to take advantage of opportunities to share information and improve skills. Many see their peers in the industry as competitors. If you want to see a good example of cooperation within a particular sector of the industry, consider what some of the Toronto hospital security managers are doing to standardize training with their security guards.

A year ago I wrote a column in which I praised Graham Ospreay of the Canadian Society for Industrial Security (CSIS) and Ken Mitchell of the Canadian Security Association (CANASA) for their efforts toward creating a framework under which all of the different security industry associations could work together toward the creation of a single voice for the security industry in Canada. That initiative went off the rails before it started. Ken Mitchell has left his position at CANASA and Graham Ospreay has stepped down from CSIS.

Just weeks before the Canadian Society for Industrial Security (the “other CSIS”) was to hold its annual general meeting it was unclear whether anyone was going to step up to take on the role of president. Graham Ospreay had held the position for three consecutive terms during a time when others at CSIS had bailed on the organization following the mysterious departure of executive director Gord Pinder.

Security professionals have often written in this magazine about the desperate need for those employed in the industry to take an active interest in the business they work in and to speak out about issues that affect them.