Editor's Notes

Within minutes of last month’s bombings at the Boston Marathon, city hotels went on high alert, thanks to the Boston chapter of the International Lodging Safety and Security Association.

Notification of the dire situation via email and text messages to the hotels came from the Intelligence Network operated by Boston’s Hotel Security Association, a public-private law enforcement partnership founded in 1972, according to Michael Soper, chairman.

I’ve been hearing so much about the success of public-private partnerships lately—from ORC to higher ed security.  Lessons worth hearing.

Twelve minutes after the bombings, hotels received this directive from Boston police:

“Institute your security protocols and immediately shelter in place.”

“The order was clear and direct,” Soper said. “ This was not a drill, this was not a precaution, the threat was real and eminent. They didn’t know where the bombers were, or if they had more devices. They were concerned with large groups of people gathering. Hotels by their very nature are soft targets.”

Three nearby hotels, the Charlesmark, Lenox and Mandarin Oriental were within feet of the bombings; all three were evacuated. The Lenox was subsequently taken over by police and the FBI as a command post. The Westin Copley Place became the HQ for media briefings.

Throughout the investigation, “timely and accurate information” was provided to the hotels, said Soper, who was responsible for dispatching that information.

"From the moment the bombings occurred, I knew that our hotels would be expecting accurate information about what was happening and guidance as we moved forward," said Soper.  "We were lucky to have one of our Boston police partners on the scene almost immediately. I was literally getting direction from the scene amidst all of the chaos and getting that information out to our members as quickly as possible."

For the next four days, Soper followed the regional manhunt for the bombing suspects from a temporary command center outside the city, he said, monitoring police radio transmissions, Twitter feeds from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and updates from local and national media outlets.

"We judge our successes and failures largely upon the opinions and the experiences of our guests while in our hotels. I can say with certainty, we were successful in our mission of keeping our hotels well informed with accurate and timely information.  In turn, our guests were kept safe, well informed and more importantly, well cared for during the crisis," he said.

"We have a system and it works," said H. Skip Brandt, ILSSA executive director. "We are proud to be part of one of the best Public-Private Law Enforcement Partnerships in the country.”
 

After communion this past Sunday, April 28, at St. Jude Thaddeus, a Catholic church in Albuquerque, a man armed with a knife shattered the reflective period by jumping over pews and stabbing the choir soloist.

Another man, a flutist accompanying the soloist, rushed to subdue the attacker, and was stabbed once near the neck and four times in the back, according to a report in Church and Synagogue Security News. Three others who also tried to help were wounded, one critically.

The suspect, 24-year-old Lawrence Capener, was taken into police custody shortly after the incident and faces aggravated battery charges, according to KOAT 7 in Albuquerque. Capener has no criminal record, and police told the TV station they did not know his motive. His mother is reportedly active in the church.

What? You go to church, participate in the Mass, take communion and sit quietly in its wake, listening to peaceful, parting music and encounter extreme violence? The answer, unfortunately, is yes.

I wrote about church security a few months ago. Tim Winters, executive pastor of the 10,000-member Shepherd of the Hills Church in Los Angeles, told me, "I don't know why they do it, but some people who come here and sit through our services don't like us. We don't exactly know who's out there. It's the unknown we are afraid of."

Winters encourages churches who cannot afford professional security personnel to look within their own members, because many of them would want to help.

Thankfully, that's what happened at St. Jude Thaddeus before the situation got any worse. I hope this terrible event will be the impetus other churches need to protect their own.

If you’re not following Mike Howard on Twitter, you should be. Howard is the chief security officer for Microsoft, with a background at the CIA. His focus is on best practices, both in security and in life in general.

I had the pleasure of speaking with him at ISC West 2013 in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. We discussed the challenges that still face security professionals in reaching out the c-suite and talked about Microsoft’s Global Security Operations Center, which I hope to visit one day.

What brings him to mind today for me are his thoughtful tweets from the Columbia Tower Club’s Distinguished Speakers Series, “China Playbook: How and Why U.S. Global Firms Are Being Attacked.”  

From conferences such as that to posting about leadership qualities, women in the workforce and more, Howard is a font of knowledge.

Follow him @MikeHowardMSGS on Twitter.

CHICAGO—Keith Kambic, director of security and life safety for the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, gave us a great overview of the 4.3 million-square-feet building, Some 12,000 people work in the building and anywhere from 300 to 11,000 tourists visit the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere each day. From access control, surveillance, bag screening, loading dock security, mass notification, building evacuation drills and more, there's a lot going on at the building, which at the same time has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. More about the Willis Tower later.

Next we were off to the Museum of Science and Industry. Said Edward J. McDonald, director of facilities and operations, "We're here to be a 'touchy' museum.' We encourage people to touch things," he said. "We haven't lost anything in 30 years." Guards and 370 cameras keep things well in hand. McDonald also gave us a tour of a couple of the exhibit halls—there are 71 major ones. Put this museum on your bucket list, for sure. Fascinating.

Both Kambic and McDonald, along with the other security directors we spoke with on the tour, stressed the importance of effective communication and positive relationships, both within their organizations and with local and federal law enforcement agencies.

A big thanks to ASIS' Leigh McGuire for inviting me and for a problem-free, exceptionally instructional tour. Fllooding in Chicago, because of the torrential rain Weds/Thurs, caused the cancellation of one of our site visits, but we more than made up with it at other tours. As I said, exceptional. Lots of good article ideas.

I had to leave my hotel at 5 a.m. today to fly back to Maine, unfortunately missing out on the security tour of O'Hare, but I will certainly write more about my Chicago experiences in the coming days.

It was a great trip.