SurveillanceSecurity industry helps develop DOJ/DHS Suspicious Activity training video

The National Association of Security Companies (NASCO), an industry association representing contract private security officer companies, the other day said it was endorsing the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) training video for private sector security personnel, recently published by the joint Department of Justice/DHS Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (NSI).

NASCO says that it and NASCO member companies had input into the development of the SAR Training Video for Private Sector Security, which DOJ and DHS say is designed to expand the U.S. capability to prevent terrorist activity by increasing the number of “eyes and ears” looking for suspicious activity, having those eyes and ears trained properly to distinguish activity that should be reported, and trained on how to report such activity to the appropriate authorities. This training aims to help private security officers identify and provide the suspicious activity information to law enforcement and counter‐terrorism agencies which need to “connect the dots” and prevent future terrorist attacks.

“Private security officers are a critical component of defending our homeland,” said Jeff Flint, executive director of NASCO. “They outnumber law enforcement personnel by more than two to one, and provide security at approximately ninety percent of critical infrastructure sites in this nation. With this training, private security can be even more effective in making our nation safe. NASCO encourages all private security agencies to consider making this training part of their regular training curriculum.”

The training is available to private security personnel and is available online for free.