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The Surge in the Worldwide Use of Private Security Prompts the Creation of IASIR S.U.R.G.E. Certification

The origins of the International Association of Security and Investigative Regulators (IASIR) were formed in the United States in the spring of 1993. The objective being to enhance the ability to regulate while simultaneously promoting the professionalism of the private security, and private investigative, alarm and related industries. One of the principle goals outlined 27 years ago was to assist the industry with training and education standards. The area of greatest focus has been within the realm of private security. Various throughputs have emerged over the years, but none has been quite as significant as IASIR’s Secure Urgent Response Global Endorsement (S.U.R.G.E.) Certification™. To understand how S.U.R.G.E.™ fits into the future of private security, one must look at the industry as a whole. The vast majority of the entire world sleeps under the protection of security officers twenty-four hours per day. According to an older issue of Forbes Magazine, “The sector experienced huge growth in recent years and today there are an estimated 20 million private security workers worldwide while the industry is worth approximately $180 billion. That is expected to grow even further to $240 billion by 2020, greater than the GDP of 100 countries including Portugal, Romania and Hungary.” The job is well known – to protect life and property, assure public safety, support police agencies who are stressed to the maximum, create a sense of omni-presence, and to read, react and deter etc. Employ the best possible candidates and deploy the best possible technologies. This holds true for site security, protection of VIPs, and the ever-present cash in transit (Armored Car) services the world over. The Guardian once referred to the security industry as ‘the industry of inequality’ in a piece discussing the obsession with private security. It is true that private security officers outnumber police officers. It is an investment of significant magnitude, but one that pays huge dividends by mitigating exposures to millions of crimes each day. The proliferation of security officers is so significant and commonplace that people literally do not even notice their presence most of the time. “You stop noticing it – there are guards everywhere,” said Rita Abrahamsen, a Professor at Ottawa University. Indian Perspective This is also true in India. A country that is arguably the leader when it comes to the sheer numbers of security officers employed in the industry. Presently hovering somewhere around 9 million guards and 23,000 companies, India requires training and licensure much like anywhere else in the world. Private security is as necessary and commonplace as it comes. Take into consideration that India’s GDP is ranked sixth by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and United Nation alike. This demonstrates that India is a global powerhouse. Despite the fact that China is three rungs up the GDP ladder, the number of guards in India dwarfs even China, who break up their statistics by those who are employed by the public security bureaus (PSB) versus those managed by PSBs. IASIR recognizes India’s position in the world, and has partnered with the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) and the Indian government to bolster CAPSI’s efforts and accomplishment in the establishment of training standards. This is particularly so with respect to overcoming obstacles and barriers during times of need. Certification in General The United States and its global counterparts, who make significant use of the private security sector, have long struggled with matters concerning reciprocity, portability, compacts and licensure through endorsement. These are all different ways to talk about proposed solutions to barriers that exist when trying to remain compliant with licensure and certification laws from one jurisdiction to another. It is all quite complex, and each different approach to the problem has its pros and cons. Ultimately, license holders need to be able to function lawfully and professionally in jurisdictions other than their credentialing sources of origin. Be them states within nations, regions within countries or from country to country. A surge event is an incident in which the ability to provide and sustain essential services is either impacted or stressed by an over-usage of locally available resources. This could be fire, police, EMS, medical, pharmaceutical delivery and a host of other capacity-driven functions. The same holds true for private security – which is a go-to resource when local law enforcement is stretched beyond capacity, yet the need to protect is not only present but elevated. During an all-hazards or other surge type event, regulations are often relaxed through designated disaster preparedness clauses in local laws. These are typically tethered to some sort of government declaration that possesses the authority and contains the requites language to deviate from standard licensure protocols. This can occur at a municipal, local, state, or national level depending on the construct of the government. The persisting aspect of this relaxation of licensure laws and rules is the disparity between states, provinces and countries with respect to training requirements for line-level security officers, and their impact on a license or registration holder’s ability to surge in and work during the designated preparedness/ response time-frame. How is IASIR Positioned? I ASIR is uniquely positioned to facilitate a substantive change to the ongoing problem of security professionals being land-locked during disaster declarations solely based on perceived or real differences in training. While each jurisdiction is responsible for regulating the practice of private security within its borders, IASIR has developed and administers an international certification program for candidates and their employers to ensure they have the mobility to go wherever their career and emerging events takes them. This certification takes the form of company and individual designations. Process of S.U.R.G.E. Certification First, a company that meets established criteria that is tailored to their local laws and rules, can become a S.U.R.G.E.™ certified company during the first three years of the lifecycle beginning in 2021. Here is how it works. A company seeking certification from IASIR will furnish proof of all requisite documentation, on an application in the IASIR S.U.R.G.E.™ portal. Once the nominal…

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Prama Hikvision Launches High Speed Entrance Control Products

Prama Hikvision, India’s leading video security solution provider, has launched high speed entrance control products – Swing Barrier, Tripod Turnstile & Flap Barrier. These high speed entrance control products ensure flexible solutions and fast access. It helps system integrators, installers and architects to choose any combination of identification sensors and build barrier gate solution as per the requirements. These high speed entrance control products (Swing Barrier, Tripod Turnstile & Flap Barrier) are used in airports, seaports, metro rail and railway terminals, corporate offices, banking and financial institutions, industrial complexes, government offices, education, parks, museums etc. Swing Barrier Gate Technological advances and the need for automation across various verticals is driving swing barrier gate adoption. The DS-K3B601 swing barrier gate can be installed in combination with various identification sensors such as intelligent card reader, fingerprint readers, and the facial recognition terminal (DS-K5603-Z) with Prama Hikvision’s proprietary algorithm. Whatever the need may be, they can provide the proper solution or a combination of solutions customized for a perfect fit. The card reader supports standard Wiegand 26/ 34 interface. The swing gate also supports standard Wiegand interface or 485 interface. These swing gates offer the best-in-class quality and the highest efficiency. Impeccable quality: The swing gates are made of stainless steel that meets the AISI304 standard. It has anti-crash protection with 1.5mm stainless steel. Other features include Guaranteed 5 million gate swings. 12 pairs of IR detectors. High throughput at 30-40 persons per minute. Anti-crash swing panel. Flexible options with customizable width and number of passages. Immediate response (less than 0.5 seconds). Advanced features: The users can unlock more advanced features with the professional iVMS-4200 access control software, such as alarm linkage, anti-passback, and much more. Facial recognition: Combined with the swing gate through RS232, Prama Hikvision facial recognition terminal DS-K5603-Z provides an intelligent facial recognition access control solution: 10,000 faces. HD face picture with 2MP camera Up to 99% recognition rate with excellent performance under backlight, dim light, and strong light environments. Fast facial registration. Live human face detection with 3D function, distinguishes live faces from pictures and videos. 1-meter recognition distance Target height between 1.4m-1.9m (4’7”-6’3”). Customizable swing gate direction and working modes Always open: Allowing access to all.  Always closed: Limited access.  Verification: Access by verification only.  Adjustable open interval fits various throughputs.  Gate opens automatically if power is interrupted.  Works off- and online with remote management via software.  Prevents unauthorized break-in and tailgating. Tripod Turnstile Stable mechanical components and turntable design. Bidirectional (entering/ exiting) lane. When the power is down, the barrier will be dropped automatically for emergency evacuation. System will cancel the passing permission if a person does not pass through the lane within the valid passing duration. LED indicates the passing direction (forbidden or available). Adjust the passing time duration via DIP switch on the control board. Multiple people can pass through the lane at a time after the continuous authentication of the passed people. Standard system input; wires with different kinds of card readers. Remote control and management. Stable system operation and low noise operation. Flap Barriers 32-bit high-speed processor. Permissions validation and anti-tailgating. Remaining open/ closed mode selectable. Bidirectional (entering/ exit) lane, the barrier opening and closing speed can be open or stop according to the visitor flow. The barrier will be open or stop working when people are nipped Anti-passback accessing. Self-detection, Self-diagnostics, and automatic alarm.  Audible and visual alarm will be triggered when detecting intrusion, tailgating reverse passing, and climbing over barrier. Remote control and management. Online/ offline operation. TCP/ IP network communication, the communication data is specially encrypted to relieve the concern of privacy leak. LED indicates the entrance/ exit and passing status. Fire alarm passing.  

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Anil Puri Speaks on Union Budget 2021

Union budget 2021 presented by Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister of India on 01 February 2021 was a turning point and a landmark budget which is appreciated by all sections of industry acknowledging the bold initiatives, intent and paradigm shift in strategic planning to propel the growth of Indian economy on the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’,‘Self Reliant India’ and ‘Digital India.’ Muted criticism in a democracy like India proves the degree of acceptance. To me, it gave a feeling of ‘1991 moment’ when India took unprecedented acceleration in reforms. The major structural shift in policy reflects Central Govt’s resoluteness and strong conviction to achieve strategic independence by reduction in imports; unlike in past most of the Govt’s drafted the budget with an eye on the vote bank. Likely impact on the Private Security Industry (PSI) The private security industry does not fall into the bracket of manufacturing segment; it is grossly a service industry. This union budget is likely to have a significant impact on the private security industry in the following ways: Huge investment in infrastructure development like highways, metro rail, air ports, SEZ and sea ports etc., is going to increase business opportunity for providing security and allied services like toll tax management. Disallowing delayed deposit of PF as expenses will compel us to ensure its timely deposit. Reduced time limit for reopening of tax assessments to 3 years and establishment of faceless Income Tax Tribunals would reduce harassment. Announcement of voluntary scrapping policy to phase out polluting vehicles is likely to impact all PSIs but more so those providing CIT services. Impact of increase in custom duty on electronic items on PSI PSAs use a large number of electronic items like mobile phones, surveillance equipment, PCs, servers and related equipment. The increase in import duty on these therefore is likely to increase the cost to the private security agencies. These cost increment would be mostly applicable to the procurement of new equipment. Existing electronic equipment already being held will have the impact only in their repairs or upgrading. Rationale of Govt’s imposition of additional custom duty The government proposed to impose import duty on components of mobile phones and chargers as a part of review of 400 exemptions in customs duty including those applicable on the mobile devices segment. Govt cited following rationale for its action: To enhance local value addition. To align the thrust on easy access to raw materials and exports of value addition. To ensure twin objectives of promoting domestic manufacturing and helping India get on to global value chain and exports. Conclusion The Central Govt’s move to make India a manufacturing hub by boosting domestic manufacturing and to transform it as part of global supply chain as an intent and strategy not only sounds good but appears to be viable. Domestic manufacturing is getting a leg up in allocation of funds and recent procurement orders for instance are TEJAS from HAL with LCH in pipeline and latest version of ARJUN from DRDO, ATAG gun from Bharat Forge, drones from a startup and ship building. Domestic manufacturers of mobile phones like DIXON Technology and household electrical appliances by Amber Enterprises are likely to scale up manufacturing and reduce share of imports. Even during COVID 19 pandemic Indian domestic manufacturers played vital and major role in manufacturing of PPEs, medical devices, ventilators and ICU beds to reduce dependence on imports. In my view, the rhetoric of ICEA which is umbrella body for the mobile manufacturers should be taken with a pinch of salt. India must be able to gain a position of strength in manufacturing to counter the coercive protectionist trade policies of China and other nations to safeguard its national interests.  

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