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Physical security: top predictions, trends for 2024
With
complex risks looming nearly everywhere the security industry will have to
perform brilliantly in 2024 to prevent widespread chaos and loss of life.
As the new year begins, the threat environment across North America and the
globe has arguably never been so complex, from election integrity and deep
fakes to drone swarms, ransomware and mass shootings.
The amplification of hate groups, political polarization, wars in Europe and the
Middle East and the devastating impact of ubiquitous cyber gangs have created
risks at nearly every turn. That means the security industry will have to
perform brilliantly in 2024 to prevent widespread chaos and loss of life.
Security leaders must be ready for multiple critical events to happen
simultaneously – and even for one event to have a ripple effect that causes
other unforeseen incidents.
Organizational and agency leaders may
anticipate an increase in protests during the week of the election this fall,
citing an
analysis of the historical risk data from the week of the 2020 elections
(Nov. 1-7, 2020) supports this assumption, uncovering a 250% increase in reports
of protests compared to the two weeks before the election.
However, the data also shows that other types of
physical threats are also likely to increase
during this time, he says. Specifically, reports of explosions increased by
220%, while reports of shootings increased by 65% and reports of arson increased
by 38%.
The security industry will again have to be prepared for extreme weather and
natural disasters that could take a toll on organizations and agencies, from
both a financial and continuity perspective. He notes a new record was set for
billion-dollar natural disasters in 2023 with
25 such
events as of early December.
The lesson for security and resilience practitioners? The uncommon has become
common.
Retail Execs Come to Grips with Impact of Violence
Additionally, public and private
efforts to combat escalating concerns over crime and violence in America will
gain even greater traction in 2024, Hurst predicts.
While there are differing opinions about the main factors contributing to the
rise of violence in America, what’s not debatable is the data, he says:
statistics show that active shooter events/mass shootings are a persistent
threat to residents and businesses across the country.
With more than 640
mass shootings in 2023 as of mid-December.
Retailers have also been experiencing increasing crime rates in the past few
years due to incidents like
smash-and-grabs. Organized retail crime (ORC) in particular is seeing an
alarming uptick and has become a “multi-billion-dollar
problem, Hurst laments.
Retailers are suffering from increasing shrink rates, and these issues of theft
and crime are impacting the industry at “unprecedented
levels,” he says. Unfortunately, some well-known retailers are pulling out
of areas with high crime rates, threatening the economic stability of the local
community.
“While issues like these used to fall primarily to security teams, executives
are now recognizing the far-reaching impacts of violence and are searching for
proactive measures to protect their employees and bottom line,” Hurst explains.
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