Attacks against crowded spaces, or soft targets, are on the rise worldwide, perpetrated by terrorists and other violent actors. This webinar will provide viewers with an overview of current and emerging soft target threats, examine past failures, and discuss unique hardening techniques, tactics, and best practices through completion of a scored assessment. Special topics of discussion will include psychological aspects of security adding to vulnerability such as fatigue, complacency and denial. The speakers will also explore ways to mitigate against insider threat and lone actors.

The session is for security practitioners, law enforcement, first responders, business managers, hospital, school and church administrators. Citizens who want to know how to better assess venues and protect themselves and family members will also benefit. As we rise to the challenge of increased workplace safety and security, these same practices will help all of us mitigate similar concerns in our personal lives. How do we identify vulnerabilities and take a proactive approach to enhance our own safety? Do we pre-assess venues and discuss emergency plans with family members before attending an event? How can we become security force multipliers?

This HSTI Live Event will challenge your existing security measures to see if they rise to meet current and emergent threats. We will provide prescriptive information, tools and best practice information to assist. We plan to ask tough questions about your approach to safety and security. What proactive measures do you take to protect your employees and your workplace? What systems are in place to protect infrastructure and people from attack? What are your emergency plans and how familiar are employees with procedures? Is there appropriate crisis response training and programmed drills?

Participants should attend the webinar with a specific soft target property or public event in mind. The presenters will assist with conducting a scored assessment to evaluate that target's vulnerability to attack. Come away with a greater knowledge of soft target threats and vulnerabilities, a scored instrument for any venue of concern, and unique ideas for hardening against attack.

Course Objectives:

• Identify the psychology of security such as fatigue, complacency and denial and impact on vulnerability and susceptibility to attack.

• Review the emergent threats and recent soft target attacks.

• Examine improvements made to strengthen soft targets.

• Discuss unique techniques for hardening soft targets against terrorist and violent criminal attack.

• Review best practices through the use of a scenario, assessment tools and government guidance.

Following the workshop, students will be able to:

• Understand soft targets and their inherent vulnerabilities.

• Conduct a vulnerability assessment of a soft target and enhance security measures.

• Utilize an assessment instrument to identify, deter, and mitigate attacks on soft targets in their community.

Dr. Jennifer Hesterman, Colonel, USAF (retired)

Dr. Hesterman is an academic author, instructor and counterterrorism expert. In her 21-year military career, she served in three Pentagon tours and commanded in the field multiple times. Her last assignment was Vice Commander at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, where she led installation security, including the protection of Air Force One, and regularly escorted the President and other heads of State. She is the recipient of the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service medal with 5 oak leaf clusters and the Global War on Terrorism Service medal. After retirement in 2007, she worked as a cleared private contractor in Washington, DC, investigating terrorist organizations, transnational threats, organized crime and exploitation of the Internet. Dr. Hesterman recently lived in the Middle East for two years and traveled the region, observing security measures and soft target hardening. She is Vice President, Watermark Risk Management International, on the Board of Directors for the International Foundation for Protection Officers, and designs and instructs graduate level security courses for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. She authored Soft Target Hardening: Protecting People from Attack (ASIS Security Industry Book of the Year, 2015) and a second edition (ASIS Security Industry and Taylor & Francis Social Sciences Book of the Year, 2019); Soft Target Crisis Management (2016); and The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus (2013). She is a member of the ASIS School Safety and Security council.

Mr. David Beeman, CPP

Mr. Beeman, is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) Board Certified in security management by ASIS International (“ASIS”), with more than 25 years of corporate and contract security experience including providing services for commercial, cultural and government facilities, foreign heads of state, and large public gatherings; including those designated as National Special Security Events by the President or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). He is Vice President of Andy Frain Services, Inc., a private security contractor in Aurora, Illinois, and the only company SAFETY Act Certified by DHS to prevent prohibited items from being introduced into secured facilities. Utilizing SAFETY Act Certified principles, Mr. Beeman has developed and implemented security plans that meet the requirements of commercial facilities, courthouses, schools, special events, and transportation facilities. He is the former Chairman of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago (BOMA/Chicago) Security committee and recipient of an Award of Excellence from the Illinois Security Chiefs Association (2008) and a Mentorship Award from the Illinois Security Professionals Association (2017). He is a member of the ASIS Security Services Council and has presented to the Midwest Security & Police Conference and Expo and the ASIS Global Security Exchange (GSX).