Monday 1:30 to 4:00

Tuesday 1:30 to 6:00

Wednesday 1:30 to 4:00

I will be available at other times. If you need to contact me please call me either at home or the office. If you can’t get me, leave a message. I will call you back. Students are encouraged to use email. Email is checked daily.

Course Description: Since most students have not had a prior security class, initial classes will overview definitions, roles and functions of private security. A brief history of private security will be presented. The scope and nature of private security will be analyzed. Loss prevention will be defined.

A block of lectures will address the business of security and lost prevention. Lectures will then go on to discuss the foundations of security and loss prevention. Topics covered will include risk analysis, loss prevention surveys, planning and evaluation of loss prevention programs. Legal aspects of security and loss prevention will be discussed in a second block of lectures. Tort law, premise protection and negligence will be studied. Contract and administrative law will be presented. Arrest and use of force in the security area will be analyzed.

Internal and external relations will be analyzed. Relationships between security and the host business or agency will be discussed. Media contacts will be briefly discussed. Employee issues of hiring, supervising and training will be presented. Relevant federal laws will be presented in the context of security concerns.

Internal and external threat assessment will be analyzed. Practical countermeasures will be discussed. Particular attention will be paid to tourist related, hotel-motel concerns. Various technologies and strategies will be presented. Other topics addressed will include investigations, accounting services, fire safety, general safety and risk management and insurance. A special analysis will be directed to retail loss prevention.

Class Lectures:

August 29                 Introduction and Class Overview.  What is Private Security

                                    Bounty Hunters

September 5           Private Security: Tasks and Mission.   Charting the difference between public                                      police and private security.   

September 12         Risk Management, Loss control and Loss prevention.  

September 19       Security Legal Basis...

September 26        Physical Security Elements 

October 3                 Physical Security Elements 2

October 10               Security in Differing Settings

October 17                Computer and Internet Security

October 24               Midterm Examination

October   31           School Security

November 7            School Security (Continued)

November 14        Out of class project : Continue work on paper or security assessment.

Method of Teaching:

Lecture and Class Discussion, Video and PowerPoint Presentations.

1. No required Text, a number of readings will be provided on the website..
2. Course Requirements: One multiple choice – short answer Midterm and a Final (each counts 25% of grade); one research exercise (25% of grade), Attendance (25%).
3. Grading: Traditional 90 to 100 A 80 to 89 B 70 to 79 C 60 to 69 D, etc. Exams will be curved up if necessary.
4. Make-ups will only be granted for important reasons. Permission must be sought in advance.
5. Course Attendance is expected. Student will be marked down for unapproved absences. Attendance and class participation will account for one-quarter of grade.
6. Students will be responsible for the readings. They will be discussed in class and questions will be drawn for the examinations.

Research Exercise: A security assessment or research on a security related topic. If the students chose the research paper they will review and summarize available research, hypotheses and descriptive overviews for this paper. A bibliography will be developed describing the works utilized.

This exercise will follow the format below:

Topic (Introduction): Why is this topic important? Why did you choose it? What are the policy issues related to this topic?

Literature Review: Review each significant research, overview previous discussions on this topic, discuss current thinking and hypotheses relevant to the chosen topic.

Discussion: Analyze findings, review strengths and weaknesses of current research. Discuss current thinking and hypotheses relative to this topic. What are the policy implications of current findings?

Summary and Conclusions: What additional research is needed? What is the nature of the needed research? How should it be structured and conducted.

Bibliography: All items used or reviewed are to be cited. Materials reviewed but not cited should also appear in the bibliography. Tables and descriptive statistics are to be used when appropriate. All materials used must be cited. Reports are to be typed. Neatness, proper citation and grammar counts.

Key Dates: Choice of topic and an overview of how the topic is to be approached is due September 26. A preliminary draft of the literature review and the bibliography is due November 14. The final paper is due November 28.