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Ever since Shane Devon Tamura entered the Midtown Manhattan office building housing the NFLs headquarters with a high-powered rifle, killing four people on July 28, John Orloffs phone has been ringing more than usual. I hate the fact that my phone . . . rings after a tragic event, Orloff says. Its not the first time its happened. An operations leader at security risk consulting group Jensen Hughes, Orloff heard the same ringing after Luigi Mangione allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December. In December, [companies] were saying, How do we protect our executives? Orloff says. Today, it’s, How do we protect our most important resource . . . our people? Fast Company spoke to Orloff and other experts to understand how office building safety works. Safety begins with design The office security landscape constantly evolves based on the latest attack. Over the last decade corporate clients concerns have shifted from terrorist and bomb threats in the mid-1990s and 2000s (fueled by attacks like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and September 11), to events like mass shootings. Safety design experts say that preventative techniques work best. Threat mitigation should begin with the building design process, says Peggy Phillips, who leads engineering consulting firm Thornton Tomasettis Protective Design and Security practice. Thats when you can control key aspects like entry points. Architects can balance the number of entrances with [convenience], Phillips says. Too many entrances require numerous guards to secure thema significant business expensewhile too few can create bottlenecks during both regular workdays and emergencies. One approach for avoiding prison-like safety features, like fences and bars, is known as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, when designers use the natural environment to promote safety . . . through creating spaces where crimes dont happen, Phillips says. Abundant perimeter windows facilitate what she calls natural surveillance, while landscaping around a building can avoid offering hiding places to bad actors by not including, say, high hedges spaced about a persons length away from a building wall. Its like the difference between walking through a park [thats] well-lit [without] a lot of brush, Phillips says, and one thats overgrown, not well-maintained. Strategic Access Then theres prevention at the lobby level, which looks different depending on whether an office building houses one tenant, multiple enterprises, or publicly accessible retail clients on its ground floor. It’s all about, how do we make sure that the people who are intended to access the building can [do so, and] have their identity verified, says Phillips. Dedicated elevator banks with access to different floors can limit workers and visitors movements. Badge readers can allow a tenant on the third floor, for instance, to swipe at a certain turnstile and reach an elevator that only leads to that floor. Dual authentication can further shore up these systems by having employees, after they swipe in, enter a specific pin number, or use biometrics to get through an entryway. A man trap, Orloff adds (when one perimeter door leads to an open space followed by a second, interior door opened only through specific credentials), lets security monitor visitors between the two doors before authorizing their entranceand trap them somewhere secure if they lack the necessary qualifications. Essentially invisible to someone untrained in building security, this measure also makes an office building more comfortable for the people who work there. Companies don’t want their workspace to look like Fort Knox, Orloff says. Layers of Security Our clients talk about mitigation of hazards and threats, says Phillips. You’re not making [office buildings] criminal proof, because there’s such variability in these events. Instead, her firm focuses on layers of security, so if a threat bypasses one, they have another waiting to stop them. For example, beyond considering access points, technology, like security cameras, should also factor into an office layouts initial planning. But in addition to putting cameras in enough places to avoid blind spots, companies must incorporate them effectively into processes involving the people who monitor their feeds. Security cameras are a great thing to have, but they’re typically evidentiary in nature, meaning they’re post-event, says Orloff, who points out the widely viewed image of Tamura approaching the Manhattan office building where he let fire with rifle in hand. However, if they’re watched by someone in real time, they can be much more preventative. For example, if someone monitoring an office buildings camera feeds sees a threat, they can recall the buildings elevators to a mid-floor location, Orloff says, where nobody can get up or down. His company advises corporations to train their employees on security awareness, so they know what to do in an emergency. Orloff also suggests companies partner with local law enforcement, who can then learn about their office buildings layouts. Continuous monitoring No matter how much work architects and security designers put into an office buildings safety, every layered system has vulnerabilities that a determined attacker can overcome, says Orloff. The Manhattan office where Tamura killed four people had state-of-the-art security: an off-duty police officer accompanied security guards presiding over long check-in processes, locked turnstiles, alarms, elevators with access to limited floors, and even safe rooms, reported CNN. Orloff noted he couldnt comment specifically on what happened in the Midtown Manhattan building where the shooting occurred. However, he pointed out as a general best practice in the event of an incident the first thing that a building should look to do is lock down the perimeter . . . making it so that only authorized employees, guests, visitors and vendors can get in that front door. Companies should also stay abreast of what their own activities might mean for their employees and executives security. Everything a company does impacts its risk level, Orloff says, including a negative news article, a financial report, or the latest buzz about the CEO. That also applies to updates from other companies sharing your office buildingsecurity working at a low-profile company sharing a complex with a high-profile enterprise could benefit from staying on top of the latters news. That may sound like a lot of work, but Orloff warns corporations not to under-value investing in solid building security. I prefer my phone stop ringing, he says, in the aftermath of tragic events. I’d much prefer to have my clients adopting [a] preventative approach. Beyond that, the problem may just come down to whos allowed to possess firearms and where theyre able to bring them.
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E-Commerce
Boundaries arent about shutting others out but about showing up with intentionhere are some helpful tips
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E-Commerce
Instagrams new location-sharing Map feature is raising privacy concerns among some users, who worry their whereabouts could be tracked or misused. Meta announced the rollout this week, introducing a map that lets U.S. users share their locations and see location-based content from friendssimilar to Snapchats Snap Map or Apples Find My. This feature is opt-in and off by default. Users also have the option to turn off location sharing “at any time,” Meta said in a release. Heres how to do it. Accessing the Map feature Open the Instagram app and tap the arrow icon in the top right of your home feed to open Messages. The Map option should appear at the top of your inbox. The first time you open Map, youll see a screen labeled Who can see your location. You can choose to share it with: Friends (followers you follow back) Your Close Friends list Selected users No one Updating your settings To update your preferences, navigate to your profile, tap the settings icon in the top-right corner, select Story, live and location, then choose Location sharing. From there, you can adjust who sees your location. On the Map, different icons indicate your status: A blue arrow means you’re sharing your location with your selected audience. A red dot indicates you’re not sharing your location. An orange triangle means you need to enable location permissions on your device to share your location. How to turn off location services entirely To shut off location services for Instagram on an iPhone, open Settings and tap through from Privacy & Security to Location Services. Scroll to Instagram and select Never. To turn off location services for Instagram on an Android device, open your phones settings and scroll to Apps. Select Instagram, then tap Permissions and choose Location. From here, you can select Dont allow to completely block location access, or opt for Allow only while using the app or Ask every time for more control. (You can also toggle off precise location if you prefer.) Even with location sharing off, you can still see friends who share their location with you. If you enable it, your location updates whenever you open the app or return to it from the background, Meta says. For teen users Parents with supervision enabled can control whether their child has access to location sharing, see who theyre sharing with, and receive notifications if location sharing is turned on.
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