In 2015, Upper Canada College remotely hosted Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald for a Conference. As part of their Q&A they warned against giving my old employer, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), more money and legislative powers by stating, “Canadians were more likely to die from being struck by lightening than in a terrorist attack”.
I’ve heard this statistic or a variation of it a few times. It’s always used as an argument against the need for security. But it fails to account for the thousands of people that go to work everyday to make sure that you don’t die from an act of terror. I spent 10 years of my life doing just that. Our success wasn’t an accident and we didn’t just get lucky. These statistics aren’t evidence that security isn’t necessary but rather evidence that it worked! An investment in security makes us safer.
The city is safe but…
This is no different for crime and our personal security. By all measures and standards we live in a very safe city. Thousands of law enforcement officers, intelligence and private security professionals do all that they can to keep it that way. Nevertheless, there is still significantt crime in our cities and country.
- There are low level crimes of opportunity; having a bike stolen out of an open garage or change taken out of your car in the middle of the night.
- Hardened professional criminal gangs target high end residential homes, luxury vehicles and other valuable assets.
- There are also home invasions, assaults, and frauds that happen every day.
And here’s the thing, the security in our city benefits us all and many rely solely on that for protection. However, that basic level of protection may not be enough for everyone.
Who is looking out for you?
Those with more to lose are more likely to be targeted for crime. Those with a higher profile and exposure in the community may have more vulnerabilities than other individuals. Do you have a nice home and luxury vehicle? Do you travel a lot and leave your valuable assets unattended? Are you in the news? Do you have associates with personal grudges against you that may wish you harm? Do you work in an industry that might be targeted for protests or social disruption?
In these cases, despite having an elevated risk for crime you will not receive any preferential or dedicated assistance from our regular law enforcement services. Therefore, it’s very important to remediate and mitigate your risk with an investment in your security to tilt the odds back into your favour.
- Threat Risk Assessments on your home, office, cottage or other areas you may be targeted
- Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (“Bug Sweeps”) wherever you are having commercially sensitive or private conversations and there is a risk of being recorded for nefarious purposes
- Due Diligence and Private investigation to protect against insider threats including reputation risk from those you do business with
Make smart security investments:
Whether you want to protect your family or deal with a unique security challenge, it may not be enough to rely on living in a safe city or just being lucky. If you are a higher profile individual and have more to lose may need to do more to ensure you don’t lose it. Lightening does strike. Bad things happen. Invest in security you improve the chances that it won’t happen to you.
If you have any questions or need assistance Kirsch Group is here to help.
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