Insights on Enhancing the Security of Your Family

From the White House to Your Home:
Insights on Enhancing the Security of Your Family
Arnette Heintze, Chief Executive Officer

Hillard Heintze is one of the foremost investigation, security risk management
and law enforcement consulting firms in the United States. We help clients
protect their people, performance, interests and reputations by providing
services that provide insight, deliver assurance and instill confidence.
ABOUT HILLARD HEINTZE
HILLARD HEINTZE © 2015 | Protecting What Matters2

April 14, 1865: Prevention steps
onto the national stage
President Lincoln takes action to prevent
the destruction of our nation’s financial
infrastructure – and creates the
U.S. Secret Service.
Lincoln and his wife head off to the
Ford Theater to see the production of
“Our American Cousin.”
A DAY OF CRISIS AND CHANGE

Lessons are learned but at high costs to
three senior executives – and the nation.
WHEN PREVENTION STUMBLES
LINCOLN
April 14, 1865
GARFIELD
July 2, 1881
MCKINLEY
September 6, 1901

Exceptional Case Study Project
The U.S. Secret Service and National Institute of Justice
FIVE-YEAR STUDY
Examined the thinking and behavior of
83 attackers from 1949 to 1996.
74 ATTACKS
• 6 attacks were carried out by 16 individuals who were
members of a group.
• 68 attacks were carried out by individuals acting alone.
• 24 of the 83 attackers were interviewed.
EARLY RESEARCH BRINGS A CRUCIAL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

MYTH 1:
They fit a distinct profile.
MYTH 2:
They are mentally ill
MYTH 3:
They make a direct threat
FACT 1: FACT 2: FACT 3:
Attackers do not fit
one descriptive or
demographic profile.
Mental illness rarely
plays a key role
in attacker behavior.
Persons who pose an
actual threat most often
do not make a threat.
6
EARLY RESEARCH REVEALS A CRUCIAL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
HILLARD HEINTZE © 2015 | Protecting What Matters
Prior to the Study, we had these prevailing beliefs about attackers:

Targeted Violence is any incident of violence
where a known or knowable attacker selects a
particular target prior to their violent attack.
UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING THE RISK OF TARGETED VIOLENCE

Attackers have motives.
• Achieve fame and notoriety.
• Law enforcement-assisted suicide.
• Bring national attention to a
perceived problem.
8
Attackers select targets.
• Based on their motives and the
accessibility of the target.
• Often consider more than
one target.
Attackers have common backgrounds.
• Despair. Depression. Suicidal thoughts.
• History of harassing or stalking.
• Major loss or change in life.
• Few arrests for violent crimes.

What was learned about the pre-attack process
leading to Targeted Violence?
• Is the result of an understandable and often
discernible process of thinking and behavior.
• Stems from an interaction among the potential attacker,
past stressful events, a current situation and the target.
• A potential attacker’s behavior is vital to identifying his or her
intentions. The attacker’s thinking, planning and logistical
preparations have to be detected and interrupted.

Behavioral threat assessment – three key processes
Manage
The threat the
individual poses
Assess
If the individual poses a risk –
gather information from
multiple sources
Identify
Individuals who have
the idea or intent
of attacking

Would-be attackers report being
frustrated and foiled by security
measures.
Remain alert to those who roam
outer perimeters seeking alternative
access points in order to avoid
security measures.
OBSERVATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF ATTACK-RELATED BEHAVIORS

12
CASE STUDIES: THREE RECENT ENGAGEMENTS
Managing a Stalker Incident (#115)
Anonymous caller reported one of the
firm’s receptionists was slandering its
management team. The company
quickly learned the caller was known to
their employee, and had been stalking
her for over a year. Calls to local law
enforcement resulted in an initial flurry
of incident reports and administrative
filings. But progress in the case
quickly stalled.
A Former Employee’s
Potential for Violence (#116)
When a disgruntled former
employee began sending
inappropriate email
communications to current
employees, a healthcare
company asked Hillard Heintze to
assess the individual’s potential
for violence.
The Facebook Threat
(#131)
An employee in an East
Coast branch office
posted threatening
statements about
company personnel on
his Facebook wall along
with several pictures of
himself posing with
weapons.

Prevention for families
takes many forms
• Safeguarding the well-being of
adolescents and young adults.
• Defending the family in a technically
agile world.
• Protecting residences.
• Developing a family emergency plan.
FOCUSING ON PREVENTION

ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF YOUR FAMILY
Cyber Security
Think beyond ease of use and assumptions of data
protection and ask tough questions that will help
to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your
current information security strategies.
• Are we protected? Are we doing enough?
• What is the financial impact if we
incur a data breach?
• Do we have a data recovery plan in place?

Social Consciousness
Social networks are a great way to stay connected,
but you need to protect your personal information.
• Activate privacy and security settings on
your social networks.
• Once posted, always posted - protect your
reputation by posting with caution.
• Be cautious about how much personal information
you provide on social networking sites.
• Know and manage your friends.
15

Protecting Residences
• Employ best-in-class systems to safeguard your home.
• Use landscaping and sightlines, lighting and physical
barriers to restrict access.
• Places duress alarms in strategic locations.
• Screen all personnel associated with the residence.
16

Family Emergency Plan
• Plan out exactly how the family should
respond when a crisis unfolds.
• Establish a relocation point or “safe house.”
• Set a universal call-in number for emergencies.
• Secure shelter-in-place and emergency
medical capabilities.
• Addresses communication and transportation
capabilities and emergency egress routes.
• Conduct annual drills.
17

Security Technology
A range of new smartphone apps to help you remotely
monitor your property.
• Most security systems will send alerts to your devices
and allow you to check on the status of your home
from any location.
• Some systems will call the police if there is a break-in.
• Do-it-yourself security system with motion sensors and
video cameras can be placed around the home and
watched remotely.
18

Arnette Heintze, Chief Executive Officer
Arnette.Heintze@HillardHeintze.com
30 South Wacker Drive, Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60606 312.869.8500
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION

Insights on Enhancing the Security of Your Family

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