The general manager of an Italian hotel who decides to make use of security personnel to protect the property, also because of the perceived terrorist threat, could possibly struggle to disentangle the intricacies of the legislation governing the private security industry . However, it should be checked beforehand “who can do what and how”, according to the wording of the Italian legislation on private security not only for the purpose of goodness and quality of the performed services, but not least to avoid possible unpleasant sanctions by the public supervisory authority.
Statistical data on the phenomenon of crime in the hospitality sector are not widely available. The literature on the subject suggests however that the offences are those of any organization, with the specificities related to the environment. Talking about it as little as possible for fear of negative returns of image, doesn't seem to be the winning strategy. The mode of choice instead seems to be sharing information with others in the field and with the police, as well as raising awareness within the company itself. In this context, the presence of a security manager that makes the crime control activity organic (the principles of situational crime prevention can lead her/his effort, which is mainly preventative) is essential.
A very basic, intuitive, practical and cost effective approach for incident preparedness purposes, which essentially consists of an hotelwide team effort (department by department), where everyone has an active role to play.
It happened during a lesson in security management that a student asked where she/he was supposed to start, in case the boss had requested her/him to “install the cameras” in the hotel. The answer was to address the issue with logic, method and caution, first trying to understand the director's expectations.
The press occasionally refers to episodes where the hospitality industry is involved or the victim of criminal activity (i.e. theft from the rooms of hotel guests). The need of protection then takes more and more and the general managers are often faced with the dilemma of what precautions to devise. The preparation of a structured security program aimed at tackling criminal events, hence, can be the answer.
If the company were to decide to actively engage in the contrast/repression of the phenomenon of theft in hotel rooms, the results should come. In addition, further benefits could ensue, both direct and indirect (e.g., lower insurance costs and increased staff morale), for the whole organization.
Hospitality businesses have been improving their security standards, as a consequence of the increasing and ubiquitous terrorist threat. Although these beefed up classic hotel security programs are great, they nevertheless could not suffice. Consequently, a suggestion would be to check whether any counter terrorism PPPs project is available locally and possibly joining them. Besides, according to the 9/11 Commission Report - Private Sector Preparedness: “Unless a terrorist’s target is a military or other secure government facility, the “first” first responders will almost certainly be civilians”.
