Open Forum

We are reexamining our security staff levels and wondered if there was any rule of thumb out there, although I suspect the answer will be "it depends..."

The Birmingham Museum of Art is a mid-sized museum with 164K total SF, 48K exhibition space SF and @15K art storage SF. There are 3 external doors that must be monitored, as well as a kiosk at the entrance to our parking lot. We are closed to the public on Mondays, we staff the security office 24/7, and have 22 full time security officers.

Is this staffing level too high? Because our guards are union, there is an obligation to schedule them 80 hours in a two-week period. Our head of security feels we are now adequately staffed. We have one unfilled position that we are considering reclassifying away from the security department, but do not want to take this step if we will be put in a position of need later on.

Any thoughts or standards of which we are unaware?

Thanks!

------------------------------
Robin Meador-Woodruff
Special Projects Coordinator
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL
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Robin,

You are absolutely correct, "it depends". There are many factor that should be considered when determining security staffing levels and every entity is unique. While you have included some of the factors I would look at to evaluate staffing, there really isn't enough information to give an informed opinion. Some of the factors that should be taken into consideration, such as risk profiles, building vulnerabilities, insurance requirements, the museum's appetite for risk, the image the museum wants to project with respect to security, etc., are things that I would consider confidential or sensitive proprietary information and I certainly wouldn't suggest discussing them in a public forum.

This is really a discussion topic for the museum senior staff and I would suggest they include stakeholders including the insurance provider, legal counsel, police and fire representatives and, if desired, security professionals/consultants. These are decisions that shape the liability profile for the property and they should not be entered into lightly.

Once all of the above considerations have been fleshed out and the strategy has been identified, there are benchmarks that can be used to model the security function and align it with the strategy.

I hope you find something in the response helpful.

------------------------------
Kenneth Bennett
Director of Security
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX

Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2016 10:23 AM
From: Robin Meador-Woodruff
Subject: Security Benchmarking?

We are reexamining our security staff levels and wondered if there was any rule of thumb out there, although I suspect the answer will be "it depends..."

The Birmingham Museum of Art is a mid-sized museum with 164K total SF, 48K exhibition space SF and @15K art storage SF. There are 3 external doors that must be monitored, as well as a kiosk at the entrance to our parking lot. We are closed to the public on Mondays, we staff the security office 24/7, and have 22 full time security officers.

Is this staffing level too high? Because our guards are union, there is an obligation to schedule them 80 hours in a two-week period. Our head of security feels we are now adequately staffed. We have one unfilled position that we are considering reclassifying away from the security department, but do not want to take this step if we will be put in a position of need later on.

Any thoughts or standards of which we are unaware?

Thanks!

------------------------------
Robin Meador-Woodruff
Special Projects Coordinator
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL
------------------------------

Thank you so much for these thoughtful and well-informed comments Kenneth. You are correct that I have posted only bare bones info to accompany my request, as a precaution to avoid the possibility of sharing confidential information.

I greatly appreciate your discussion of additional stakeholders that should be engaged in this discussion... I feel that the composition of the list of one's specialized stakeholders is as much of a benchmarking standard as anything else in this process. After examination of the vulnerabilities and risks, if the security people, in consultation with local fire and police, are comfortable with set staffing levels and the registrar and insurance providers (and, of course, the lawyers) sign off as well, our senior staff will have a pretty comprehensive set of data which they will factor into the discussion. Having reliable data of this sort is the only way they can make an informed decision.

Again, my thanks for your comments!

Robin

------------------------------
Robin Meador-Woodruff
Special Projects Coordinator
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL

Original Message:
Sent: 05-18-2016 09:37 AM
From: Kenneth Bennett
Subject: Security Benchmarking?

Robin,

You are absolutely correct, "it depends". There are many factor that should be considered when determining security staffing levels and every entity is unique. While you have included some of the factors I would look at to evaluate staffing, there really isn't enough information to give an informed opinion. Some of the factors that should be taken into consideration, such as risk profiles, building vulnerabilities, insurance requirements, the museum's appetite for risk, the image the museum wants to project with respect to security, etc., are things that I would consider confidential or sensitive proprietary information and I certainly wouldn't suggest discussing them in a public forum.

This is really a discussion topic for the museum senior staff and I would suggest they include stakeholders including the insurance provider, legal counsel, police and fire representatives and, if desired, security professionals/consultants. These are decisions that shape the liability profile for the property and they should not be entered into lightly.

Once all of the above considerations have been fleshed out and the strategy has been identified, there are benchmarks that can be used to model the security function and align it with the strategy.

I hope you find something in the response helpful.

------------------------------
Kenneth Bennett
Director of Security
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX

My pleasure. If you have specific questions or concern that I might be able to assist with, please feel free to contact me directly. kbennett@dma.org

------------------------------
Kenneth Bennett
Director of Security
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX

Original Message:
Sent: 05-18-2016 11:27 AM
From: Robin Meador-Woodruff
Subject: Security Benchmarking?

Thank you so much for these thoughtful and well-informed comments Kenneth. You are correct that I have posted only bare bones info to accompany my request, as a precaution to avoid the possibility of sharing confidential information.

I greatly appreciate your discussion of additional stakeholders that should be engaged in this discussion... I feel that the composition of the list of one's specialized stakeholders is as much of a benchmarking standard as anything else in this process. After examination of the vulnerabilities and risks, if the security people, in consultation with local fire and police, are comfortable with set staffing levels and the registrar and insurance providers (and, of course, the lawyers) sign off as well, our senior staff will have a pretty comprehensive set of data which they will factor into the discussion. Having reliable data of this sort is the only way they can make an informed decision.

Again, my thanks for your comments!

Robin

------------------------------
Robin Meador-Woodruff
Special Projects Coordinator
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL

Thanks so much Kenneth, and everyone else who responded on and off the forum. I should add that our security department was included in those of us who were curious about benchmarking. While they (and our administration) have confidence in their assessment of current staffing levels, no one ever wants to give away a funded position, only to find a later change of events might make it difficult to recapture!

All the best wishes,

Robin

------------------------------
Robin Meador-Woodruff
Special Projects Coordinator
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL

Original Message:
Sent: 05-18-2016 03:27 PM
From: Kenneth Bennett
Subject: Security Benchmarking?

My pleasure. If you have specific questions or concern that I might be able to assist with, please feel free to contact me directly. kbennett@dma.org

------------------------------
Kenneth Bennett
Director of Security
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX