De security of an object, event, hotel or shop is often tightened after there has been a conflict. However, it is important to respond more to the prevention of conflicts without jeopardizing the customer-oriented atmosphere. Read in this blog how security guards prevent a large number of conflicts unnoticed by means of predictive profiling.
What is predictive profiling?
The security technique predictive profiling, also known as behavioral profiling, has its core in the prevention of criminal activities and conflicts. It's a form of proactively protect where security guards must observe very carefully. Part of predictive profiling is behavior detection, which means that attention is paid to deviant behavior of people during observation. Deviant behavior is in many cases a precursor to an actual conflict and should therefore be recognized at an early stage.
Some advantages of predictive profiling are:
- Intervene in the preparatory phase
- Extra time to make the right decisions
- Very customer and visitor friendly
- Applicable to security at every level
- The intervention goes unnoticed
Security questioning
As soon as security guards observe deviant behaviour, they proceed to so-called security questioning. Security questioning aims to find out whether there is a logical explanation for the deviant behaviour. To find out, a security guard often has a brief conversation with the person in question. A logical explanation that arises from the conversation with the person is a signal to the security guard that the person did not intend any harm and that there is no threat. If no clear explanation emerges from the conversation or if there is new deviant behavior, then there is a threat. At that moment, security guards intervene and remove the threat.
How did predictive profiling come about?
Before the origin of predictive profiling let's go back to the year 1972. In that year a bloody attack was committed at an airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. The attack was carried out by members of the Japanese Red Army dressed as musicians. Together with their violin cases full of weapons, they passed through customs, after which they opened fire. At the time of the attack, a fierce war was raging with Palestine, so that all attention at customs was focused on Arab external characteristics. After the attack, it was realized that ethnic profiling was no longer possible. This idea ultimately led to predictive profiling. This concerns deviating behaviors rather than external characteristics.
Predictive profiling in the Netherlands
The method is an important part of national security in the field of security in the Netherlands. In addition, it is increasingly being used in other industries, such as store security, event security en object security. The interest is so great that many parties offer the Predictive Profiling training to optimally prepare new security guards. In short, predictive profiling has enormous potential and provides invisible security that prevents many violent conflicts. Prevention is better than cure.