In the wake of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, the issue of commercial building security should be front and center in the minds of responsible building owners and managers.

Beyond providing for traditional security protection against such threats as burglary, fire, workplace violence, vandalism, as well as natural threats including hurricanes, floods, tornados, chemical accidents, and more, the prudent building management team must also consider the visibility and risk of their building against acts of domestic and foreign terrorism.

While the odds of any particular building coming under terrorist attack is statistically low, it is impossible to say you have a comprehensive commercial building security program without taking those odds into consideration.

It's more than locking the doors, turning on the alarms and posting some security officers

Organizations need a comprehensive 3-part commercial building security plan that covers these vital areas:

•    Threat Assessment
•    Preparedness
•    Incident Response

Threat assessment plans need to be thorough, and completing one can be a challenge for organizations that do not employ an in-house security professional. In those instances, it is wise to consider using the services of a commercial building security consultant.

This is also true when it comes to developing the preparedness plan. In order to be effective, the plan needs to address each potential vulnerability identified in the step above and provide a response scenario specific to each threat.

It is important to keep in mind that a building may face multiple threats of varying natures at the same time. The preparedness plan needs to be flexible enough to address this vulnerability.

The commercial building security plan must also be flexible enough to work in instances when the actual threat was never identified when the plan was developed.

The response plan works hand in hand with the preparedness plan in that it embodies the actual execution of the actions to be taken when threats are present.

This plan should be granular enough to identify personnel responsible for initial, follow-up and long-term threat response as well as providing a methodology for mobilizing and monitoring the responders.

If an outside commercial security consultant is available, he or she should be made part of the response team.

In addition to creating these plans, building owners should also develop security awareness programs for their own employees and tenants.

A program such as this can be as simple as including security-related articles in company publications, or may be extended all the way up to assigning additional security responsibilities to department heads and key employees.

Of course, a major part of any successful commercial building security program is the effective use of security equipment and personnel including security officers.

Providing comprehensive commercial building security requires an integrated effort between physical assets and human assets. After all, security can be no better than the physical and electronic safeguards in place and the people assigned the responsibility for monitoring and maintaining them.