As citizens of the United States and countries around the world watched in horror, violent Trump supporters broke into the US Capitol and held up the business of the government for several hours. It quickly became clear, as the Capitol police were overwhelmed, that a major element of what happened at the US Capitol was due to a distinct lack of planning, intelligence and leadership.
RANE's Executive Director of Safety and Security, Brian Lynch, guided dozens of clients and media throughout the week on security failures and the lessons that can be learned. At RANE, Lynch daily supports security professionals, businesses and even government professionals on how to plan for civil unrest. The key: planning, training and communication. In advance.
“If you are looking for a failure, I don’t know what one looks like other than what we have seen,” Lynch told an Austin CBS affiliate. “Every American has the right to protest. I think where the line is drawn is where you protest and how you protest. And I think [January 6] crossed that line.”
January 6th is in the history books. But January 20th, Inauguration Day, lies ahead. Lynch reminded reporters that, just as 9/11 prompted permanent security changes from government buildings to airports and other critical infrastructure, federal law enforcement will review the failures of January 6th and use that to create new protocols to prevent future incidents.
On KHOU in Houston, he said, all agencies, federal buildings, even cities need to ensure they have working security plans in place.
"’We do not know who had access to those sensitive areas,’ Lynch told reporter Marcelino Benito. ‘You also have to worry about placement of technical surveillance equipment. The other thing you have to worry about is were there bugs placed, were foreign intelligence services involved?’"
In any crisis, even the attack on the government we saw on January 6, work must continue. And make sure to communicate, communicate and communicate more to avert fear and misinformation.
”Everyone needs to understand their roles and their responsibilities,” Lynch said in a recent webinar RANE produced for clients. “It’s critically important that the individuals that are aligned to be part of the crisis management plan and the vendors and the police agencies that are involved, don't wait to meet them when the crisis happens. Training is so important. It starts with, what am I trying to protect? We’re trying to protect people, obviously. And we’re trying to communicate to our employees, what are the risks and how do you mitigate those risks.”
For businesses, that includes letting your employees know how important their safety is, and that you care, and that there is a team behind them analyzing intelligence, watching crises, monitoring the media, responding to emergencies, 24-7-365.
RANE can help your business assess and mitigate risk with actionable intelligence to build better situational awareness, tools to efficiently screen and analyze emerging risks or issues, and support to help respond, manage, and mitigate risk. Join our network today.
