Acritical part of our role as security professionals is to conduct patrols. Depending on where we work, those patrols could be conducted on foot, by vehicle, with a bicycle, or even remotely through security cameras!

Each method is meant to achieve the same purpose – to keep us aware of what is happening at our sites, make us available for responses to incidents, and act as a deterrent to crime and disorder.

When we are doing patrols, it is important to apply our training, experience, and senses to meaningfully observe our environments. Some key things to consider include but are not limited to:

What Do You See?

• Flooding or spills
• Doors propped open
• Property damage
• Burnt out lights
• Trip and fall risks
• Trespassers
• Fire or fire hazards
• Suspicious activity
• Video recording in unauthorized areas
• Confidential information in plain sight

What Do You Smell?

• Smoke
• Chemicals
• Cigarettes or marijuana in non-smoking areas
• Gas leak
• Urine

What Do You Hear?

• Yelling
• Crying
• Activity in areas that are closed
• Hot work (construction) without a permit
• Alarms

What Do You Feel?

• Cold (heating failure)
• Air (broken window)
• Dampness (leak)
• Hot (air conditioning failure)

When we encounter these concerns while on patrol, we should report them promptly based on the escalation procedures at our assigned sites and respond according to our post orders. Reports should be accurate, timely, and include all relevant details. A great tip to remember is the 4 W’s – who, what, when, and where. Another helpful tip is to describe the problem and share what the resolution was.

The best tips will be included in the next issue of ASP’s quarterly newsletter with a special shout-out to the contributor. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Working in respites is nothing short of unpredictable and Tuesday May 3rd at the Willowdale Welcome Center (5800 Yonge Street) was an example of just how quickly a situation can unfold.

ASP Security Shift Supervisor Scott Maidens, Security Guard Emily Parkinson and Security Guard Jasmeet Singh were only 30 minutes into their shift when a violent situation developed.

A service user grabbed a shelter staff member and held a knife to the person’s neck. The ASP team instinctively leapt into action, utilizing their training and experience to intervene and safely disarm the individual.

The quick actions and level of professionalism displayed by Scott, Emily and Jasmeet were nothing less than heroic and without a doubt prevented a potentially tragic event from happening.

As a result of their actions on this day, the City of Toronto has recommended all three ASP security staff for a Cause for Applause award.

A Cause for Applause is awarded to employees or teams that have gone above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities.

Nominees include employees or teams that have achieved extraordinary work with a positive impact to internal clients, residents and/or business.

The entire management team at ASP would like to recognize and thank Scott, Emily and Jasmeet for their exemplary actions in the face of danger and we are extremely proud to have ASP represented in such a positive and professional manner!

Thank you for going above and beyond in the face of crisis and continuing to do what you do on a daily basis.

Monique Radway has been with ASP since March 2021. She originally joined the ASP team as a crossing guard. Prior to joining ASP, she successfully completed a certificate program in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Technology in Jamaica. She has 2 years experience in customer service and 1 year of office administration experience. She is very professional while discharging her duty and always followed proper procedures as mandated by the City of Toronto. In October 2021, she temporarily moved into the role of Administrator at our North York office to assist with the Crossing Guard operations. Her role primarily was to answer phone calls from the Crossing Guards. She demonstrated a positive attitude in adapting herself to the new environment. In a short period of time, she learned about the X Guard App and started managing temporary punch ins, assigning and unassigning guards on the App with minimal support. She also started assisting with other administrative functions such as monthly uniform inventory counts, issuing ASP jackets and vests to the new hires and existing crossing guards. She became an integral part of the Crossing Guard team. Her dedication and commitment towards her job were recognized by the entire ASP team. I would like to thank her profoundly, for all the good work she put forth in last couple of months. Great job, Monique

Thank you, Roberto!

Please join our ASP Crossing Guard team in wishing a happy retirement to Roberto (Rudy) Soriano. Rudy has worked as a dedicated full-time member of the ASP School Crossing Guard Services since the program’s inception in 2019. Prior to working at ASP, he was a Crossing Guard with the Toronto Police Service for over 10 years. He exemplified kind[1]heartedness and was consistently reliable during his tenure with ASP. He will be sorely missed by the management team, his fellow crossing guards, and the community he served. We wish him all the best as he embarks on this new chapter of his life. Many thanks for his hard work and service

Let’s Make the Fourth Wave the Final Wave!

What Can We Do?

• Get vaccinated – protect yourself and others
• Be aware of risks associated with different settings
• Wear face masks indoors – properly worn face masks are your best defense against the virus
• Continue to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas like campgrounds, playgrounds and dog parks
• Maintain social distancing – Health Canada still encourages us to minimize close contact with others.
• Keep hands and surfaces clean
• If you feel sick, even with just a sore throat, you should stay home and self-isolate if you have symptoms
• Continue to avoid non-essential travel
• Socialize outdoors whenever possible
• Avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation —especially with the unvaccinated.

Take Care of Your Mental and Physical
Health by:

• Adjusting your expectations based on what is in your control
• Have a backup plan if something is not available (school/daycare, gym, etc.)
• Take advantage of nice weather and spend time outdoors
• Acknowledge that pandemic fatigue is real and make use of our EAP (LifeWorks program) if you are experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety, stress, or depression

Collectively, our actions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our families, friends, and co-workers safe. As the pandemic drags on through a fourth, intense wave, front line hospital staff are running on empty tanks, and we owe it to them to take precautionary measures and make it through this wave without overburdening our healthcare system.

“Ozan Kaya is one of our many great Respite Supervisors who was recently recognized by the Toronto Police Services for his excellent and professional assistance in making an arrest at one of our Respite locations. Ozan has been working respites with ASP since August 2020 and his great efforts do not go unnoticed. He is a hard worker who is constantly looking for growth and provides excellent support to his team and ASP. Ozan was awarded an ASP Certificate of Appreciation for his constant hard work and ability to lead his team with confidence and success.

We look forward to continuing watching Ozan’s journey with us!”

Since we all spend so much time within our scope of work, one of the initiatives we have identified to increase employee engagement, morale and encourage good working relationships amongst our colleagues was to create a social committee within our
Toronto office.

Having a dedicated committee that primarily focuses on fun, lighthearted, team building opportunities and allows us to incorporate a fun-filled calendar into our workplace, will allow us to achieve a good work-life balance for our health and wellbeing. Having organised social events will give all of us something fun to look forward to and help us all relieve workplace stress.

Some of the benefits that our team members will see is increased employee engagement, opportunities for networking and career growth, lower employee turnover, minimizing conflict in the workplace and opportunities for diversity and inclusion. Our goal is to focus on Diversity and Inclusion workplace wellness and set up events that we all can participate and have a great time.

Stephanie Power was appointed as the chair of the social committee, and I was able to pose a few questions to get some insight on how she sees the impact of the social committee having on our team members.

Why do you think having a work social committee is so important and beneficial?

I believe it is important and beneficial because it’s where colleagues get to come together, brainstorm and put together events, or ideas on how to have employee engagement and employee recognition in the workplace.

Having a social committee stimulates a real collaborative process where it allows team members to get to know one another while contributing to the workplace in a new and exciting way.

Our first event was the Summer Bash, which was a great success! We had everyone in the office participating, laughing, smiles on their faces and getting to know each other on a different but professional level.

What are you looking forward to the most as the chair of the Social Committee?

I am looking forward to working with the team on more events or ideas on how we can continue to build team moral in the workplace.

The best feeling is watching everything come together and seeing everyone participating and enjoying themselves. Also, when the employees come to us and say thank you, they had so much fun, and appreciate our hard work we put into the event is very rewarding.

RES/CIC will be hosting another session in the coming weeks for our Human Resources team.

ASP is supported by ICTS initiatives for the post-COVID-19 era in the aviation sector. The COVID-19 crisis is dramatically impacting the aviation industry.

ICTS Europe – the aviation security specialists, the Company with Aviation DNA flowing in its veins, has set an objective for the organization: To help the industry bring airplanes back to the air as soon as possible.

We are addressing COVID-19 risks with solutions that will boost global confidence that “Flying is Safe”.

Our approach is modular and intended to benefit as much of the Aviation eco-system as possible. From airports, airlines, regulators through to competitors, our objective is a simple one – to address COVID-19 risks through pragmatic solutions and increase global confidence in air travel.

We would like to share with you the current initiatives we have taken in ICTS Europe and jointly with specialized partners.

Our team is ready to explore with you how these concept and products could be adapted to match your vision, objectives, plans and preferences. If you would like to explore any of these products further, please do not hesitate in contacting Angus Wilson – awilson@security-asp.com

Flight Reservations for Passengers/Airline

Document Verification and Security Processes at the Airport

Social Distancing: Enforcing Guidance at Airports

Sanitation of Baggage, Equipment and Surfaces

Sanitation of Baggage, Equipment and Surfaces

We are adding some healthy competition to your iSpring online learning experience by adding a leaderboard.

The leaderboard will show your points and the points of your closest competitors. We will start this program by first assigning points to the Basic Training course and will then expand from there.

Making it to the top of the leaderboard will give you the bragging rights to be called an iSpring champion! For Toronto Pearson Security staff, please visit me when you are either in 1st place or tied for 1st place to receive a token of appreciation. We will expand the reward program for top learners at other sites in the near future. Happy learning!