At high-profile basketball games, VIPs and celebrities are often in coveted courtside seats, making executive protection challenging. Players also face risks from fans within arm’s reach, and unruly behavior can spill over quickly onto the court. Security leaders Darcy Leutzinger and Larry Thompson share their insights on EP, crowd dynamics, and risk management in sports security.

Then, luxury hotel security professional Ricardo Flores, CPP, shares his own personal experience with executive protection threats—when he was abducted, threatened, and ransomed while on the road in 2024.

Additional Resources

Read more about the risks associated with courtside seating at basketball games in this article from Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/fan-misbehavior/risk-sits-courtside-at-basketball-games/

Explore more about sports security and unruly fan behavior in this collection of articles from Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/fan-misbehavior/

As fan misbehavior evolves, adopting a holistic risk mitigation approach is key. Learn more in this article from James DeMeo: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/fan-misbehavior/6-considerations-for-managing-fan-misbehavior-in-modern-sports-venues/

Explore how technology can enable a more effective security advance: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2023/april/tech-advance-how-executive-protection-leverages-technology/

Study the use of force continuum in this Security Management video: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2025/june/The-5-Steps-in-a-Use-of-Force-Continuum/

De-escalation is a powerful tool for security professionals to defuse initial tensions. Explore it here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/11/deescalation/

Learn about the digital breadcrumbs—including on social media—that can expose principals and executives to risk: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/executive-protection/digital-breadcrumbs/

Read more about Ricardo Flores’s kidnapping experience in his article for Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/executive-protection/highway-kidnapping/

In an uncertain world, it can be difficult to see past the next 48 hours. But future-proofing exercises can help security and business leaders get more strategic about what they want to achieve in the next few years and how to get there, says futurist Heather Vescent. She helps outline how to step back and take a different worldview to uncover emerging risks and opportunities. Then, Scott Fitzsimmons talks about how to chart a path forward from individual contributor to manager to leader in security—for yourself or your employees—and how to instill a culture of reflection and professional growth in your organization.

Additional Resources

Get to know our colleague and friend, Mariah Bartz, in the ASIS Blog here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-news/blog/2025/in-loving-memory-mariah-bartz/

Read more about how to incorporate future-proofing into security tabletops and thought exercises in Heather Vescent’s article for Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/01/tabletop-exercises/future-proofing/

Want to test out Vescent’s future-proofing Mad Libs exercise? Use this video for a walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_4Yt6HYOyk&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asisonline.org%2F&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ

Worried about how artificial intelligence is changing the security industry? It’s worth thinking about with both discernment and an open mind, according to this Security Management article from August: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/08/guards-to-guardians/

In an AI age, human skills are increasingly valuable. Learn how to leverage core debate skills for critical thinking: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/08/debate-skills-for-ai/

Read more from Scott Fitzsimmons about security leadership and professional development here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/12/employee-retention/from_officer_to_leader_rethinking_leadership_development_in_security/

Interested in advancing your career in 2026? Don’t miss out on the ASIS International resources in our Career HQ: https://www.asisonline.org/professional-development/career-hq/

Chemical and biological attack attempts can be hard to detect, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t happening, including at major events and sports games, says Jeff Brodeur in this month’s Security Management Highlights podcast, sponsored by Acoem. We look at other blind spots this episode, including in multitenant building security with René Reider, CPP, PSP, who explains how changing perspectives from flat, concentric circles of security to vertical strategies makes a difference for tenants. Then, Kim Pacelli outlines some of the frequently encountered challenges in discrimination and Title IX investigations and how security personnel can get involved.

Additional Resources

Learn more about this episode’s sponsor, Acoem, and the ATD gunshot detection system here: https://acoematd.com/

Read more from Jeff Brodeur about chemical and biological weapon risk and screening in the latest issue of Security Technology: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2025/december/essential-security-strategies-threat-of-chemical-attacks/

Dive deeper into screening skills and considerations here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2025/december/

Want to learn more about multitenant facility security and the challenges of porous facilities? Check out Security Management’s coverage here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/11/multitenant/

If you’re facing pushback on security controls, read this analysis here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/11/multitenant/canny-communication/

Before introducing new security measures, consider your change management process: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/09/change-management/

Want to boost your creative, concierge-style security? You can learn from museums. https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/04/concierge/

What are your responsibilities during a Title IX investigation? Security personnel are often the first responders. Learn more in these Security Management articles: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/11/title-ix-investigations/

Have you ever felt manipulated into doubting yourself and your abilities, even though your track record shows that you’re doing well? You might have encountered a gaslighter, says Michael Gips, CPP. These individuals’ manipulative shenanigans can be costly to personnel and productivity unless managers intervene promptly. Also in this episode, disruptive behavior extends beyond the office. Yan Byalik, CPP, of Newport News, Virginia, shares how and when security teams can intervene in unwanted behavior in public spaces—such as libraries, city halls, and parks—and how to communicate about access rights and restrictions with staff and visitors.

Additional Resources

Read Michael Gips’s article about gaslighters here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/10/disruptive-behavior/gaslighting/

Gaslighters are the only adversarial personalities you might meet at work. Read the list here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/10/disruptive-behavior/adversarial-personalities/

Incivility in the workplace can be very expensive. Explore the costs and risks of disruptive behavior in this collection of articles from Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/10/disruptive-behavior/

Concerned about panhandlers or other disruptive behavior near your organization’s property? Explore some of the legal protections around those behaviors in this article: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/10/disruptive-behavior/securing-public-spaces/

Your mindset makes a huge difference in proactively managing change at work, rather than just reacting to it, says Mohammed Shehzad in the October 2025 episode of SM Highlights. When security technology and processes get involved, resistance and confusion can impact the overall progression and success of the change. Also in this episode, Rachel Briggs from The Clarity Factory outlines some of the essential findings from the 2025 Chief Security Officer Survey. Then, Erin McNally from Growing Resiliency for Aquarium and Zoo Employees (GRAZE) explains how traumatic critical incidents at zoos can offer lessons around crisis recovery, employee support, and grief.

Additional Resources

Contemplating a security technology or process change? Read more from Mohammed Shehzad about managing that process here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/09/change-management/resistance-into-readiness/

Explore that 2023 study about change management and the reasons people resist change here: https://www.oak.com/media/c5llwb4v/oak-change-report-digital.pdf

More resources and case studies on change management—including at the CIA—are available here from Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/09/change-management/

Explore research from The Clarity Factory about change management as an essential part of holistic security: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/09/change-management/holistic-security-change/

Dig deeper into issues of violent incident recovery, including trauma response and leadership, here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/09/violent-incident-recovery/

With nearly a million people participating every year, Mardi Gras is a massive economic and cultural engine for the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. While the festivities—and the many other major events hosted in The Big Easy—can make security efforts more complex, community outreach and partnership enable law enforcement to keep the good times rolling, says Captain Anthony Micheu, New Orleans Police Department Traffic and Special Events Commander. Find out more about mass event security in this year’s GSX host city, New Orleans, in this special edition of the SM Highlights podcast.

Additional Resources

Learn more about GSX for this year and moving forward at https://www.gsx.org/

Interested in boosting your security intelligence capabilities, whether for an event or an individual, in this issue of Security Technology: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2024/october/

Read about the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans and how the city reevaluated security: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/january/Bourbon-Street-Reopens/

Interested in soft target protections? Read more from Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/03/site-hardening/

How did security and law enforcement professionals use the swarm leadership style to lead an effective response to the Boston Marathon bombing? Read more in Security Management: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2023/09/marathon-and-mass-event-security/swarm-leadership-boston-marathon-bombing-response/

In the aftermath of school violence incidents, security professionals are often looking for ways to help. That turned into a three-year effort for Jeff Slotnick, CPP, PSP, who co-led the ASIS International effort to develop the new ASIS School Security Standard. By facilitating discussion across 50 multidisciplinary volunteers and collecting input from non-security professionals, the team was able to build a game-changing standard. Learn more about this project and ways security professionals can make a difference by volunteering in this GSX Daily episode of SM Highlights, sponsored by Titan Protection.

Additional Resources

Learn more about this episode’s sponsor, Titan Protection, at https://www.tpcsecurity.com/

Interested in learning more about the new ASIS School Security Standard? Check out the overview session at GSX on 30 September at 11:00 a.m. CT: https://gsx25.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?scheduleid=811

Or visit the ASIS store—online or in-person at GSX at booth 1919—to purchase your copy. ASIS members can access the eBook edition of all ASIS International standards and guidelines for free. https://store.asisonline.org/school-security-standard-ebook.html

Learn more about the ASIS President’s Award of Merit and other ASIS Awards of Excellence here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-news/press-room/asis-international-announces-its-2025-asis-awards-of-excellence-recipients/

Want to get involved volunteering with ASIS International? Learn about opportunities to contribute here: https://www.asisonline.org/about-asis/get-involved/

Read Jeff Slotnick’s latest Security Management article here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/08/guards-to-guardians/

From snide remarks that set off office arguments to physical threats connected to a CEO’s social media post, political polarization has put workplace tensions on a hair trigger. Melissa Muir and Raymond Fleck of Pinkerton’s Comprehensive Risk Management Group join the GSX Daily edition of the SM Highlights podcast to talk about their upcoming GSX session on mitigating risk amid workplace incivility and where security professionals can lead their businesses forward by putting the mission over political differences.

Additional Resources

Meet this episode’s sponsor, Johnson Controls, at GSX booth 1955 or online at https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/

Attend Muir and Fleck’s presentation, “Bridging the Divide: Security Solutions in a Politically Polarized World,” at GSX on 29 September at 11:15 a.m. CT. Learn more here: https://gsx25.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?scheduleid=695

Read more from SHRM about social and political incivility in the workplace in 2024 here: https://www.shrm.org/about/press-room/political-and-social-viewpoint-differences-escalating-workplace-

Explore the Harvard Business Review coverage of the costs of incivility at work here: https://hbr.org/2013/01/the-price-of-incivility

Read more about threats to judges, attorneys, and jurors in Security Management coverage here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/10/election-security/attorney-judge-threats/

Explore more about how to manage security during periods of mass protest: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/05/mass-protests/

What do you do if your workplace is feeling toxic? Check out resources and articles here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/05/toxic-workplaces/

Discover six sources of workplace conflict here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2020/06/six-sources-of-workplace-cultural-conflicts/

Security professionals have to be integrated into operational resilience efforts and business continuity planning to prevent disruptions of all kinds, according to new research from the ASIS Foundation. In this episode of the SM Highlights podcast, report co-author and ResOrgs principal consultant Joanne Stevenson shares why security gets left out of resilience discussions and what they can do about it. Then, Don Aviv, CPP, PCI, PSP, CEO of Interfor International, discusses what happened during a shooting at a Manhattan office building in July and how proactive threat monitoring can change the nature of site security.

Additional Resources

Read the ASIS Foundation research, Operational Resilience: The Critical Contribution of Security to Operational Resilience, online here: https://store.asisonline.org/asis-foundation-operational-resilience.html?_gl=1*1l3liqy*_gcl_au*MTE5NTA5MjQzMC4xNzUxMzk3MDA3*_ga*NzQxNzQ1OTA0LjE3NTEzOTcwMDg.*_ga_0ZPVSP549B*czE3NTY4MTYwMjAkbzIwMiRnMSR0MTc1NjgxNjcxNCRqNjAkbDAkaDA ASIS members can access the report for free. Read the free executive summary here: https://www.asisonline.org/globalassets/foundation/research/asis-foundation-operational-resilience-executive-summary.pdf

For an overview and analysis of some of the key points of the research, read Security Management’s take here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/july/Security-Operational-Resilience-Planning/

For more on the cyberattack on the National Health Service in 2017, read the National Audit Office’s investigation report: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/investigation-wannacry-cyber-attack-and-the-nhs/

Interested in using human-centric narratives to back up your metrics? Get some advice and examples here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/03/metrics/crafting-metrics-story/

Interested in how to build out a resilience function, including a crisis response team? Read this article from the SM archive: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2024/07/resilience/create-crisis-managment-team/

Get an overview of the shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan in Security Management’s coverage here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/july/345-park-ave-shooting/

Research past security incidents in high-rise buildings here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2021/03/mitigating-rising-risks-for-high-rises/

Learn more about digital threat monitoring and assessment on social media here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/08/threat-assessment/

Want to explore the changing nature of risk further with Don Aviv, CPP, PCI, PSP, and other security experts? Attend the Game Changer sessions at GSX: https://www.gsx.org/game-changers/

This month’s Security Management Highlights episode features three compelling conversations with industry experts, starting with a chat with Ontic’s Cynthia Marble about a new step on the pathway to violence—step zero—and how it provides an even earlier opportunity to prevent escalation, if you’re paying attention. Then, Jeff Krull from Baker Tilly outlines some of the risk management challenges when an organization swiftly switches third-party partners and vendors and how cybersecurity professionals can step in. Lastly, Sean Spence, APP, at AON Corporation takes us outdoors to talk about scalable and adaptable security at events.

Additional Resources

What are the steps on the pathway to violence? Watch this video from Security Management to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=job8p3x4uEw&list=PLEIon2_1tJwVHbHlEnyMgNjdMnm0xO_vP&index=67

The U.S. Secret Service’s Exceptional Case Study Project is available here: https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/preventing-assassination-secret-service-exceptional-case-study-project

Want to learn more from Jeff Krull about cybersecurity and vendor management? Read his article here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2025/august/shifting-battleground-of-cybersecurity-risk-management-for-manufacturers/

For more about manufacturing security, read the latest issue of Security Technology: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/monthly-issues/security-technology/archive/2025/august/

Having trouble connecting with executives about risk management? Try some of the guidance from Security Management’s coverage about metrics and connecting with stakeholders: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/03/metrics/

Learn more about securing outdoor events, concerts, and festivals in Security Management’s July coverage: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/07/concerts/

Sean Spence outlined the four distinct categories of live events in his Security Management article here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/07/concerts/live-event-risk-management/

Read about the dangers of extreme weather and temperatures on security here: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2025/05/extreme-temperatures/