North Star Group

05/26/2026

Religious leaders and lawmakers calling for increased funding to protect houses of worship reflects a growing reality across the United States:

Faith-based organizations continue facing elevated security concerns that can no longer be ignored.

At North Star Group, we believe additional funding and resources for house of worship safety and security are both reasonable and necessary given today’s threat environment.

Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other faith-based institutions are designed to be welcoming, open, and community-oriented spaces. Unfortunately, that openness can also create vulnerabilities involving:
• Targeted violence
• Hate crimes
• Extremism
• Harassment and intimidation
• Active shooter threats
• Vandalism
• Suspicious surveillance activity

Many houses of worship also function as schools, daycare centers, food distribution centers, counseling facilities, and community gathering locations, further increasing operational complexity and responsibility.

Effective house of worship security is not simply about adding guards or cameras. It requires layered strategies involving:
• Situational awareness
• Access control
• Emergency operations planning
• Security training
• Protective intelligence
• Threat reporting
• Communication systems
• Coordination with law enforcement and first responders
• Volunteer and staff preparedness

Another important point is that smaller congregations often lack the financial resources available to larger institutions, despite facing many of the same risks and vulnerabilities.

From a security risk management perspective, protecting houses of worship should not be viewed as optional or secondary. Protecting people while they worship, gather, learn, and build community is a legitimate public safety concern.

Preparedness, awareness, and proactive security planning can significantly reduce vulnerabilities and improve emergency response capabilities before incidents occur.

Security and openness are not mutually exclusive. Both can — and should — exist together.

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There's an effort on Capitol Hill to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which awards funding to houses of worship to harden their defenses. In 2024, roughly a third of those who applied actually received funding.

05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, we at North Star Group remember and honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the United States.

While many of us will spend this long weekend with family, friends, cookouts, travel, and the unofficial start of summer, it is important to remember what this day truly represents.

Memorial Day is not simply a holiday. It is a day of remembrance for those who never came home.

The freedoms, opportunities, and security we enjoy today were secured through the sacrifice of generations of American service members who gave their lives defending this country and protecting others.

We also recognize the families who continue carrying that loss every single day.

As we enjoy time with loved ones this weekend, we encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on the meaning behind Memorial Day and honor those who paid the ultimate price in service to our nation.

We remember.
We honor.
We will not forget.

05/24/2026

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will likely become one of the largest and most complex security operations ever conducted across North America.

Protecting millions of spectators, athletes, dignitaries, staff, transportation systems, and surrounding infrastructure requires far more than visible security at stadium entrances. Modern event security involves layered planning, intelligence-driven operations, interagency coordination, and converged physical and cybersecurity strategies working together.

This article highlights the enormous amount of advance planning already taking place involving:
• Executive protection
• Protective intelligence
• Threat intelligence
• Travel security
• Venue security
• Crowd management
• Cybersecurity
• Credentialing systems
• Transportation security
• Emergency response coordination

Major international events create unique operational environments because threats can emerge from multiple directions simultaneously, including:
• Terrorism concerns
• Drone activity
• Cyberattacks
• Insider threats
• Organized crime
• Public disorder
• Infrastructure disruptions
• Targeted violence
• Geopolitical tensions spilling into domestic security environments

Another important point is that modern event security extends far beyond the stadium itself.

Hotels, airports, rail systems, fan zones, nearby businesses, executive movements, communications systems, and surrounding critical infrastructure all become part of the broader security environment.

This is where layered security and operational coordination become critical.

Successful security operations require collaboration between:
• Law enforcement
• Intelligence agencies
• Private security
• Emergency management
• Transportation authorities
• Venue operators
• Cybersecurity teams
• Public-private sector partners

The article also reinforces the growing importance of advance work within executive protection and protective intelligence operations. Advance teams play a major role in identifying vulnerabilities, assessing routes and venues, coordinating emergency procedures, evaluating threats, and reducing operational risk before events even occur.

Large-scale international events are no longer simply sporting events. They are global security operations requiring continuous situational awareness, intelligence-sharing, preparedness, and adaptability in an evolving threat environment.

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Security teams can streamline their executive protection threat assessments by first narrowing which matches principals want to attend. After that, respectful outreach takes priority.

05/23/2026

The Texas Education Agency’s latest school safety audit findings are another reminder that school safety is not something districts can afford to treat as a “check-the-box” exercise.

According to the report, approximately 10% of Texas schools failed to meet all state safety testing requirements during recent inspections. While the majority of districts reportedly performed well, these findings still highlight the importance of continuous assessment, operational discipline, and ongoing accountability in K-12 safety and security programs.

Texas school safety audits are conducted under requirements established through the Texas Education Code and follow guidance developed by the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) at Texas State University. These audits evaluate areas involving:
• Access control
• Exterior door security
• Visitor management
• Emergency operations planning
• Security procedures
• Campus preparedness
• Intruder detection measures
• Physical security and operational readiness

The audits are designed to identify vulnerabilities before incidents occur — not after.

One important takeaway is that effective school safety depends heavily on consistency and operational ex*****on. Policies alone are not enough if doors are not secured properly, procedures are not followed consistently, communication systems fail, or personnel are not adequately trained.

School safety requires active participation from:
• Administrators
• Teachers and faculty
• School resource officers and security personnel
• Maintenance and facilities staff
• Emergency management personnel
• District leadership

Protecting students, staff, and visitors requires layered security strategies involving prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response, and continuous improvement.

Another important point is that school safety extends beyond active threat response alone. Schools must also account for:
• Everyday campus security
• Situational awareness
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Emergency communications
• Severe weather preparedness
• Visitor accountability
• Physical vulnerabilities
• Operational coordination

The goal of these audits is ultimately risk reduction — identifying gaps, mitigating vulnerabilities, strengthening preparedness, and improving the overall security posture of Texas schools.

Threats evolve.
Vulnerabilities evolve.
School safety planning must evolve with them.

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The agency told ABC13 that school districts are tasked with strengthening school security and ensuring they're prepared for emergencies.

05/22/2026

Operational security (OPSEC) is often associated with the military, intelligence communities, or government operations. But the core principles behind OPSEC apply far beyond military environments.

This U.S. Army article is an important reminder that situational awareness, information protection, and personal security should be part of everyday life — especially in an increasingly connected and unpredictable world.

OPSEC is fundamentally about recognizing how small pieces of information, when combined together, can create larger security risks.

That may include:
• Oversharing travel plans online
• Posting real-time locations
• Publicly sharing routines or schedules
• Revealing family information
• Exposing identifiable backgrounds in photos
• Discussing operational details publicly
• Failing to recognize surveillance or targeting risks

While military personnel and their families face unique concerns due to geopolitical tensions and national security considerations, many of the same principles increasingly apply to civilians, businesses, executives, critical infrastructure personnel, and everyday travelers as well.

Global geopolitical instability, cyber threats, social engineering, online targeting, doxxing, organized crime, and intelligence collection efforts can all create downstream security implications domestically.

This is why situational awareness and operational security matter.

Effective OPSEC practices may involve:
• Thinking before posting online
• Limiting unnecessary exposure of personal information
• Maintaining awareness while traveling
• Recognizing suspicious activity
• Protecting digital and physical information
• Understanding how adversaries gather intelligence
• Reducing predictable patterns and vulnerabilities

Another important point is that OPSEC is not about paranoia. It is about awareness, preparedness, and risk reduction.

In many cases, adversaries, criminals, or malicious actors do not obtain sensitive information through sophisticated hacking alone. Sometimes they collect it gradually through publicly available information, routine observations, behavioral patterns, and social media activity.

Security is everyone’s responsibility.

Whether in military operations, corporate environments, travel, critical infrastructure, or everyday life, maintaining situational awareness and practicing sound operational security habits can significantly reduce unnecessary risk.

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Operations security is the process of protecting unclassified but sensitive information that, if pieced together by adversaries, could compromise missio...

05/22/2026

Texas State University continues playing a major role in shaping school safety and active threat response discussions nationwide.

This new research released through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center — in partnership with the Security Industry Association (SIA) — examined school-based active shooter events and highlighted the significant role that secured doors, access control, and layered security measures can play in reducing casualties during attacks.

One of the important findings discussed in the research was that casualty likelihood was significantly higher when doors were unsecured compared to secured or locked environments. That reinforces a critical reality within modern K-12 security planning:

Layered physical security matters.

Texas State University occupies a unique position within the broader school safety ecosystem in Texas and nationally because it is home not only to the ALERRT Center, but also the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC).

While the organizations serve different operational roles, both contribute heavily to school safety, emergency preparedness, training, research, threat mitigation, and guidance for K-12 environments across Texas.

ALERRT has become nationally recognized for active attacker response training, integrated response training, and research-based law enforcement instruction. The FBI has previously identified ALERRT as the national standard for active shooter response training.

At the same time, TxSSC works closely with schools, districts, law enforcement, emergency management, and state stakeholders regarding:
• School safety guidance
• Emergency operations planning
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Security audits
• Access control
• Training and preparedness
• Best practices and compliance support

Together, these overlapping efforts reinforce an important principle:
Effective school safety requires prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and continuous assessment working together.

This research also reinforces that school safety is not dependent upon a single technology or standalone solution. Effective security strategies typically involve:
• Access control and secured entry points
• Visitor management
• Situational awareness
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Emergency operations planning
• Staff training and drills
• Law enforcement coordination
• Communication systems
• Layered physical security measures

Another important point is that active threat preparedness continues evolving based on real-world lessons learned, operational research, and after-action analysis. Institutions like Texas State University, ALERRT, and TxSSC play an important role in helping schools, first responders, and security professionals adapt to those evolving threats.

School safety is not static.
Threats evolve.
Operational challenges evolve.
Preparedness must evolve with them.

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The Texas State research emphasizes school security failures are often caused by preventable gaps in daily procedures and maintenance.

05/21/2026

Workplace violence in healthcare should never become viewed as “part of the job.”

This article highlights an issue that healthcare professionals — especially nurses — have been raising concerns about for years: the normalization of verbal threats, physical assaults, harassment, and aggressive behavior within healthcare environments.

From a healthcare safety and security perspective, this is a major issue affecting not only employee wellbeing, but also operational safety, staffing retention, patient care, morale, and overall organizational resilience.

Healthcare workers often operate in highly stressful and emotionally charged environments involving:
• Trauma
• Mental health crises
• Substance abuse incidents
• High emotions and grief
• Long wait times
• Behavioral emergencies
• High patient volumes
• Family stressors

But difficult environments should never justify violence against healthcare staff.

Effective healthcare security programs increasingly require layered approaches involving:
• Workplace violence prevention programs
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Security staffing and patrols
• Situational awareness training
• De-escalation training
• Access control measures
• Emergency response protocols
• Threat reporting systems
• Environmental design and visibility improvements
• Coordination between clinical staff and security personnel

Another important point is that workplace violence in healthcare is often underreported because many healthcare workers have historically been conditioned to believe aggressive behavior is simply something they must tolerate as part of the profession.

That normalization creates risk.

Organizations that fail to address repeated threats, intimidation, or assaults may unintentionally contribute to long-term safety, staffing, liability, and operational issues.

From a broader security risk management perspective, healthcare security is not solely about protecting buildings. It is also about protecting the people inside them — including nurses, physicians, staff, patients, and visitors.

Situational awareness, early reporting, supportive leadership, and strong workplace violence prevention policies all play important roles in creating safer healthcare environments.

No healthcare professional should feel unsafe while simply trying to do their job.

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LDI Fellows say the issue is one of patient safety, and should not be viewed as unavoidable. They also offer federal reforms to protect staff.

05/21/2026

Layered K-12 security is not just about adding more cameras, locks, or security technology. Effective school safety requires a coordinated approach that addresses prevention, preparedness, response, environmental design, and operational awareness together.

This article highlights the concept of “inside-out defense,” emphasizing how schools should think about security as overlapping layers rather than relying on any single measure.

That approach aligns closely with broader physical security and CPTED principles.

CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) and layered physical security strategies are not competing concepts — they are most effective when applied together.

For example:
• CPTED focuses on visibility, natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement, environmental design, and movement management
• Layered security focuses on delay, detection, response, access control, communication, and operational coordination

Combined together, they help create safer and more resilient school environments.

Effective K-12 security strategies may include:
• Visitor management and access control
• Vestibules and controlled entry points
• Situational awareness training
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Surveillance and monitoring
• Emergency operations planning
• Communication systems
• Environmental design improvements
• Lighting and visibility enhancements
• Staff training and drills

Another important point is that school safety extends beyond the building itself.

Parking lots, pickup/drop-off areas, athletic facilities, exterior walkways, playgrounds, and transitional spaces all represent part of the broader school security environment and should be included within overall security planning efforts.

The article also reinforces an important operational reality:
No single technology or security measure is going to “solve” school safety.

Effective security depends on multiple layers working together through planning, training, coordination, awareness, and continuous assessment.

From a security risk management perspective, the goal is not simply hardening schools. The goal is creating learning environments that are safe, functional, welcoming, and operationally prepared for both everyday incidents and emergency situations.

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The PASS 7th Edition Guidelines provide a tiered technical roadmap that shifts the focus from perimeter defense to protecting the classroom heart.

05/20/2026

Comprehensive school safety planning is not about relying on a single technology, policy, or emergency drill. Effective K-12 school safety requires a layered and coordinated approach involving prevention, preparedness, communication, training, and rapid response.

This article reinforces an important point that many security professionals already understand:
School safety works best when it is proactive rather than reactive.

Strong school safety programs typically involve:
• Emergency operations planning
• Access control and visitor management
• Situational awareness training
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Communication systems
• Staff training and drills
• Coordination with law enforcement and first responders
• Mental health and student support resources
• Layered physical security measures

Another important takeaway is that rapid communication and response capabilities are most effective when they are integrated into a broader school safety strategy rather than operating independently.

Technology alone is not the solution.

Schools also need:
• Clear procedures
• Trained personnel
• Operational coordination
• Consistent drills and exercises
• Stakeholder collaboration
• A culture of preparedness and awareness

The article also highlights how comprehensive school safety planning increasingly involves collaboration between administrators, teachers, school safety personnel, IT teams, emergency responders, families, and community partners.

That type of public-private and community coordination is critical in modern K-12 safety environments.

Another important reality is that school safety extends beyond active shooter preparedness alone. Schools must also plan for:
• Medical emergencies
• Severe weather
• Behavioral incidents
• Transportation disruptions
• Cybersecurity concerns
• Threat reporting
• Everyday campus safety incidents

From a security risk management perspective, preparedness is not a one-time event. It requires continuous assessment, adaptation, training, and improvement.

Ultimately, comprehensive school safety planning is about creating learning environments where students, teachers, staff, and families feel both physically secure and operationally prepared for emergencies and everyday incidents alike.

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Rapid communication and response tools make a significant difference when they are integrated into a broader, layered school safety strategy.

05/20/2026

Political polarization is often discussed as a social or political issue. But increasingly, it is also becoming a security issue.

This article highlights how rising polarization within the United States can exacerbate security risks across multiple domains, including public safety, critical infrastructure protection, civil unrest, extremism, institutional trust, and social stability.

One important reality is that downstream geopolitical tensions abroad frequently create downstream security impacts here at home.

International conflicts, foreign influence campaigns, ideological extremism, economic instability, cyber operations, disinformation campaigns, and geopolitical rivalries increasingly influence domestic tensions within the United States.

Those effects can spill into:

• Public demonstrations
• Hate crimes
• Targeted violence
• Critical infrastructure threats
• Online radicalization
• Workplace tensions
• Threats against public officials
• Domestic extremism concerns

This is why situational awareness, protective intelligence, and threat intelligence matter far beyond traditional physical security environments.

Modern security professionals are increasingly monitoring not only physical threats, but also:
• Social tensions
• Behavioral indicators
• Online rhetoric
• Escalating grievances
• Ideological targeting
• Influence operations
• Disinformation and misinformation campaigns
• Cyber-enabled radicalization

Another important concern is how polarization can weaken institutional trust and complicate emergency response, public-private coordination, and crisis communication during major incidents.

From a security risk management perspective, resilience depends heavily on communication, cooperation, information sharing, and operational trust between:

• Government agencies
• Private sector organizations
• Critical infrastructure operators
• Law enforcement
• Emergency management
• Security professionals
• Communities themselves

The article also reinforces a broader point: Security threats today are increasingly interconnected.

Cyber threats, physical threats, geopolitical instability, ideological extremism, economic stressors, and information operations rarely exist independently anymore. They often overlap and reinforce one another in ways that create more complex and unpredictable risk environments.

Maintaining situational awareness, encouraging responsible communication, recognizing behavioral warning signs, and strengthening protective intelligence capabilities will likely become increasingly important as organizations navigate a more polarized and rapidly evolving threat landscape.

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Global interstate conflicts now intersect with U.S. extremism, immigration disputes and unconventional security vulnerabilities.

05/19/2026

Executive protection is increasingly being viewed through a very different lens than it was even a few years ago.

Historically, executive security programs were sometimes framed as executive “perks” or luxury accommodations. Today, many organizations are beginning to recognize them for what they increasingly are: critical business risk management and enterprise protection measures.

This article discussing Connecticut companies expanding executive security programs reflects a much broader national trend.

Across multiple industries, organizations are seeing heightened concerns involving:
• Threats against executives
• Stalking and harassment
• Workplace violence spillover
• Insider threats
• Doxxing and online targeting
• Geopolitical tensions
• Activist threats
• Cyber-enabled targeting
• Kidnapping and travel risks
• Corporate espionage concerns

Modern executive protection is no longer limited to having a bodyguard standing near a CEO.

Effective executive security today increasingly involves:
• Protective intelligence
• Threat intelligence and monitoring
• Travel risk management
• Cybersecurity integration
• Residential security assessments
• Secure transportation planning
• Digital footprint management
• Family security considerations
• Behavioral threat assessment
• Crisis management and continuity planning

This is also where the convergence of physical and cyber security becomes increasingly important.

A compromised social media account, leaked travel itinerary, exposed residential address, phishing attack, or targeted cyber intrusion can quickly create real-world physical security risks for executives and their families.

Another important point raised in this discussion involves SEC disclosure rules and how executive protection expenses are classified. Some companies are now pushing regulators to recognize executive security as a legitimate business necessity tied directly to enterprise risk, operational continuity, governance, and fiduciary responsibilities — rather than simply categorizing those costs as personal executive perks.

That reflects a broader shift in how organizations are thinking about executive protection overall.

Protecting senior leadership is not solely about protecting an individual person. It may also involve protecting:
• Corporate operations
• Strategic decision-making
• Intellectual property
• Investor confidence
• Business continuity
• Organizational stability
• Brand reputation

As threat environments continue evolving nationwide, executive protection will likely become an increasingly integrated component of enterprise security risk management rather than a niche or optional service.

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Connecticut insurers are among the companies expanding executive protection programs amid a heightened threat environment, with corporate boards increasingly treating those measures as governance safeguards rather than executive perks.