The predator verses prey principle that plays out in nature applies in the human world as criminals verses victims. In nature, if the prey was aware of what the predator was up to, the prey would actually have a chance of survival. The prey always has a chance to survive when it learns from the past and starts to develop new behavioural patterns that are less predictable. Of course, it can’t learn anything when it is already eaten, but it can learn if it constantly observes its environment where it sees others get eaten and changes its behaviour in order to outsmart the predator.
Hotel security is a safari
In the national park Maasai Mara in Kenya you can watch the drama unfold as a predator stalks its prey. For instance, a leopard lies low in tall grass watching it’s prey – a herd of zebra drinking at a waterhole. One zebra becomes aware of the danger and suddenly makes a distinctive sound to warn the herd and/or suddenly bolts away at full speed. The herd instinctively reacts to the spotter’s signal (s) and dashes off to escape. Sometimes the Zebra ‘on lookout duty’ might not see the predator directly, but it has a gut feeling or senses danger lurking close in the tall grass.
In our human world we define this instinctive reaction as teamwork. When everyone works together and understands the signals from ‘the spotter’, the group can avoid falling victim to criminal activities.
The prey can react quickly to the danger and outsmart predators when it keeps it eyes and ears open. When something does not feel right, it must report to the group (= the herd). We understand this as the SEE, HEAR, FEEL and TELL approach in hotel security. It is broader, more encompassing than “See Something, Say Something”.
SEE, HEAR, FEEL and TELL teaches:
1. How to pick up more on suspicious activity
2. How to be more trusting of your own instincts
3. The importance to report suspicious activity to the management without delay
4. Teamwork
5. What to avoid
6. How to protect yourself.
When you simply teach or rely on, “See Something, Say Something”, how to protect yourself from ending up a victim is not clearly addressed.
What can we learn from nature?
The best method to prevent loss is to react when predators are spotted early and before they actually do damage to anything or anyone, just as we saw in the example of the zebra and the leopard. I am sure you would agree.
Some hotels already use effective methods to blow a criminal’s cover. Cyber criminals, lone wolves and the traditional street criminals for example are starting to realise they can’t remain undetected for very long in a security-aware hotel, and so they move on to easier pickings.
It is predictable that criminals will move on to an easier target when they realise they are under surveillance. That’s the way of nature too. When the leopard is not super hungry or desperate, it will do exactly the same. Criminals will move to another target where staff is less security aware.
The hotels that are less security conscious will be more at risk in the future and will experience more damage than those who are up to speed with security training for their staff. My concern that I share with other security experts is that the risk will shift to boutique hotels and smaller hotel brands no matter where in the world they are. Even though they are now less attractive targets then the big players in the market, they represent the frail or lone animal on the outer that predators will cull from the herd and then attack.
The logical solution is to get all staff trained in security awareness. When I am talking about “all” staff being trained, I literally mean everyone. Of course this will involve developing qualified trainers, and there will be a cost. But what cost not to prepare? The cost could be much greater even if you fall victim to only one crime.
Think about the predator vs. prey principle again. Hoteliers have a duty of care for staff, but also for ethical reasons, everyone needs to receive training because no one should be left behind and not know what to do in a security incident. As I have indicated, criminals can be highly intelligent and they figure out up front who is the weakest one in the system and who is not trained.
Safari means ‘a journey’ in Swahili. The hotel industry is on safari – on a security journey that requires constant innovation and the enduring will to protect itself as criminals become more sophisticated and safety risks increase worldwide.
Editor’s Note: Nowadays, Security Awareness training is not expensive or hard to organize. Online Hotel Security Awareness Courses are the future trend because they are affordable and can be easily implemented anywhere in the world. By enrolling in the Online Hotel Security Awareness Course from eHotelier Academy your staff will learn how to be a smart prey that escapes today’s criminal predators.
About the author
Stefan Vito Hiller is the Founder & Managing Director of Sky Touch – Global Hotel Security Consulting. He has over 20 years international experience in the hotel industry, including five years specifically in security.
His hotel experience includes rooms division management, pre-opening, fire, health & safety, risk management & cost control. He has worked for leading hotel brands in the Middle East in Munich, Frankfurt, Bremen, Berlin, Cork, Edinburgh and Doha.
He graduated in 2002 as a Hotel Management Consultant at the Steigenberger Hotel Management School. He gained valuable experience as a Cost Controller at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers at Frankfurt Airport. He worked three years in Ireland, building on his experience as a former volunteer fire officer and becoming a qualified IOSH Health & Safety Officer. He effectively combined the field of Health & Safety with his Assistant Manager positions.
Stefan now consults to hotels to implement innovative and affordable strategies to raise their level of security to meet growing global demands.
