Sallyann Baldry, Mike Collier and Bob Ralph are the first winners of the Imbert Prize, awarded by the Association of Security Consultants.
The ASC held their annual lunch at the Royal Air Force Club, 128 Piccadilly on Thursday, June 23.<br><br>Some 120 guests were present including, the ASC patrons Lord Imbert JP DL, Lord Mackenzie OBE, and Sir Stanley Bailey CBE, QPM, DL, OStJ, CCMI. Other guests included senior Labour MP Bruce George, Tory homeland defence spokesman Patrick Mercer MP OBE, Tom Mullarkey MBE, chief executive of the National Security Inspectorate; Geoff Tate for SSAIB; David Dickinson BSIA chief executive; Patricia Knight for ASIS, Bill Wyllie, new chairman of The Security Institute; Patrick Somerville for IPSA; and security industry representatives from the various industry sectors.<br><br>Introducting The Imbert Prize, Chris Gordon Wilson, Chairman, Association of Security Consultants, said: โWhile the security industry that we see all around us today has practised its art since man defended his cave, it has remained formally underrepresented amongst the professions. The Imbert Prize seeks to bring together the strands of professionalism in a way that moves us forward towards our acceptance as a profession. The professions are dedicated to those liberal arts and sciences that the public identifies them with. The Imbert Prize seeks to point the public towards those arts and sciences that the professionals in the security industry need to sustain in establishing us as a profession โ knowledge, experience and service. Thus it is that The Imbert Prize recognises these key elements in the awards we will present today.<br><br>Knowledge and its association with academia<br><br>Experience and its association with security industry practitioners<br><br>Service and its association with our industry associations and in particular independent consultancy advice<br><br>The ASC and the participating universities and associations recognise that our progress towards professional recognition is mirrored in the achievements of those we will recognise today.<br><br>There are three parts to the Imbert Prize<br><br>1) The University Dissertation Award<br><br>An award of £1,000 for a selected dissertation submitted by an academic institution. All the university nominees will receive an award plaque acknowledging their dissertations. Cranfield, Leicester, Loughborough and Portsmouth universities have each nominated one of their students’ dissertation’s, relevant to consultancy in security. The dissertations have been judged by an award panel, independent of the Universities, appointed by the ASC and be made up of<br><br>Lord Imbert of New Romney QPM JP<br>The chairman of the ASC; and<br>The vice-chairman of The ASC and the Secretary of the ASC<br><br>2) The person making the most notable contribution in the security industry in the preceding year, nominated by ASIS, BSIA, IPSA and the SI, as adjudged by the ASC Award Panel <br><br>The security industry associationโ nominees and sponsors<br><br>ASIS Nominee, Geoff Whitfield, Security Consultant. Sponsored by Stuart Lowden, ASIS Chairman. BSIA Nominee, John Saunders, Chief Executive, SIA. Sponsored by David Dickinson, Chief Executive of BSIA. IPSA Nominee, Sallyann Baldry, Business Development Manager, Edexcel. Sponsored by Patrick Somerville, International Chairman IPSA. <br><br>TSI Nominee, Geoff Whitfield, Security Consultant , Sponsor by, Bill Wyllie, Chairman TSI.<br><br>3) The ASC member that has made the most significant contribution to independent security consultancy in the preceding year nominated by the members of the ASC, as adjudged by the ASC Award Panel. <br><br><br>Introducing the winners and runners up for The Imbert Prize, Lord Imbert said: โIt is a great privilege, indeed an honour, to be asked by the ASC, to lend my name to this annual security industry competition. Such was the quality of the work submitted that the job of the Adjudicating Panel, although an enjoyable privilege, was far from being an easy task with the winners and non winners in every case being separated by nothing more than a whisker, and I give my sincere congratulations to all those who took part, both in submitting their own work, or being put forward by colleagues to receive the winning award plaques.<br><br>I am so pleased to be associated with such a prestigious security industry competition, and I give my sincere thanks to colleagues in the Association of Security Consultants for that.<br><br>The first thesis was โAn examination of terrorist activity against the UK Government from 1800 to the present day and the countermeasures developed in response. Are these countermeasures fit for purpose?’, was written by Simon Houghton and submitted by LoughboroughUniversity. This related to terrorism and in particular such terrorism as has touched the United Kingdom over the past 200 years. The history of terrorism in this country was a highly fascinating and an outstandingly good read, as were the recommendations to the UK Government on tackling such massive problems, which were contained within the thesis. Although not the winner such was its quality and interest, I believe it should be read by all young entrants to Special Branch and the Security Service. <br><br>The next thesis was โCentral government’s contribution to emergency planning in the UKโ was written by Major JAD de Labilliere MBE LI, and submitted by Cranfield University. Although again, not the outright winner it was my view, which I made known to the other members of the adjudicating panel, that this should be made compulsory (and I do mean compulsory reading โ and not just voluntary) for all Emergency Planning Officers in the country, and at the same time at a most senior level in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where ultimate responsibility for Emergency Planning resides.<br><br>The next thesis was โA study of violence in two large inner city accident and emergency departmentsโ written by Brian Pender and submitted by Leicester University. An excellent study underlying the concerns of those working in public services.<br><br>The next and last thesis was โThe use of handcuffs and restraints in the private security industryโ written by Bob Ralph and was submitted by Portsmouth University. Such was the comprehensiveness of this research and its clear presentation that it could just as easily have been titled "The legitimate use of force in protecting persons and property". It is highly relevant to the security industry, particularly those engaged in manned guarding, and, indeed to the whole of what we now call "The wider police family". In fact the day after reading it, when I heard that the British Transport Police Community Support Officers were to be issued with handcuffs I telephoned my former colleague, Ian Johnson, the current British Transport Police Chief Constable and recommended that he should contact Portsmouth University to obtain and read a copy of this thesis. This I understand he has now done and I would similarly recommend the reading of this study to all colleagues, both in the Police Service, but more particularly to my security industry colleagues who are in the manned guarding sector. Because of its particular relevance to the security industry and its clear precise and logical presentation I am pleased to tell you that the unanimous decision of the Adjudicating Panel is that this inaugural ASC Imbert Prize has been awarded to Bob Ralph.<br><br>The other winners of The Imbert Prize:<br><br>For the associations: Sallyann Baldry.<br><br>For the ASC: Mike Collier.
