Just over a year on & where too now?

Kia Ora,

Been a while since sorting out plans for the future. Thanks to the kind comments on the last blog as well.

They contrasted favourably with the abusive comment from someone claiming to be a CBD business owner on a previous post, which will not be published as they will not put their name to it.

It also showed why they are small minded, don't have a clue what they are talking about when it comes to security, & the reason it makes my decision for the future easy.

When a current commitment finishes & issues have been sorted with my former corrupt, incompetent accountant(why are all the real criminals I deal with accountants?) then like many others I will be leaving Christchurch. Many others want too but are unable too due to poor leadership.

Why am I leaving? It is certainly not the Earthquakes. In fact the most likely option I will take will have me virtually living on the Alpine Fault.

I suspect talking to people that the reasons I am leaving are pretty much the same as most others now.

Again lack of leadership from the New Zealand Government, CERA, the Council, many business groups with people like the CBD business owner who are living in a world of make believe.

It was quite obvious almost immediately to anyone who has lived on the land & to the majority of residents that the land in the East of Christchurch is pretty much munted. There was a reason why much of it was green belt(probably too because of likely liquifaction in those areas in the earthquakes on 1868, 1870) in former times until developers convinced someone it was OK to build on. Its not!

For many of those people its the uncertainty. Initially many did not want to be Red zoned, now most do. You get the Insurance companies come in & say well this house is a goner.

Many are now saying its the insurance companies that actually have the realistic view. Because you then have EQC come in & agree, pay over $100,000 then later say after a review say no its only needs $39,000 worth of repairs as in one case(you are starting to hear a lot more).

Problem there is thinking their property is a goner, get the payment from EQC with the forthcoming payment from the insurance company they look to the future, sign up to a new property & Wham!. Suddenly the Insurance company doesn't have to pay & these people are left with probably a mortgage on the first one still to pay off & now a second property & not enough funds. Not to mention the fact they may have to pay a large part of the payout back.

Those in the Blue/green zones could not know what is going to happen for another two years(some quotes are talking already $250,000 just for foundations for some properties in these zones).

A woman with a blue/green property the other day said to me that she just was hoping there was another real big earthquake so then they could have their property written off & get on with things. Probably leave.

Not only do they not know but the decisions have to be good ones. There was a quote the other day not sure who by but it was a good one & that was the sum of the knowledge of the community outweighs that of the experts or something to that effect.

Then we get to the CBD.

First we have the Historic places people. There is nothing Historic in Christchurch except if you uncover the old Kainga (village) used by Waitaha & Kati Mamoe but not Ngai Tahu or the urupa(burial ground) that was built over by the early settlers. Nothing else is old enough.

In fact the absence of a Ngai Tahu presence should of sent a message. It is easy to work out. Having been part of Civil Defence for a short time they always looked at two scenarios as worst case. A Tsaunami in particular one caused by a mudslide into the Pegasus end of the Kaikoura Trench & an earthquake of 8 or more on the Alpine Fault.

That earthquake would cause liquifaction in the areas identified in a Map overlay which coincide with what has happened. The last 8 on the Alpine Fault was about 1717 we are told & that was likely to have caused any kainga to move. But of course they were only Maori & no European of the time was going to listen to Natives.

There seems to be no lessons learnt. Like now we hear all the time in particular from the historic people that this was rebuilt in this or that country after a war or an earthquake. Yet they all seem to forget that right from the start that the amount of liquifaction was well in excess of what had been experienced in any built up area to this time. Suppose everyone else is just not stupid enough to do it.

Much of what they quote though is on good hard ground. They also forget the 'black maps' which chart the early creeks in the CBD. It is easy to track the Black maps as the worst destruction on February 22nd 2011 appears to have occurred right where those creeks ran(& they are already rebuilding buildings on top of them).

Then there are the developers. There was one shown in a documentary saying how they wanted to bring down a building for safety after the September 4th 2010 earthquake. Agreed totally, but maybe they weren't being totally honest.

Recently that same developer was in the media complaining that the requirements engineers were putting on rebuilds in the CBD.

Having worked alongside structural engineers over the last year, the majority I would trust & have had too on their assessments of properties when entering them.

There is also at least one company I would not trust with a house of cards.

One of his gripes is that the ground when they were digging in was so hard. But the drillers testing the ground in the CBD have allegedly said that. In many places in or around the CBD there is a hard cap of land on top then sand down to in places 30 metres underneath.

It also flies in the face of the new buildings that also didn't stand up to the shakes. There was the reported build of a new property to double earthquake standards post the September shake that was just finished prior to the FEbruary shake. It had to be pulled down after the February earthquake.

More recently, as people do working in the CBD, was talking to someone else who has completed a lot of work in there. They were saying a second newly(post the initial lare quakes) built commercial buildng had had to be pulled down.

One problem I have raised on Facebook with people is the fact that you are not supposed to drive piles into ground subject to liquifaction. Someone raised the point that though that was right they now can use the slow drill type pile driver.

Actually seen one of them but when you think about it though not as energtic as normal pile drivers they would still be putting the pressure on the soil.

However when in there all you hear is the pile driving type. Comments from CTV building survivors reflected on how pile driving had appeared to rock the building prior to the quakes & in particular it seems prior to the February shake.

All you have to do is try & find the Hotel New World incident(if the Singapore Government hasn't totally supressed it as they try to of any negative comment on the country).

The reason given for its collapse at the time was pile driving into liquifiable soils. When asked how many piles it would take to cause issues with the building next door. The Kiwi engineer in charge of the rescue effort replied to a reporter. "One". How many had been driven in? Forty!

It just defies common sense to actually even think of rebuilding in the CBD.

As one structural engineeer pointed out, the earthquake on the 22nd February 2011 was not what buildings were built to withstand. In his words Christchurch CBD was 10 seconds from total collapse. Forget the shortcuts taken though they did weaken buildings. They just weren't built to take the power of that shake as the ground speed was well above anything recorded.

Which brings me to the next point. When working security I wear body armour, when cycling I wear a cycle helmet. When either of those does the job for which it is designed I throw them away & get a new one.

So when it was said that the building codes are only there to protect lives not buildings to me it meant the same thing. An engineer the other day admitted they are now looking at that for the future.

Not only would it work out probably cheaper for a rebuild but safer.

How many people are actually going to go back into a rebuilt Christchurch CBD?

I don't mind working in there as a safety officer or security or even labouring. I know the risks & are ever mindful of the possibility of another big one(most people in Christchurch expect another big one now).

But what about the rebuilt or fixed buildings?

Too easy to become complacent & forget. Though initially they could have real problems just getting people in there.

As one business said as quoted in the "Press" I thnk it was, that when they reopened in their undamaged building on the edge of the CBD 3 months after the February shake, they just had to shift as clients would come in look at the CBD & burst into tears.

You notice it even now with buildings that appear not to be set for demoliton at present in the outer CBD with notices saying tenants had moved, yet no one is trying to set up in those buildings.

Yet despite all that & the general publics feeling in I would say the majority of cases even today you hear how they are going to rebuild certain buildings in the same place.

Then as someone said the other day. "would you go to AMI rebuilt or fixed in the same place after been through those quakes? I know I wouldn't". No one disagreed with him.

Then you have the response to another deadly earthquake.

As I said earlier I had being part of Civil Defence for a short time a few years ago. Whilst unusally for an organization it is very good at the top with its permanent staff, it is the volunteers & in Christchurch now the burearucrats of the City council that are the problem.

In fact that was an issue during the September Earthquake with the council trying to bring in some new system resulting in one welfare centre it taking a day & a half apparently to just sort out the seating around a table.

I left after a short time as a volunteer because of the unrealistic way they viewed disasters. The comment was "we won't need help we will save them all" by one group of senior volunteers. They were the ones short cutting the system(which is Ok as long as you tell someone you have done it).

Funny I heard that comment repeated on February the 22nd as upset would be rescuers came to us on the cordons.

People claim though that this was so big no one was ready. That is not right or shouldn't be as Civil Defence have always been aware of what would happen in Christchurch if an 8 or greater on the Alpine Fault hit. In one scenario they said the city would be flattened.

Other issues are how much of the work that is around is not going to those of us in Christchurch.

Its all going to people from overseas or out of town. Many who are upseting the locals treating the place as just a party, others are spending as much time on drugs as passed to me by some jn certain areas of security(though dissatifaction with police responses means it is not been passed to them), but also apparently a snap drug test on one out of town work group over half were positive(17/32).

There is not the work they are claiming either. Because I keep my options open with busnesses having a full time job is not something I can do. So have for years signed up to a number of agencies for Temp work. When there is a lot of work around you are getting offers all over the place. At times 3-5 jobs a day.

At present you hardly get work at all. Agenices actually have been saying they are tending to build lists in preparation for when the work does start.

Yet from a business perspective temp labourers are the best option particularly in Christchurch at present with so much up in the air.

There are a lot more people leaving than the Government claims that is clear. So many items been given away on Freecycle from certain areas, or offers on Trademe with comments "must sell & be settled by this date as leaving the country the next day".

It would appear, & heard someone say it the other day though in slightly different words, the NZ Government CERA & Christchurch City council are trying to destroy Christchurch as an entity.

That they have no real interest in what the people think has shown in the city plan so far.

The City council asked for input from the citizens, yet despite producing something that appeared to reflect many of those ideas, in recent weeks there have been plans showing from developers & corporations which totally go against those ideas.

Not to mention comments from business groups which fly in the face of those ideas.

Though it is not all doom & gloom. Despite the fact I planned my security business around the fact that there was a possibility of a major earthquake or Tsaunami(based on those overlays seen all those years ago), the whole aim was to once successful move into the country or I should say back into the country.

This has just hastened it & allows me to take a path to achieve one of the goals I have set myself. I had hoped it would be in place by now & it would of been very welcome by many in Christchurch over the last year.

An ex army mate told me a few years ago to get out of Christchurch as there was something not great about it. We had both worked in Iraq & my comments that it was more dangerous here than in Baghdad he agreed with as have many others.

Then the general reaction to that statement tended to show the lack of reality that now shows in the plans for the future of Christchurch.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Recognized Security Training or Not?

Kia Ora,

Been a while. Have been focusing on another business venture with a view to including true security in the much bigger goal.

This first blog back was going to be about an on going issue within the New Zealand security industry, but another has come to light that is connected & also on going.

That is the issue of Security Training in New Zealand.

News out yesterday was of a unrecognized Security Training establishment. That is unrecognized by the powers that be although it appears at first glance they were using the information to teach from two recognized training groups.

We know that because it was shown(TVNZ)they were using paper work from those two groups based on NZQA requirements.

All well & good but is this non recognized training establishment any worse than those who are recognized? On the face of it it would appear so.

Probably not though & it is very likely they could actually be better.

The students of this course were paying $100's of dollars to attend & get a certificate.

Recognized courses cost $1000's usually requiring a student loan.

However most of those coming out of recognized courses actually don't know anything about security.

They, certainly in the case of people of a Christchurch course, don't know the basics like Trespass Act or how to carryout a bed down(in fact they have never heard of one. They think it is a lock down which is something quite different).

Then there are the training establishments which are alleged to have taught whole courses of students who could never of been in the industry at present time because of criminal records or even having come straight from Jail.

So essentially the training establishments are committing fraud, just as the unrecognized group appear to be doing, if this is true. What is worse is it is government sanctioned fraud & they have been informed several times by a number of people that it is going on.

A properly run course could teach the students more in three weeks than what they get in over a year's teaching now.

It seems to be more about getting the students in debt, providing cash flow to the training establishments but not providing the correct training.

A few of us were joking that the only thing the course in Christchurch seemed to teach was how not to do security, how to sleep on the job & how to use drugs or argue that drug use is Ok in the Security Industry.

Working around these people tends to drag your own standards down after a while & so I am quite happy to focus in other areas, recharge the batteries & observe to see if there is any improvement in the industry.

That is not to say I won't carry out security work, just right now the focus will be elsewhere.

There are some training establishments though that do aim to improve standards. I was aware of one in Auckland that was operating to give the much higher standard of SIA(British Security Industry) & was run by people with extremely high standards.

Another is in the process of getting of the ground I believe in Rotorua again with trainers focussed on international standards & extremely high standards in comparison that offered around New Zealand in general at present.

When looking at the information available on this issue, it was noted it was very thin & not widely reported. In fact most of the stories were about fake qualifications immigrants were trying to use to get jobs in New Zealand.

Seems though NZQA does a better job of looking into people coming from overseas than what training organizations are actually offering or providing here.

I know that if I or others applied overseas for work & relied on where we did our courses we would also be seen as probably trying to offer fake qualifications.

The reason been is though that training establishment is still in operation, allegedly prior to change of owners a few years ago all our documentaion was lost. So there is no record of us having ever been there.

We do have our NZQA records. Though when people see the standard coming out now from most NZQA recognized training providers, they wouldn't even consider us based on that. But they would consider me based on my much higher standard of NZ military training.

The poor security training though leads into the subject of the next blog. The subject that has been raised before & has been bubbling away since an incident last year.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

To Protect & Serve!

Kia Ora,

Since Wednesday the 13th April 2011 the amount of posts I have made through this blog have been limited. The reason behind this was the incident that occurred that night.

It was requested we not blog on this incident & therefore we sought other avenues to resolve the issues arising from the incident. Especially when one person involved wanted to go to the media as some of the issues continued.

As time has gone on though nothing has been resolved & in fact the NZ Police hierachy have chosen to deal with it by not dealing with it. In fact we have seen senior Police officers issue statements in direct contradiction of what we know to be true.

This has resulted in frustration & in my case led to a lack of motivation. So after consultation with a person involved with assisting people stressed following the earthquakes, it was decided the blog was the best way to deal with it.

This is not meant to be a slamming of the police as a whole. Whom in my experience are people aiming to make a difference, putting up with shitty & dangerous situations & a lot of criticism.

In the first week & a bit post the February 22nd Earthquake I assisted on a voluntery basis out in the east of the city. Then I received a call to carryout some subcontract work for security of three buildings within the CBD red zone.

Arrived in the area after obtaining the appropriate pass to find Police dogs searching for cadavers, bricks falling from buildings during aftershocks. We also found that we had to mainly cycle around the outside of the area we were to protect(therefore outside the areas we were allocated by the council on our pass) as an inner cordon defined by fences due to a large building in danger of collapse was in place(within the red zone there were several inner cordons & having since worked alongside the structural engineer for that building in another role I know it was despite looks, very much on verge of collapse at the time).

The area we had to travel became larger as first a street we used for direct access was cordoned off due to danger of further building collapses. Then thanks to our observations a bridge also had to be cordoned off further extending the area we needed to travel to watch over our assigned tasks.

Initially our relations with the Police were great & you could define Police by districts. Christchurch Police just awesome, probably because they had gone through the same things as us. South Island Police were also good & many were initial responders to assist. Northland-the ones we met were hardcase & usually lost. Country cops always practical & good to deal with. Wellington & Hamilton generally good. Counties Manakau were great. For most of New Zealand we probably look on them as having a hard beat but I think from what they see day to day gave them empathy with what was going on.

One area not only provided some of the best Police, especially early on, but also by far the worst & the ones who where all the issues arose from. Auckland.

A few across the board had atitudes on first arrival but the attitude adjusters (Christchurch Shallow quakes) soon sorted those out in early days.

An adhoc task we sort of ended up with was guiding lost police patrols as to way out or back to central. GPS & comms detailing to you don't work when streets are fenced off.

Big issue we noted was lack of communicaton within the police, between police & Civil Defence(it took five days for police to get a message we were given first by a council engineer who got it from a civil defence engineer, so initially they said what we were told to pass on & enforce did not apply to them).

Information was just not getting passed on. Our understanding from what we were told was each rotation was briefed that no one was working inside the CBD at night, this despite a minimum of 40 & up to an estimated 100 people working in there on any given night early on.

Anyway after four weeks we were asked to leave, but were back within days as one of buildings we were protecting was looted. Apparently the looters came up the river.

Just prior to the fourth week(I thought it was the fifth, but everthing was running together & we were doing 84 hours a week so all a bit blurred at times back then) we noticed(as did the rest of the city from criminals through to a Dr I was talking to recently) a hardening of attitude by some police. On our return this was very noticeable by a section of police from Auckland.

Up until then including those from Auckland had just wanted to help. Many didn't want to be in the CBD red zone, but out East helping people.

On the night of the 13/14th April 2011 we were wrongfully arrested for breach of the cordon after working in there for six weeks & having the correct passes. There has been no apology. They didn't even have the courtesy to tell us they were withdrawing the charges.

In the last week & bit we were in there we had to endure the following & until now have kept relatively quiet about it.

Harrassment:

A good Auckland Police officer we assisted early on made reference to fact that in Auckland 50% of those they arrest are in the Security Industry.

Seems some of the Auckland cops brought that attitude here, despite three security companies catching more looters/people breaching the cordon, than police had at that stage. We were actually kicking out more than we ever reported because Police response was either non existant or to slow.

Through the grapevine it is alledged another security person was threatened with arrest for doing their job.

I am aware of two security personnel working at night in process of supplying their details yet again to police when alledgedly they spotted a looter in the middle of the street with a backpack on, whom the police ignored when alerted to them & continued to take the security personnel's details.

Seems you got greater scrutiny if you were working in red zone than actual looters.

Racism:

This was blatant. It continued alledgedly after our arrest during days & was witnessed by aghast members of the Christchurch public.

As someone of Ngai Tahu descent, therefore whiteish in complexion, it is something I take note off.

Years before Christchurch Police were accussed of racism, but what I noticed working alongside them was their actions were based on whether a conviction would proceed. Rich white kids in the main would yell "Dad will get a lawyer & go for a jury trial" which meant the charge would never get to trial. Cops would be told to withdraw it by hierachy. Those from poorer backgrounds whom tended to live by motto "do the crime do the time" therefore figured higher in arrests. That meant they tended to be Maori & Pacific Islanders.

That all changed once Police were told arrest them in a crack down on crime in the CBD. As a police officer commented at the time "We knew these were the real figures(82% rich & white). Christchurch Police also know that you just can't tell by skin colour in the South who is Maori.

The attitude in the CBD red zone though was blatant racism. The way patrols spoke to my darker complexioned offsider compared to me was disgusting.

Though the two officers who charged us were firm but fair, it was hard not to notice the officer taking my details reaction to the question "Are you Maori?" he seemed shocked to my "yes" answer.

Its even worse when the new Police commissioner states there is no racism in the Police.

The Police is like the military or any other organization, so the reflect society. Therefore there will always be racism within their ranks.

It just shouldn't be so blatantly obvious or allowed to cloud their judgement.

Breach of Human Rights:

This happened after our arrest. We were wearing protective equipment.

A Civil Defence Emergency is the closest thing you get to a war situation.

In war after taking Prisoners, you search them, then if still in an area that is considered dangerous you return their protective equipment.

Police patrols had spoke to us of a pillar in the police station having moved a metre. One officer when asked "Don't you guys get a briefing?" "Not sure. We just grab the radios & get out because we don't want to be in that building" or words to that effect.

On that premise our Protective equipment - Helmet, Fluro jacket-so they can find your body easier is reason given you wear them in the red zone, & boots minimum.

Police Looting:

We were first alerted to this by a third party whom had alledgedly witnessed police placing alcohol into the boot of a marked Police car.

On mentioning this to a Police officer later on in the cordon, they stated "yeah, heard its going on, just don't know how they can do it then arrest someone for burglary" or words to that effect.

Other officers have acknowledged the have heard its been going on & in fact encouraged us to complain about the whole thing as it reflects badly on the rest.

At this stage are going to complain, but it is the system investigating the system.

The other possible looting by police occurred the night before we were arrested.

We had been asked to stop cycling around one side of the area we were covering by a couple of police trying to do a good job.

This meant having to walk in between two buildings in an inner cordon to keep eyes on one of the buildings we were there to protect. Initially we had our Fluro Jackets on, but Police patrols rushing past at Warp Factor 9, side lights blazing kept giving us away. So we took to using a dark outer for the person in that position.

Police then stopped using their sidelights when passing that particular position & the night prior to our arrest we could distinctly see a person standing at an intersection highlighted in the headlights of a patrol car.

The patrol car then made a short stop as if talking to that person then carried on. Shortly after, that person was seen with a torch periodically searching a bank which seemed strange for a police OP(observation point) to be doing.

When later that night we had a run in with a police patrol from new rotation it was mentioned.

They reply was "We have no one there, why didn't you call us?" "Because one it appears to be police & two we usually get Auckland who have no idea what we are talking about & even Christchurch have no idea of what is going on in the red zone."

We noticed that on leaving they did not go & investigate.

These issues were not & are not from what I have seen endemic Police wide. Its a hard shitty job with liitle thanks just like security(everyone forgets they are both offshoots of the oldest profession "the Profession of Arms").

Most of them I thank & I am sure most of Christchurch thanks for their suppport & efforts.

Just one small part though has let the rest down & that extends to the hierachy who refuse to acknowledge their mistake in our wrongful arrest or offer an apology.

I am also not happy with my own Iwi(Ngai Tahu) whom we turned too, to assist us in resolving this issue. They seemed interested in helping at first, but suddenly there was no contact & would not return our emails.

Some will be angry for me posting this, but I have had to do what is best for myself. It has been like a noose hanging around your neck dragging you down. It would of been nice to resolve this with the Police without having to go public, but they choose a path that makes that not possible.

Well that explains things a little!

Kia Ora,

Haven't been blogging because blogs were getting blocked & this post the text was removed whilst in draft. Having just reread it I note there are some subtle changes to what I wrote but essentially the story is the same. One sentence in particular is missing.

News item in last few days has been about the possibilty of Israeli Mossad agents been in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of the February 22nd earthquake. One report also says there was an Israeli Search & Rescue team in the city at the time.

Now how would a Search & Rescue team be there in advance of a disaster unless the claims of the alleged HAARP weapon to cause natural disasters were correct?

As I wrote of my experience of the day that along with an Israeli woman we went into the Christchurch Cathedral & we got people moving out. Footage then surfaced of a Japanese tourist filming in the doorway as the Earthquake hit with the camera later on the ground showing shoes running past. I remember him receiving first aid treatment from a member of the public as we went in the door.

Behind us on reflection was another person whom I believe was the Israeli paramedic. He later went to help, along with myself & others, the police get a woman down from one of the windows in the Cathedral. We were not required & on later TV footage I noticed a police officer escorting him away. Which seemed strange considering he had the expeirence/training & just appeared to be trying to help.

Did I think that they were a search & rescue team? Or Mossad?

No. What I did think was that whilst the majority of New Zealanders were loosing their heads around us, those of us who have been in similar situations (me army training & security work in Iraq, them just living in Israel) we were reacting to help as best we could.

That they might of had the skills of a search & rescue team(I know the young woman was very frustrated with the poor NZ response & stormed off, got a hard hat & re-entered the Cathedral to check if people were still there as she thought-I know the film footage on the internet showed no one under the roof area as it collapsed) but then you would expect that of someone having lived in Israel.

In fact we saw the same at times in Iraq where the Iraqi people just got in & helped, not worry about what certificate you had. They like many in the Middle East were just used to these situations. New Zealanders aren't.

But it does explain the stories on the TV news didn't add up to what we witnessed. Like foccussing on the person who claimed the doors jammed shut behind them as they run out of the Cathedral. I remember talking to that person after the doors had been locked/shut after a staff member swept through to ensure no one was left inside probably 10 minutes after the initial shock whilst we were trying to keep people back from the Cathedral. This person was trying to find out what was going on.

TVNZ kept running that story even though they were rung twice to inform them it was incorrect. Now they trot out the failed so called expert to waffle about what they see is behind the situation.

It might also explain why the interview we did with the 'Press' whilst keeping people back never seen the light of day. I thought it was because there were obviously much more dramatic stories though some they printed were no different from ours.

Obviously what has come out would suggest anything involving the Israelis was been withheld as the SIS & Police were conducting investigations.

The other security side of this is the claims that the NZ police computer was safe & our security systems are safe.

Funny that. We have the potential to be but the big claim to fame, the catching of the French agents(or two of them) responsible for the act of terrorism in Auckland Harbour was more as a result of the proactive actions of a forestry worker than good security.

It also flies in the face that when Sir Robert Muldoon was kicking out Soviet spies it was because it was known New Zealand security is so slack that the KGB used NZ as a training ground. No reason Mossad might not do the same because despite some improvements the move away from proactive security & policing means if anything it is now easier to penetrate NZ national security.

New Zealand government departments tend to be 10 years behind in the IT region. They must be, even I seem to know more than them in that field & that is a worry.

So did we have a conspiracy on the 22nd February or is it a media beat up? I go for media beat up.

Is our security up to a standard required to stop international agents? No. We just change things to give the impression of improvement as the Romans found 2000 years ago.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

The Dumbing down of Society!

Kia Ora,

When looking for the footage to add to my previous blog of the ape with the AK-47 after I was sent a copy, another clip came up.



Initially I thought it might be a spoof until talking to someone with more knowledge about this area than I who bascially said apes are a lot brighter than we give them credit for. They even said look up Bonobo as they are the smartest of the apes.

In recent years many people including myself have remarked about how society appears to be getting dumbed down by our education system.

Dr Dolf de Roos remarks about it in a fashion when giving his life story about how he arrived at decision to do an engineering degree. Basically he looked at medicine he didn't like blood so when looking at most other avenues & they were you had to follow a set path. Then he looked at engineering which was problem solving. Totally different type of thinking all together. In fact he maintains that helped him as an investor because been an investor is looking at problems & then finding a solution.

A good investor looks for problems.

We are seeing the same issue arising in the security industry here in New Zealand. The proposed new mandatory regulations will basically have as we are getting a team of little robots who don't or can't think outside the square & are actually trained in everything but security.

As I have said previously on leaving the military I completed a security course. Thing is the instructors were people who strived for excellence. Two of them being ex military taught in a military fashion so a lot of hands on training, red herrings thrown in(by a person often referred to in the army as Mr Red Herring) so people had to think.

Still meet people off those courses who say again & again how it was often the best training they have ever done. Not only that you can see those who come off a course with similar type of training are streets ahead of most graduates of security courses in New Zealand.

Having the requirements for a qualification written down on paper & taught in a classroom still does not qualify someone for the job on the ground. Neither does spending four hours in a gym a day. That sort of work out is only what most guards are able to dream about once they are on the workface.

Just yesterday in a financial newsletter I receive was this comment which I thinks sum it up nicely "Degrees & qualifications are important in organizations that don't actually produce anything". Good security will do its utmost to protect people & property so saving a business costs in the long run.

Most security if they stick to what is taught currently are just a presence no more no less who don't really care.

But then that is what the likes of CBD Business owner are used too & that is what they expect. They don't expect security to think for themselves.

We are following the US system but New Zealand has taken it a step further & it alone is destroying our ability to ever again compete on a world stage in business.

I have noticed a debate on Linkedin talking about what is great about New Zealand. Most of the points I have seen are now myths. That New Zealand no longer exists.

We still do have people with great ideas but as people keep discovering they usually have to go offshore for them to succeed. Or as the couple who started 42 Below said in their book "Every Bastard says No" to succeed in New Zealand you almost have to succeed offshore first.

Personally still plan to succeed here first, but the biggest hurdle is the New Zealand small mindedness as shown by the CBD Business owner. So have had to think of other ways of achieving it.

New Zealanders(generally ex military) are some of the top security people in the world but those people are only recognized outside New Zealand.

Now had they come to a good New Zealand security entity(there are some of us) then a solution to effectively secure(nothing is ever 100% secure but it would be a hell of a lot more secure than has been or currently is) the Christchurch CBD red zone would of been found.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

How it all comes together!

Kia Ora,

Well I was going to put post up I have written on proactive security. First though came the comment from the CBD business owner. Couldn't really work out why a Christchurch CBD business owner would be upset with the exposing of how insecure the cordon really is.

That was not until another security professional suggested it is likely to be a security company. That would explain the small mindedness, lack of security knowledge & supposed outrage.

The first role of any security professional is to educate even it means exposing how badly run things are.

Though I am hard on the industry I see around me it is not all that bad. There are some good operators in a New Zealand context like the company I often do sub contract work for. Standards are so much higher than the norm you find in the industry. Then there are those that have brought high standards from the likes of Britain who like me get frustrated with the lack of recognition of higher standards & low standards that clients like to have provided for them. They base their security decisions on cost not on ability.

A reliable source tells me that the standards set for security by the likes of standards New Zealand are sufficient to be off an international standard. The problem is most running the training starting with ETITO(EIEIO) do not understand the standards fully. I would say they don't understand them period. At present many we are getting from courses seem to be have been taught three things.

How to sleep on duty(everyone gets tired & many whiplash at one time or another) but going to sleep an hour or so into your shift during the day is not on.

How to not carryout security.

How to argue you should be able to use drugs in the security industry or just use them.

As I finished the last post in reply to the comments from the CBD Business owner I received an email in regards to the second round of submissions for the new mandatory training requirements for the security industry.

It looks like nothing has been learnt & the same old, same old is about to be put in place with the same low standards.

Then I received an email from a highly experienced international security operator that to me puts it in a highly amusing light.



Even though it would appear to be a fake it shows one thing. At present most of those instructing in security in New Zealand are represented by the soldiers & the students by the Chimp. Monkey see Monkey do. Like what we are encountering some of the students like the Chimp are brighter than the current instructors.

It is all part of the dumbing down of society people are seeing. Lately I have had the privilege to also work with people with a bit of life experience but no qualifications apart from on the job training. No contest they beat the ones from the current courses hands down. The ability to think is been taught out of people in the current slavery system on which the education system is based.

I don't think anyone disagrees that some sort of training is required. Most of it though needs to be on the work face than on a little tick in the box course.

What there needs to be is a base security course for all areas but taught by those with a view to teaching to a higher level. It also requires recognition of experience & previous higher level training. Add in courses for specific areas after some experience is gained but again most training needs to happen in the industry as each area or site is different.

All the system they propose is, is a rort for someone to make a lot of cash to carryout a course which has no real relevance to the industry or how it operates.

At present the industry is viewed poorly & much of it comes back to the poor training provided. One police officer made the comment that in Auckland 50% of those they arrest in Auckland at present are actually in the security industry. Some of their comrades seemed to bring that attitude to Christchurch & led to issues leading up to our wrongful arrest.

The other issue that goes hand in hand with the training is the requirement to have regulations providing a formula on the number of security needed for events & for health & safety reasons. Currently it is left to the client to dictate that leaving security open to assaults(as winessed the other night) or worse(as experienced at times).

This is part of the education of our society. I have lost count of how many times in last few years I have been asked by members of the public if it is bodyarmour/stab vest I am wearing which upon confirmation I am, to be told that you "don't need that in New Zealand" or Christchurch. It just shows how out of touch the New Zealand public are with their communities.

As one Christchurch police officer said about a year ago. Virtually every person they now arrest has a knife on them without a lawful purpose.

Having at times confronted people with iron bars, knives, pieces of wood, had firearms discharged in our direction on at least two occassions it seems the Christchurch I live in is quite different than those who bury their head in the sand.

One last point to the CBD Business owner is obviously they also don't understand the use of social media in marketing a business. It pays to be contraversial & its even better as in my case when the facts back your assertions.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

CBD Business owner lacks Security Knowledge!

Kia Ora,

Well I have received a very upset un named reply to my last post so it will not be published since they know they are wrong by not publishing their name.

But I will quickly refute their false accusations.

First they claim that the fence was only ever there for a controlled worksite not for security. Totally incorrect. Fence was erected to aid security. By having a fence up it allows individuals to be arrested immediately as they are in a fenced/enclosed area.

Not only that the CERA webstie tells you how secure the CBD is in particular due to the fences & other aids. In fact the answer by authorities to information we supplied about breaches(from sub contract work in the CBD Red Zone) was to erect more fences but that doesn't work by itself. It is obvious the CBD business owner hasn't looked if they have been inside the cordon as too where fences were erected. If they had, they would of asked why? They certainly aren't there for a controlled worksite.

Criticizes the company as not been good enough. Fact: The reason I first got my individual licence then formed two companies as was informed that was my best option since my standards were too high for security in New Zealand. Just because they are used to extremely low standards is not my fault.

They claim it would need actual security expertise to make the place secure.

Funny have that expertise from been in the military(highest level of security-used to give lessons on this form of security) & PSD in Iraq (second highest level of security). Not my fault NZ doesn't practice good security & doesn't like good security yet.

As many of those I have worked with in the military & Iraq have said to me. Look NZ is just not ready for real security yet. Keep it humming along & when it happens they will not have a clue what to do so you & others will be in a position to step up.

It is not just me either someone with a lot more international experience in high levels of security including as a consultant in dangerous areas, yet when back here for a break his experience is ignored & gets offered work as a guard only.

CBD business owner shows their lack of knowledge of real security where the likes of myself practice it. Many even more highly skilled security operators than myself have returned to NZ to again head offshore because of the lack of recognition of real security experience & knowledge.

I had warned that NZ was not ready for a terrorist attack(still isn't it needs to start practising proactive security again to counter terrorist attacks) or in that matter as has shown a large natural disaster. We practice procedures that are just not relevant in a real large emergency situation but can't get out of that mindset.

CBD business owner claims I miss the point. It is definitely the other way around. Effective security could be provided & not at the cost they are looking at. Yes it would cost but it is right now. Having been part of the military involved in emergencies, I know that any use of the military has to be paid for. Yes someone is billed for the military providing manpower(surprised me too when I first learned of it during an emergency).

Private security would cost less in the long run. That is why PSD's are used so much in Iraq & Afghanistan. Why the UN is considering using PSD's for intervention. As they free the military up from some tasks & though well paid actually cost less than having a standing army. It is what NZ will have to look at with recent military cutbacks.

It is quite evident from their rant that the only big mouth with a small mind(their words) is this CBD business owner. The cordon is not a controlled worksite but a security cordon. Typical New Zealand small minded thinking here. I know they will be under stress having a business there but they need to deal with the facts not the myth put out there.

Just because they have never been exposed to real security is no reason to try to shoot the messenger.

As stated & again they miss the point, my last post did not show any weaknesses in the system not already known. In fact it was breached again today but the person was not removed or seen by the volunteers or police but by a worker in the Red Zone. Before they comment they need to learn to read.

The point is their business like everyone elses is not secure. Despite the assurances given they are.

If you are not prepared to put your name to a comment it will not be published especially if a rant based on myth not facts.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

How secure is the Christchurch CBD Red Zone really?

Kia Ora,

In short its not & never really has been apart from first week or so whilst people gathered themselves.

We entered the Red Zone about a week & a half after the February 22nd wee shake to carryout a security task.

First few days we were there the police were everywhere soldiers manned most of the fences & yet still we could see people breaching the cordon. Over the first two weeks we caught or spotted about ten breaches at night & the day shift just lost count.

One issue was as more & more fences become unmanned people just pulled them aside or climbed them(one day 8 trucks & people were seen to enter retrieve their goods from businesses & residence in a drop zone, nothing was initially done even though police were informed).

One that was manned the soldiers thought the cars flicking their lights on full were looking for the girls who used to occupy that street. They were quickly put right in that what the cars were doing was the same tactic as the looters in the residential areas out east were doing. Trying to see if anyone was manning the gate or sleeping so they could breach. Out east they were trying to see if people were home.

As time went on especially after the bridge near us was closed we saw less & less police down our end & they withdrew the officer at a post nearby where we were going on our patrols to report anything we seen.

With the street next to us, which we had to travel to check some of the three buildings we were there to keep an eye on, suddenly closed off due to likelihood of falling material then the bridge the other side due to our checks becoming closed off we suddenly had to range quite wide to keep up the security. It did mean travelling outside our designated area but the police were always informed why we were doing that when stopped. Not that it was much use as out of town police they had no idea of the areas on the Maps detailing your area of work.

After four weeks we were withdrawn but were back shortly after as one of those buildings was looted. The looters came up the river by boat. But then we had been telling people we had seen tracks of someone walking up the river bank. One guy was even caught by our team who had been told by authorities to walk up the river bank(though he obviously wasn't supposed to get as far as he did).

During the day contractors who have too, due to heavy machinery or trucks not been able to turn around, open the cordon fences. Because those fences are not manned as much as they have been it is common for cars to follow trucks in.

Not to mention that those on the check points got slack & were more interested on what is on their Ipod or MP3 than getting out of their deck chairs to stop people from entering even on foot as one person told me they did one night. Another woman was able to walk the length of the red zone to her place of work during the day.

In the last two weeks a group of tourists have been caught by someone working inside the redzone walking around. In exchange for not calling the police they had the tourists take them back to where they got in. Fence was pulled up & everyone was crawling under it within 100 metres of a check point. It is actually a common point people are gaining access.

Sources tell me one burglar only got caught because it was so easy to get in & avoid poice patrols he went back a third time only to be caught by a patrol not roving around with their lights on full going at warp factor 9(which was unusual).

Just recently whilst in the vicinity of the cordon someone asked how to get to an intersection they shouldn't be able too, to get into the red zone to recover items. They had no pass, no helmet or high viz. The intersection is nomally on the edge of the cordon but not a point of entry. So obviously someone had found a breach & they were going to enter to retrieve their goods. All we told them was they had to go to the Art Gallery to get a pass. But on talking to someone else working on the edge of the cordon it seemed the directions to that corner was often asked.

Like a regular highway into the Red Zone it seems & everybody knows about it.

It was actually the same area where tourists breached & the two I caught when going to visit someone. No one acted on the information we gave previously to stop breaches so waste of time telling anyone.

It was obvious though the older police officers understood what we were doing in the way of proactive security, since we could not actually patrol the buildings we were looking after, that many police now don't understand the nature of been proactive. Driving around at speed with your headlights on full(especially in fog) & sidelights blazing is not proactive. Its nothing.

Apparently there are a number of postings on Youtube of business owners & residences getting in to get their goods avoiding police easily.

Then there is the new volunteer force to patrol the outer perimeter of the CBD. From observations passed to me pretty much what I expected.

Next to Useless!

Much what you get with the community watch programme. Some very good people & most who have no idea what suspicious activity is. There used to be a crew out Hornby way that were very very good but they left for same reasons for my comment above.

They haven't as yet picked up the breaches in the fences others have seen as they go past. It is really a feel good patrol not a security patrol.

Overall the security situation inside the red zone is extremely poor. A tagger had even left their mark on the fourth story of a badly damaged & dangerous building. One large tag was obviously after the September earthquake, the other next to it though referred to the February shake.

One reason some people have said that we were wrongfully arrested in there was by our proactive security actions were showing up the police as we dominated our area & the locals in the red zone were noticing it(& telling us about it).

We certainly weren't perfect & restrictions initially meant we could not patrol around the most vulnerable building.Therefore we did proactive patrolling on bikes around the edges. We had to ignore those restrictions & enter a major drop zone after a good police patrol who were trying to do their utmost to keep the place secure asked us to stop patrolling one area. Our only option was to take a walk into a drop zone.

Putting up fences all over the place & not manning them doesn't provide security in New Zealand either.

The best option in future disasters in cities in New Zealand is put in good local security patrols(yes there are alot of poor security but it is usually known who are the good security) to patrol say on bikes or on foot in designated areas co ordinated by one group. Not just give it to one company & let them bring in out of town guards. Use security too to man the fences. Again it free up resources.

One thing is locals tend to know the local problems & likely routes in. End of the day it frees up police to concentrate on other tasks. Yes there will be bad eggs but there are in any organization. I know one other security organization had similar problems after catching some looters early on they suddenly become the enemy/suspects. It was we are meant to be here & are helping you. At times it has seemed even now there is more emphasis on those legitimately working there than actual looters.

Another issue that freeing up police will take care off is what was observed in this disaster. They came to help but many of them had never experienced an earthquake little lone the ones Christchurch is getting & like many they were shocked when a good one hit. In fact we called later shakes the attitude adjusters. For many locals it was "here we go again so lets get it over with".

None of this information will help those breaching anymore as it is generally known in Christchurch that claims the cordon is working are not true. In fact when we returned to the red zone after the looting it was the locals who were able to tell us how it happened & which building had been looted. Others in the wider Christchurch community have also been able to tell us details when we had been told to keep quiet about it.

So the red zone secure? Not likely!

It is no wonder so much looting has been discovered. Claims that much of it probably happened in the first few weeks or is mainly by workers are wide of the mark from what I or others have observed.

The easy pickings early on were out in the eastern suburbs.

As one Maori Warden informed us the inner city was more targeted inititially everytime the cordon was reduced. Looters were hitting those premises in the newly opened area, he was catching them making them drop their goods then letting the next police patrol know where the goods were. That also allowed them to start getting eyes on the CBD & where the weaknesses were.

It seems that virtually everyone that wants to knows how insecure the cordon really is except Civil Defence now CERA, the police, the military, Operation Suburb & the new volunteers. It really is a circus!

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

So is it Fraud or sheer incompetence by Government Department?

Kia Ora,

Well in follow up to a recent post about the new security licensing regime here in New Zealand have noticed something else that are in the process of bringing to authorities attention.

Whilst everyone is heated up over the poor renewal process, overlooked has been the fees area.

Now the first part that appears could be fraudulent is the issue of transfer fees. Most would say but we have always had to pay transfer fees.

Yes there have always been transfer fees to transfer a COA(Certificate of Approval) from one license holder to another. Under the new regime though the COA belongs to the guard so therefore there is no one to transfer the COA too.

The other issue that appears to be fraud by double dipping is the fee licence holders are to pay for the number of COA's working for them.

It actually flies in the face of how security works in New Zealand especially in the crowd control area.

To have enough work people need to in the New Zealand Security industry work for several companies at the same time.

Now if you were licensed under the old system with a COA you needed to ask permission of the license holder to do so & in the crowd control area you didn't need to have a COA at all.

Crowd control has been until now a core group who have security as their livelihood & a lot of on call people for bigger events. When short it has been use recruitment agencies to supply what are effectively labourers, or groups such as martial arts clubs or sports clubs as way of fund raising. None of whom really know what they are doing in sometimes potentially quite dangerous situations.

Under the new system the guard holds the COA & therefore could be working (as I was in the early days with my own individual licence as opposed to a COA) as an employee for up to six companies. So when the Ministry of Justice wants a return of those working for a license holder the Ministry could be collecting the same fee six times over for one person. Effectively committing a form of fraud called double dipping.

Removal of the ability to work for several companies at a time would cause major issues as it would effectively mean many events would not be able to go ahead. New Zealand already operates in the security sphere well below par & this would just drive it down even further.

If they want revenue gathering ideas they are better to look at the training regime.

First point is get ETITO(better known as EIEIO because they are a joke) out of security industry involvement. They don't know anything about security or training.

Next remove the minimum four month course for funding requirements. Put in an effective system for recognition of prior learning &/or experience. That is much better than present system where those with less experience or training are often assessing those with more.

That would allow a three week base security course to be set up using military system of training (BHL/BHE) as it works for a practical industry. In fact I have seen it used in current system & those who come from courses using it are much higher in level of competency.

Following the three week basic course it would then be followed by the courses in areas you wish to work in. Some courses would only be one to two days.

Each new area can be endorsed on your records since the actual COA is no longer a card but a certificate. The photo ID has a number which police etc could check through the computer system.

Overall recent issues show the lack of real consultation or understanding of the industry by those who put the legislation together or are trying to implement it.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Ban the Burqa?

Kia Ora,

Extremely busy at present but aim to have regular posts again.

One issue that has come up in the last week is that of the wearing of a Burqa or at least face veils by Muslim women in New Zealand.

Some points raised have been farcical.

It transpires that two bus drivers in Auckland refused to allow Burqa wearing women onto their buses.

In my opinion the bus company involved has been so Politically Correct they have issued the drivers a written warning which isn't really warranted.

At the same time though they have taken the unions suggestion & are going to introduce a security module to driver training prior to the Rugby World Cup.

Really it shows out of touch New Zealand is with the wider world. But some security person here will offer a module. First part of any security module should be drivers being allowed to refuse people getting on a bus where they don't feel safe.

As a secular country & in the interests of security like everyone else who covers their face, those with face veils should have to remove them on boarding a bus, catching a Taxi, entering any commercial premises or dealing with anyone in authority such as police or even security.

That just fits with been in New Zealand.

Whilst in say Kuwait the use of a Burqa is common place & if visiting we must accept it as part of life.

In fact whilst in Kuwait awaiting a flight out one woman in a Burqa made a very deliberate flirting gesture which you couldn't do in normal western dress. So it is not always so bad. Just had to do a quick look for the cameras as being the foreigner in the equation I would of been arrested since it wouldn't of happened if I had not been there or so the reasoning goes.

This security module for bus drivers though is what concerns me. Apart from the points above what are they going to teach?

Just seeing a face doesn't stop them being a suicide bomber. I believe I have mentioned it before in these posts that whilst working in Iraq we were made aware of a website set up for applications to be a suicide bomber over half the applicants were young boys & women.

The only security solution for a suicide bomber is a bullet between the eyes.

In the US city of Newwark, New Jersey they have ordered an armed security guard to be at all restaurants after a drive by shooting. In New Zealand we would organize a group hug.

For real security for the Rugby World Cup, New Zealand needs to come into the real world.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Poor start to New Security licensing Regime!

Kia Ora,

It has been a while firstly due to long hours in security task within the Christchurch CBD red zone, the wrongful arrest of myself & my offsider, then of late work mainly back in the red zone as Safety officer has meant little time to catch up.

At present the issues & subsequent issues surrounding our wrongful arrest are been worked through to hopefully involve police in getting issues sorted.

But in the meantime will aim for at least a post a week to share views on security.

First in the limelight is the new 'Private Security Personnel Act 2010'.

The best use of the bill proposing this act was as toilet paper & that has now been shown to be pretty much just that. It was supposed to look 35 years into the future(based on fact it had taken about 35 years to change since previous one was introduced) but instead in reality goes 40 years backwards.

Not to mention the fact that going on the adverts for renewal or new licences in the newspaper(which you don't have to do under the new act) many never received the letter outlining part of the process(promised second letter to outline finalized process is like Xmas. Its coming.) I

n fact I know this to be true as I had two security company licences & a COA. Previously, typical bureaucratic waste, all three entities have got a letter. This time only one letter was received for the company without a COA attached to its name.

Process of renewing your company licence in particular has been a shambles to put it nicely.

You no longer get transferred to the person(Lucy) who mainly dealt with the issues & knew what was going on, but just get through to a Ministry of Justice Call Centre.

Operators there have no idea what they are talking about & have quoted at me the previous act, the bill, but never the new act as it actually stands.

They have contradicted themselves, given totally incorrect information & told of how the process works(as it is also detailed when carrying it out online) then in mid process the office have tried to change that process.

That was in part because one half of the process required you to do it online & the other part to send in a paper portion. You can't mix the two & expect it to be a good system. NZTA(NZ Transport Authority) use a similar system now to change ownership of a vehicle & that has just been shown to be equally a failure.

Issue has been the process & advice given on the phone after several calls are that those with only one company officer(Director CEO, CFO etc) only had to fill in the online form. Now they are wanting the paper form filled in mid process.

Its a shambles.

Then an issue arose when we were wrongfully arrested. Under the previous act you were required too call the office & say if there had arisen circumstances where your COA(Certificate of Approval) or licence might be suspended. On this occassion we were told that since remanded at large with charges almost certainly to be withdrawn(they were but with no apology or even meeting to clear things up, so the issues that led to arrests are continuing) we didn't have too.

However I decided to call out of courtesy anyway. The Call Centre would not put me through to the new office to which they got the reply "look I want to talk to the organ grinder not the monkey".

I then went back over the new act & can not find the requirement to inform the PSPLA (Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority) of any such situation. It maybe there but I could not find it.

A few days later I was rung by the supervisor of the Call centre as mine was 5th complaint they had had that day to find out what the issues were. Outlined them then raised the last issue.

"Oh but it is a requirement on the website" "I don't care whats on the website. That was requirement under the previous act, but unable to find it in the new one so we don't have to inform the office" or words to that effect.

It has now been raised with the Prime Ministers Office as last quick look showed something in the region of 300 company licences on hold & about as many again only just started to be processed. I would say it is mainly due to same issue. That is just talking to a few in same situation around here alone.

Funny thing they are holding up company licences but giving out COA's to druggies or those who promote drug use amongst security industry. Also to quote one Auckland police officer we meet in the CBD red zone "over half the arrests they make in Auckland at present involve those in the security industry".

So where is the proper scrutiny?

This is what happens when poor consultation is carried out & bureaucrats are allowed to drive a process.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Corruption is Rife Part 2!

Kia Ora,

Posts have been a little sparse of late due to the work in the red zone of the Christchurch CBD, moving due to a damaged property & generally getting things sorted to allow us to build for the future.

So it has meant putting on hold those posts that keep coming to mind. With the likelyhood of more sustained tasks posts will be when we are able to get them out.

Back to the title & the word corruption again it equates to the meanings that have appeared most often when googling previously. That is makes things worse & lacks integrity.

Further to the last post on this subject has been those instances that have arisen through the media such as the example(one of many) of an insurance company assessor saying it is going to cost $300,000 to repair their house only to have that countered by EQC wtih an assessment of $35,000. That is a huge difference, it is understandable it is causing frustration & anger.

Then there are the properties written off after the September wee shake that are been assessed again post the February Earthquake. As someone said "maybe they reckon the shake, shook it all Ok again". Nine months down the track that is not acceptable especially when someone then tells you about the anecdotal experience of a friend during the Kobe earthquake. Cleaned up in a month & rebuilt in eight months.

Add to that the friends & family who tell us a variety of nightmares. Such as the one tells how after the first visit they were told their house was likely to come down. Next person told them only some rebuild & some leveling cemment. When someone shows up to fix their house first they are told it is worse than they were told & it needs reassessment. Whilst waiting for that someone shows to fix other areas telling them parts of the house they were told were to be fixed are not covered.

Now if all that sounds confusing imgaine how householders feel & that is if they have been even visited.

Of course there are the mild mannered businsses people at the end of their wits trying to retrieve items to allow their business to continue with no real plan in place to help them & insurance issues now raising their ugly heads as insurance companies start to collapse meaning many are no longer covered.

Speaking of businesses there are those whose workers are waiting to carryout their professions but find the work has gone to those from out of town. Again it is causing frustration & anger.

Add in bureaucrats who say that the estimated 70,000 who left Christchurch following the February wee shake is actually only 8,000. How did they come to that number? By using statistics following some diasters overseas. They also point out those most likely to stay in their area are the better off.

So they haven't actually got out on the ground to find out. Many in the low income areas are still there because they just can't afford to leave. Though in the same token almost street after street in some suburbs are empty. They also have not taken into account the different mindset here as I have often pointed out this is New Zealand where people just think this doesn't happen to us.

Ends up the numbers they come up with affects their funding. If less have left more funding, not the actual numbers or likely issues.

Finally is the admission in both the 'Press' & on TV by the head of Civil Defence that been from the military he applied a military process which whilst good in the immediate aftermath of the disaster did not seem to fit the recovery process so much.

He also pointed out that one issue he found was been from the military he was used to people getting out & getting things down, whilst in Civil Defence below the top tier was a lot of well meaning enthusiastic volunteers & things didn't quite happen as fast or as was envisaged as he would expect.

These have been the issues I have had with Civil Defence from the start.

I agree that a military approach is very good in the first part of an emergency due to the training & ability to think on your feet. Unfortunately on the day it was those ex military & police in particular who were a big part of helping make a difference assisting the emergency services, not Civil Defence.

It also can be very good if applied correctly for the recovery.

The limiting issue has been the well meaning volunteers. Some are great for example the person who I saw took control in September. The only thing was that it took nearly a day & a half after the first shake before they were asked to show up. In the meantime those on site had been spending all their time so I was told deciding on how the table should be set up. It then meandered along until that person returned for their shift & got things organized. True it was a satellite position but they all need to be up & running as at any moment their role could change during a disaster.

What though seems to be the biggest issue is why I left Civil Defence in the first place. It has a process but whilst some were trying to run it along those lines, allowing people to use their initiative as long as the information was passed up & down the line. Others were using the old boy system, short cutting the system(nothing wrong there) but then not passing it up or down the line so everyone was in the know. Hence in so many instances the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

In one instance it took five days for information to get to the police(except via us & some police thought we were overstepping our role) that we as on site security were told direct.

Another meant that for nine weeks a demolition company was abused & threatened for knocking down a church illegally, which probably thousands of people saw on the day as about to fall down, only for Civil Defence finally admit it had given the order for it to be pulled down.

On yet another items were put out to the public via the internet or in the paper such as opening of new areas of cordon or allowing of business owners to access certain areas but not passed on to those on the ground. Again it caused anger & frustration. Not to mention the lack of communication to those with no internet or power for TV.

The new entity Cera has now taken over & right now there seems to be an urgency to get some things that have been causing frustration & anger completed. It remains to see whether things will now pick up.

Civil Defence needs to look hard at the way it operates especially here in Canterbury. Volunteers are great & we need them but it has to be done by people who can think on their feet but ensure the information still flows in the right directions quickly & correctly.

Some country area Police officers who responded to help told us of how the local civil defence had been caught out years before, had learnt their lessons & incorporated those lessons into both their training & set up.

It is not something I have seen either from my short time with Canterbury Civil Defence or the on going issues from the major earthquakes & their effects on Christchurch except at the top.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Who can you Trust?

Kia Ora,

Over the last few years New Zealand government departments have been embarrassed by people in high positions being exposed for having falsified their CV's.

A recent investigation made the comment that basic procedures had not been followed.

Probably the biggest issue though is bureaucrats sticking to a system that has been shown to be flawed. That is the use of referees. Government departments stick to this like glue, but in reality it is so easy to manipulate.

Several years ago whilst at a seminar a leading member of the recruitment industry made just this point. Your referee is always someone who is going to say the best about you & easy to set up someone who will actually be in on any lies you put in your CV.

Personally if I am required to provide referees I use ex army mates as I know they will give honest answers even if that means I might miss out on something. A CV & most referees can never actually tell you how someone will be in the position.

A good point the person from the recruitment industry made was see if you know the businesses in the CV & ring them or someone in that industry. Get a warts & all appraisal.

It is that warts & all that any security style check needs to know. Not what courses you can put on paper.

Have said it before there are many coming out of courses who have little actual knowledge of security or any other industry. The education system is dumbing people down so any paper work is worthless when looking at what a person can provide for the employer.
The Essential Guide to Recruitment: How to Conduct Great Interviews and Select the Best Employees
For the security industry it should be the ability to think for yourself, honesty & lack of drug use. It is an industry where experience will teach you more after an initial base training.

Government departments it should be how efficient you are, how you can think for yourself & again how honest you are.

In the latest high profile situation the actual work face members of that department(the military)should of had a greater say than they obviously did in the employment of this particular individual.

Due to a yearly exchange of personnel across the ranks structure, exercises & other commitments the New Zealand Military has a lot of contacts within the British Military system that should of exposed this person as a fraud a lot sooner.
Recruiting with Social Media: Social Media's Impact on Recruitment and HR
That information would of been coming from people they trust. It is obvious now that any referees must of been in on the scam because it was nothing else but a scam.

Despite all this on going problems with recruiting in particular offshore qualifications & experience government departments are still going down the 'referee' road when it quite obviously is open to major abuse. This creates security issues that need to be sorted.

You know how much you can trust someone you actually know. As opposed to a nameless person on the end of the phone or these days computer.

How do you know that the person you are talking too is not the person applying?

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Corruption is Rife!

Kia Ora,

Well work inside the Christchurch CBD Red Zone is finished & it got too busy to keep up the blog & since then a little task as well as finding a new premises then moving(still in progress).

One thing the earthquakes in Christchurch have exposed corrupt practices are rife in New Zealand.

Before writing a previous post commenting on corruption I searched it on the internet as the dictionary I had seemed to have a narrow view. What came back in the first two searches showed that nine out of ten definitions hardly alluded to money if at all but more were words like "make things worse" or "lack of integrity". A third search without changing the search words suddenly only referred to money until the second page. I tend to go with the first two searches.

In a recent debate people kept insisting on a set definition but that allows those in charge to then carryout corrupt practices that frustrate but for some reason fall into gray areas that don't require them to answer for their actions.

The reason though I am moving is due to what I consider a corrupt practice making the place I reside unsafe although it appears to only have about 25 superficial cracks on the outside with one large crack in the warehouse.

After the September 4th 2010 Earthquake it was noticed there was sand come up out front. The owners said "oh yes it has sand infill".

Would of never signed the lease had I been aware of that having been part of civil defence & knowing that liquifaction was likely when sand base is under your property.

But it gets worse. Whilst working recently we had the luck to work along side a structural engineer.

What they highlighted has also been recently highlighted by Far North Mayor & engineer Wayne Brown. He said he was shocked by the poor building standards in residential houses in Christchurch, which mirrored the comment by the US USAR team member to me about our high rises.

In the 'Press' article highlighting comments from Brown the Department of Building & Housing commented the quake had highlighted some bad buildign practices peculiar to Christchurch such as unreinforced concrete slabs under residential houses.

When I said sand infill the engineer raised his eyes & said "so what else has happened?" or words to that effect. Basically when the big crack appeared the rear wall became concave as floor sloped down that side with wall in at the top. Few weeks later there was a thump & on inspection a second crack had appeared at right angles to the major one & wall straightened itself fully over the next week.

As the saying goes there is more & this is where you start to see the corruption.

Allegedly many years ago the City council tried to stop Developers from using sand infill. The theory is sand under your concrete slab makes it stronger so you don't have to use as much reinforcing or as comments from department no reinforcing.

Since the Council didn't have the resources to fight the developers in court so I am told they come up with a compromise where it would only be allowed to be used in single story residential premises.

Two issues there. Sand becomes a form of liquifaction during the pressure from an earthquake & you could see that in the warehouseas cracked area had risen above the rest of the floor. What we have noticed around Christchurch is when liquifaction occurs somewhere it leaves what becomes a sink hole as the shaking causes the light soil like silt or sand to move to one spot leaving a gap where the light soil was prior to the shake.

Secondly is that the property I had leased for my business was an apartment/office/warehouse which is two stories. So somewhere along the line this dodgy practice has morphed into been Ok for commercial two stories.

The article refers to several other questionable practices in residential housing with no accounting of the bad practices in commercial or high rise premises.

Some very new buildings such as the IRD building or CBS areana have stood up well from anecdotal comment. The other significantly have been from anecdotal comment those built by the Ministry of Works which was criticised for over engineering anything it built but would of been using the lessons of the 1931 Napier earthquake.

Everything else in between I would be very suspicious off until a full check has been done. Thats a proper check not the Mickey mouse ones we have been getting on direction from the Body corporate. It also seems from what we have seen in the Red Zone that is an engineer has a vested interest then the report on a building is vastly different to that of an independant engineer.

Seems we quickly forget the lessons then corruptly short cut everything we can whick in the long run proves more expensive in lives. Funny thing is it is claimed these bad practices were a result that earthquakes were unlikely in Christchurch. Civil Defence though had maps & projections (shown to us when you joined back in 90's not to mention the 1996 documentary)of likely damage to Christchurch in the event of the big quake expected on the Alpine fault or a Tsaunami.

As bad as Civil Defences response has been to the Canterbury earthquakes they did try to minimize effects but were given not much teeth or credence. They had to fight to keep the sand dunes at 5 metres when first lowered from 8 metres as people wanted them taken down completely to improve property prices.

Didn't help that many of their own people didn't take it seriously & still don't.

In the vein of making things worse that seems to be the one thing Civil Defence are doing well. There is no leadership & frustrations are growing. One thing everyone does in Christchurch is talk about the quake.

From a professional point of view I point out that this slow response is now the norm for diaster recovery around the world & tends to result in riots. Most are now saying they can see that happening here shortly unless the truth is put out there & real progress is made.

That is not the reaction you expect to get here. Prior to the February 22nd earthquake if you mentioned that was a possibility the stock answer would of been "not in Christchurch" or "not in New Zealand", someone actually said "New Zealand was now too PC for it to happen as everyone would be worried that they would upset someone".

Well that has all changed now. I have stayed on message it is just others response to it has changed & all due to corruption.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Hail the Black Sheep!

Kia Ora,

Pretty full on at present with tasks resulting from the February earthquake. So will also be publishing posts written when an upcoming task was not going to allow me to blog.

It might seem strange for a blog about security & security related issues but I am all in support of a families Black Sheep. Better known these days as Peter Freedom the person who has successfully(whilst travelling the world) for two years de frauded our Social Welfare department exposing it as corrupt & incompetent.

As someone who once was on a benefit as a back up(as it is supposed to be) it was always galling to see all those that didn't help themselves getting a hand out whilst those of us who tried to help ourselves got no help at all. In fact our names got passed from case manager to case manager to make them look good. You either help all or none equally otherwise you just encourage people to give up.

Now there has been an article in the 'Press' where the CEO of WINZ tries to defend the department handing out cash to a 'charity' run by an overstayer. Seems they have not learnt the lessons.

Many in the US think they are now a socialist state. They have no idea but in saying that some things the government needs to pick up especially in a small country where the population just isn't big enough to provide everything.

Recently Public service chiefs were said to be angered over the publicity of how much they earn. Tough! When they are earning up to $380,000 more than most workers they are answerable when they are not providing the services they are expected too.

Being on Welfare is soul destroying but that doesn't mean that people can't be provided with actual assistance that some might just need to kick start. Right at this moment the government is looking to trim people of these benefits which is great except the system is set up to penalize them if they try. There is no incentive to get off really apart from personal. Most try initially but give up after so many knock backs.
From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition: A History of Social Welfare in America
Also there are just not the jobs out there in the current economic climate & are less likely to be as the financial crisis worsens. Problem here is successive governments have spent years dumbing everybody down giving them 'financial education' that isn't that very few can see the best route out is to start a business for themselves. Of course governments, in particular New Zealand ones have made the requirements to be in certain businesses so onerous in the wrong ways that people find it hard to start.

When I say onverous in the wrong ways I mean we do, despite some sections in society saying otherwise, need good regulations to ensure people get the best. The market does not actually offer that as claimed by some because to compete means everyone will lower themselves to lowest common denominator to stay in business. There needs to be a good mix of both.

More often than not though the regulations cause the opposite to happen. They tend to be written by those with no practical knowledge of an industry or a role.
Transformation of the Welfare State: The Silent Surrender of Public Responsibility
So I hail the Black Sheep of his family for exposing at least some of the poor systems, corruption & incompetence in our civil service.

Really if they want to get people back to work & cut crime the best option is for the government to provide policies that allow businesses to start & flourish. As an Australian said when moving here to start a business "easy to set one up here but after that it is just apathy".

An efficient, competent civil service could help there. But ours tends to make the comedies 'Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister' look like reality TV.
Just another slave of the welfare state - Bumper Sticker
They can't say it is not continuing as I know it is. Last year I had a flat mate move in before I threw him out two weeks later who was & is a con man as well as appearing to be a gambler.

So far I am the only one he hasn't been able to rip off from my knowledge. Correction next place he moved into threw him out in one week.

But recently I have begun receiving mail for him from our welfare department which I have returned saying gone no address & he was only here for two weeks a year ago.
Just another slave of the welfare state Long Sleeve T-shirt Large White
Having dealt with this type of thing before I can envisage what has happened. He has recently needed an address so has given this one. They are sending out mail whilst he rips them off. They will not stop as he has to change the address even if you tell them he is no longer there. The other option is He got a loan from them back then & only now are they chasing it up. Either way despite them been told at some stage a debt collector or PI will show up on the door.

Funny thing is all the fingers, in particular from the department, are been pointed at the Black Sheep. Their own faults are the problem.

If he returns to New Zealand he is to be prosecuted for defruading the department. I hope they are lining up the case manager & the CEO to stand along side him. Their corruption is what allowed this to happen.

Go the Black Sheep!

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

The World split in Three!

Kia Ora,

When you look at the aftermath of the earthquakes here in Christchurch especially the one in February the city has split itself basically into three worlds.

It just happens that I live where one of them prevails & have been working or out in the other two.

First there is the world of the Eastern Suburbs. Basically because of their personal situation many out that way are now struggling to meet the basic needs in life. They feel forgotten at times. Others out there that can have picked themselves up but in reality the Eastern suburbs of Christchurch need to revert to the productive farmland it once was.

This is the world that affects people most & the damage is vastly different in most case to that of the CBD. The people who live here often at the wrong end of the food chain.

It is becoming quite evident that there are a number of fault lines running close too or under the city that no one knew about & as the cycle has started again the soil is not the right type to rebuild on.

The Prime Ministers prediction of 10,000 homes not been rebuilt from what I saw might be very light in the final count. As earthquakes are now been centred under some of the worst hit low lying areas new liquifaction is emerging which, as we have found, is very destructive or destabilizing.

Then there is the world of the CBD in particular the red zone where I am working now. The last place I saw destruction like that was in Baghdad just after arriving to work there.

Those mainly affected here are the business world.

As time has gone on I think everyone can understand their frustration especially when they look at the way Japan has got into clean up mode.

Problem here is firstly poor communication from Civil Defence.

Secondly the New Zealand mindset was never ready for this & still hasn't accepted it, so the actions Civil Defence should be taking of fast take down of most of the CBD is not happening as they try to keep everyone happy. Not going to happen & the longer it takes the more frustration & anger.

The adverse reaction to the Prime Ministers comment about 10,000 homes or the earthquake recovery ministers bulldozing all the old dungers actually show the issues Civil Defence are having to deal with. People are just falling into the third world in Christchurch with their reactions.

The third world is the one most in New Zealand would fall into. The lack of reality world which I have posted about prior to the earthquakes.

At the moment due to lack of information this includes many of those CBD business people. It also includes many of those in the West of Christchurch for which February 22nd was just a good shake & an inconvience. Many who were in the city on the day are also in this group as many went into shock or denial & still haven't come to terms with what happened.

It includes those who for what ever reason want to or try to enter the red zone putting their own & others lives at risk.

Amongst these are the residents now been led by an immature city councillor wanting to treat the area like it was a normal living area. This is a major blunder on the part of Civil Defence. No one should be living within the red zone. There can be no debate in this as hard as it is for people. It is hard enough trying to keep the area secure with so many ways to slip in without having residents thinking it is their own private backyard.

As a police officer said in reality no one not even police should be allowed inside the cordon as they work their way in securing properties. I suggested the priviso of the army's LAV's with their night vision & the fact they give some protection to the occupants from falling buildings & speed to get out over rough terrain.

Many of those who think they can go into these areas are not situationally aware.

When the 5.1 quake hit last Sunday I was standing with two people as we began to look for a vagrant we know is in the area. One had never felt an earthquake before. The other had but though their reactions were good as they ran into the road they were not situationally aware of that building. Sometimes you are just aware even if you haven't been there. But having been patrolling that area I knew that its weak point was in another direction & that another weak point was likely to fall towards the middle of the road. So I walked off at a slightly different angle more worried about my cup of tea not spilling but keeping an eye on the second weak point.

Most people in Christchurch at the time of the February quake just froze or went into denial & what I have noticed is that is becoming more evident not less as you would think it would since. It was noted by many who were situationally aware that people ran in the wrong direction, did strange things or carried on like nothing happened totally oblivious to the situation.

It is strange seeing the three worlds interact.

One woman was allegedly removed from a supermarket by staff when she started ranting about people in a badly hit suburb & how they deserved no help. Because their nearest supermarkets at the time were out of action many at that store at the time were from that suburb. In fact the person who told me this was in line behind her & is from that suburb.

Ideally to make the city one again as much as we can the Eastern suburbs need to be moved West of the present city boundaries as does the CBD returning that land to productive farmland & park. The land to the West is harder in composition & not as productive as much of the land Christchurch is presently built on.

Not only can we build a newer safer city to the West but mitigate the effect of an earthquake. Another well known person has come out in the media saying there will not be another earthquake for a long time. They said that after September, but all along the Alpine Fault is known to be overdue for a big shake alone not counting the unknown faults still coming to our attention near & under Christchurch.

Even the current West of the city is not immune after so many shakes will have weakened the buildings by all the shaking. As was shown modern building standards as much as old were not built to withstand more than one good shake. The ones that seem to have survived best are those built by the old Ministry of Works to standards that came out of the 31 Napier earthquake. Seems just like in the financial crisis we are re learning all the lessons of the past.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz