Security professional, retired FBI agent speaks at RCOF
Rotary Club of Farragut president Keith Bryson, left, and vice president Staci Wilkerson mingle with their guest speaker, Ricky Hill, A&A Investigations and Consulting Group founder, at a recent RCF Wednesday meeting in Fox Den Country Club. Hill talked to the club about security in the workplace.
Ricky Hill, a security professional and retired FBI agent, gave The Rotary Club of Farragut members vital security tips during a recent RCF Wednesday meeting in Fox Den Country Club.
Hill, A&A Investigations and Consulting Group founder, has 28 years’ experience in management of domestic and international counter-terrorism, criminal enterprise investigations and security operations.
“In a time and space where it seems everybody’s pitting against each other, we need that type of service,” Hill said. “When I talk to businesses and individuals, what I always say is ‘There are three things we want to protect.’”
For example, “If we have a business, we want to protect our personnel, and, personally, (we want to protect) our families,” he said. “We want to protect our facilities — our space — (and) we want to protect information.”
Those are the areas Hill looks at when consulting a client.
However, “If someone comes into your space and has a gun and start to fire, what do you do?” Hill asked. “Your options are to hide, run or fight.
“But, there’s more to it than that,” adding his company looks at goals, with the first one being prevention.
“Look at what you do to prevent an event from occurring at your facility.”
For example, locking doors to limit access is one measure, he said.
The next goal is to look at “what are you doing to protect?
“Are surveillance cameras enough?” Hill asked. “Is your staff trained to identify potential problems about to occur?”
Businesses also need to look at how they and their staff would respond during a threatening event and provide training on response measures, he said.
When deciding on “hide, run or fight,” people need to think about two things: situation awareness and survival, Hill said.
“At the end of the day, nothing else matters, he added, “Be aware of surroundings and escape routes.”
He also asked Rotarians, “Which is more important to you — your privacy or your security?”
As an FBI veteran, he conducted and managed investigations focusing on
counter terrorism, counter intelligence, organized crime and drug trafficking organizations.
