Dallas, Texas — Today, Mark Herrera, president and chief security strategist for Global Awareness Professionals, LLC (GAP) is pleased to announce that GAP is designing training with awareness of the principles and risk-mitigation considerations commonly associated with the federal SAFETY Act (Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act.)
In recent GAP trainings conducted with various groups during the current national and international threat environment, Herrera has found that venues looking at their program through a framework like this helps organizational leadership identify strengths, gaps, and priorities for improvement over time.
“We show organizations how to emphasize prevention, recognize threats early, and structure their response protocols through the SAFETY Act framework,” said Herrera. “The training supports organizations in demonstrating proactive risk management, duty-of-care awareness, and operational readiness consistent with widely recognized security and liability-reduction frameworks.”
With regions all over the United States and worldwide finding themselves suddenly designated as high-security risk organizations are tasked with activating security protocols immediately. This makes the importance of preplanning security response has critical to response success.
“During trainings, we reference a simplified Venue Security Maturity Model and recommend organizing security crisis responses to include every level,” added Herrera.
The model levels include:
Level 1 – Reactive
Security measures are largely incident-driven with limited formal procedures.
Level 2 – Structured
Basic policies, defined roles, and coordination with local public safety partners begin to take shape.
Level 3 – Integrated
Security planning becomes part of overall venue operations, including risk assessments, crowd management planning and regular staff training.
Level 4 – Data Driven
Organizations leverage reporting systems, analytics, and technology to identify trends and inform operational decisions.
Level 5 – Proactive / Predictive
Security programs become highly mature and forward-looking, using predictive assessments, integrated technology platforms and continuous improvement processes.
According to Homeland Security, SAFETY Act liability protections apply to a wide range of anti-terrorism products, systems and services. These include layered security programs, industry best practices and cybersecurity technologies.
Mark Herrera is a globally recognized security and leadership expert with more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement, homeland security and venue safety. He serves as Chair of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Public Assembly Facilities Sub-Sector Council, advising on safety strategies for major venues and mass gatherings across the country.
“One gap we’re seeing across many venues is the challenge of capturing meaningful operational safety data consistently and then turning that information into actionable insights,” said Herrera. “Things like operational friction points, early warning indicators or near-miss situations are not always captured. Using the SAFETY Act lens will help continually improve security programs because that preparedness saves lives when it is practical, credible, and delivered by those who have lived it.” he added.
About Global Awareness Professionals
Global Awareness Professionals (GAP), is committed to preparing people, strengthening teams and protecting communities with risk assessment and staff training—because when organizations are prepared, lives are protected. Established in 2015, GAP is now expanding the scope of clientele from event venues to also include schools, churches, hospitals and other venues with vulnerable populations. GAP is rolling out recalibrated security training frameworks nationwide in 2026, with expanded offerings that integrate emerging technology, scenario-based learning and cross-sector preparedness strategies. Visit online at gapglobaltraining.com
submitted by Mary Klida, executive marketing consultant
