Risk is the likelihood that harm will occur. This means that an individual cannot be sure that a particular harm will occur at a given time and should therefore be ready to prevent the risks at all time. Risks are therefore considered as uncertainties that may negatively affect a business, an institution or an organization (Heazeltine, 1986). Risks are normally assessed in terms of how frequent they are likely to occur and the severity of the losses they are likely to cause.
Justice and security organizations are some of the organizations that experience many risks. If risks are not properly managed, they can cause very big losses to organizations that can definitely affect the operations and activities of the organizations. Organizations should therefore have proper risk management systems so as to reduce or even eliminate the adverse effects that may result from risks (Ichniowski, 1995).
Risk management is a very important factor that justice and security organizations should take into consideration while planning their activities. The process of identifying potential risks and preparing appropriately for preventing them is known as risk management (Greenberg & Dratel, 2005). Security officers such as police officers face risks that may harm their lives while carrying out their duties.
In some cases, criminal gangs may want to conduct revenge attacks on security officers and in the process posing numerous dangers to both the security officers and the public. Every justice and security organization should establish strong risk management teams to make sure that lives of security officers and the public are safe (Greenberg & Dratel, 2005). This will also ensure that properties are safe. Handling the issue of terrorism, security department would reduce the likelihood of huge losses occurring. One of the major roles of risk management in justice and security organizations is to reduce and even eliminate liabilities that may arise because of risks (Greenberg & Dratel, 2005).
Terrorism is one of the risks making many people live in fear because it is not known when terrorists can attack a particular place. Terrorism is an act that can result in losing many lives and properties. It is a risk that is raising a great deal of concerns to many security organizations around the world. It is the role of justice and security organizations to put proper risk management systems in place so as to assure people that they are safe against terrorism (Haggerty & Von, (2006).
It is important to consider identification of potential dangers as one of significant parts of risk management process. To do this, security organizations can study the past records that contain data of losses that organizations have experienced. The next step is to explore the methods that can be used to handle the exposure after detecting the potential risks. At this stage, security organizations should review their policies related to dealing with risk exposure.
After exploring a number of methods that can be used to handle risk exposures, the third step is to choose the appropriate method that can be used to manage the exposure to the identified risks. Fourthly, the organizations should implement risk treatment measures by making all necessary changes to policies and procedures. The last step is to ensure continual evaluation of risk treatment measures because the exposure to risks change with time and continuous evaluation is important so as to make adjustments where necessary (Heazeltine, 1986). Following the above-mentioned five steps, justice and security organizations can enhance the effectiveness of their risk management procedures and, thus, avoid the potential harms.
Another role of risk management in security organizations it that the appropriate changes can be made within police departments so as to deal more effectively with criminals without exposing the police officers to risks related to their jobs. Risk management also ensures that the training offered to security officers especially the police force is done in a way that they will be able to deal with criminals with very minimum risks (Heazeltine, 1986).
Present day security organizations should not train police officers using the same exercises that were used in 1990s. With the recent shifts in the society and the level of technological progress, criminal gangs can implement new techniques to cause harm to people, thus, requiring appropriate preparation of officers. It is therefore the role of risk management teams in security organizations to assess the potential risks and suggest appropriate training programs for police officers.
In conclusion, properly performed risk analysis can help the management of security organizations to put in place appropriate measures of preventing the potential harms to security officers. A properly performed risk analysis can also build confidence in the management of justice and security organizations and therefore security officers can do their work without fear of adverse effects Heazeltine, 1986). At the same time, performing a proper risk analysis, security organizations can identify and prevent potential risks. This can make citizens feel free from risks that may arise from security lapses and relieve their stress from the current criminological situation.
Reference List
Greenberg, K. & Dratel, J. (2005). The torture papers: The road to Abu Ghraib’s risk Management Strategies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Haggerty, K. & Von, E. (2006). The new politics of surveillance and visibility. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Heazeltine, H. (1986). Case study: a risk audit of law enforcement. Risk Management Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 60-3.
Ichniowski, T. (1995). There is not claims crisis now, but new challenges loom. A Journal of Architectural Record, Vol. 183, pp. 22-9.