The need for Postal Security Training
All individuals and organisations are potential targets for postal devices and bombs which have been sent in the past for political or religious reasons, for extortion and by mentally unstable individuals.
Recognising these postal threats is extremely difficult, without the correct postal security training, as the physical appearance of hate mail, letter bombs, and other threatening letters and packages is limited only by the imagination of the senders.
The traditional postal device takes many forms - parcels, padded “jiffy bags”, envelopes and packages of any shape or size. They contain a range of hazardous materials including bombs, incendiary devices, hazardous chemicals such as Anthrax, razor blades, needles and broken glass.
They may be delivered by hand or via a courier as well as “through the post”. Letter bombs are generally designed to kill or maim the person who is opening them, but a parcel bomb may be large and designed to cause mass casualties and structural damage.
Sending postal devices has become one of the most common means of criminal and terrorist attack upon organisations and individuals worldwide. For example, the US postal service was thrown into crisis in October 2001 when anthrax contaminated letters were sent to several government officials; and in December 2003 European Commission President Romano Prodi narrowly escaped unhurt after a parcel bomb was delivered to his home.
It is usually not necessary to open the envelope or package in any particular way to initiate a mail bomb. They can often be triggered off by any, even a slight, attempt to open the outer cover. The ease with which these postal devices can be sent and the anonymity afforded the sender makes them extremely attractive and deadly tools for vicious and calculating individuals.
It is therefore imperative that all personnel who handle or receive mail become familiar with the characteristics of suspect parcels, and that they follow correct procedures to mitigate the postal device threat.
Computer Based Mail Room Training
S.TO.P. Postal Devices is a computer based multimedia postal training programme that fulfils any organisations mailroom security training needs. It uses a combination of photographic images, video, audio, text and animation to increase the postal security awareness of personnel in the workplace, promote understanding of the threat posed by postal devices and provides essential procedures to cope efficiently with the threat.
S.TO.P. Postal Devices is designed for security officers, mailroom supervisors and staff, facility managers, office and building service managers, receptionists, secretaries and all personnel who normally handle postal mail.
The programme is currently used by police crime prevention officers, postal authorities, banks, retailers and corporate clients worldwide. It is widely regarded as the best and most comprehensive Postal Devices training programme currently available.
Subjects included are:
- Introduction to the threat
- Past events analysis
- Suspicious signs
- Postal device threat indicators
- Postal IEDs (bombs)
- Contaminated mailings
- Projectile devices
- Non-lethal devices (broken glass, razor blades, etc.)
- Threat analysis
- Proactive mail security
- Developing a mail screening system
- Mail screening procedures
- Response proceduresTechnical aids to assist in screening letters & parcels
CBT TRAINING – THE BENEFITS
- CBT is more flexible than instructor - led training, accommodating individual learning styles ¬ users/supervisor can set the pace, lesson duration, learning frequency, and study location
- CBT is less disruptive than classroom training your key staff can train at offpeak times or in their own time
- CBT lends itself to "justintime" learning your staff can apply their knowledge as they acquire it
- CBT is a lot less expensive than regular instructor led or classroom training
- In many instances CBT proves significantly more effective than other forms of training
- CBT is instruction is delivered via CD–ROM, allowing you to take the Renful security training course anywhere, anytime