Baroness Angela Harris joins IFPO UK and Ireland Advisory Board

A former patron of the UK Chapter of ASIS International (the professional organisation for security professionals with a global membership of 38,000), Baroness Harris was awarded the ASIS UK Mervyn David Award in 2012 for services to the security profession.

Baroness Harris was born in Lancashire in 1944, the daughter of an Anglican clergyman. She attended what’s now the University of West London and then became an air stewardess prior to marrying and having a son.

Having divorced and later re-married, Baroness Harris moved to North Yorkshire where she quickly became a town councillor for Richmond in North Yorkshire, then a district councillor for Richmondshire and was finally elected as a county councillor for North Yorkshire in 1981.

Baroness Harris was Mayor of her town, chair of her district and also the first female to chair her county council.

Always harbouring a keen interest in policing, Baroness Harris joined the North Yorkshire Police Authority in 1981, duly becoming chair in 1994 (a role held until 2001). Baroness Harris was formerly joint chair (balanced council) for two years and deputy chair of the Association of Police Authorities between 1997 and 2001. She’s also a former member of the National Crime Squad Service Authority and the Police Negotiating Board and served as a magistrate for a period of 16 years.

Baroness Harris became a member of the House of Lords in 1999, taking on the policing brief for the Liberal Democrats, and was also a front bench spokesperson on Northern Ireland with a particular focus on policing issues.

Baroness Harris is president of the Police Treatment Centres, High Steward of Ripon Cathedral, a member of the RAF Regiment Association and patron of a number of charities.

Pat Finucane CPP CSSM CPO

Also joining the IFPO UK and Ireland Advisory Board is Pat Finucane CPP CSSM CPO. Boasting over 28 years’ experience within the private and public security sectors, Finucane is a security professional and transformation driver with a demonstrated history of physical security programme design and execution across global markets. He was recently appointed global physical security operations manager at Pinterest.

Prior to joining Pinterest, Finucane held senior leadership roles at Dropbox, Global Risk Solutions and for the Irish Defence Forces. Indeed, he has served on operational deployments to the Middle East, Africa and across the Balkans.

A keen advocate of Continuing Professional Development, Finucan is the co-president of the Veterans Employee Resource Group at Pinterest whereby he’s actively involved in helping to encourage former services personnel to transition and retrain for new careers in the ‘tech’ sector.Finucane holds several post-graduate degrees from Dublin City University, the University of Saint Andrews, the National University of Maynooth and the Institute of Technology in Carlow. In addition to academic credentials, he holds IFPO CPO and CSSM certifications and the ASIS CPP certification.

Learning opportunities

The International Foundation for Protection Officers was established in Canada back in 1988. Ron Minion, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the owner of a large Canadian contract security business, was the founder and served as the organisation’s executive director until 1992 to be succeeded by Sandi Davies, who has held the office since then.

IFPO UK is a not-for-profit professional membership association which provides professional learning opportunities for security practitioners such that they can obtain the knowledge, skills and competencies required to maximise job performance and enhance their career potential.

The IFPO UK and Ireland website, to be found at www.IFPO.UK, was launched in July 2020. The UK branch director is Mike Hurst CPP. He’s supported by an Advisory Board of experienced security professionals. Security Matters’ Editor Brian Sims BA (Hons) Hon FSyI is a member of the UK and Ireland Advisory Board.

IFPO’s members span 68 countries, with security professionals in 56 nations currently studying its educational programmes.