Are you gearing up for your mid-week Fourth of July? Catch up with the latest security industry news and get a preview of our July features (released online July 1) in the Week in Review!

Let’s get right down to business with this week's top five articles:

How Awareness Stops Negligence, Prevents Workplace Violence in Healthcare: From the June 26 Security eNewsletter, this article features commentary from International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS) President Bryan Warren, Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) President Gail Lenehan and ADT Commercial/Tyco Integrated Security spokesman Kevin Weeks.

From the article: “It’s a vicious cycle,” says Warren. “If you have underreporting, then when it comes time to use your metrics to justify additional resources, you don’t have the number to speak to the CFO and C-suite to prove that you need them. That spirals down to show that you can’t prove a negative. … The lack of numbers leads to a lack of validity in your metrics, which leads to a lack of resources, which leads to a very bad environment.”

This article also features two podcasts from the interviews.

The Security Leader: Beyond Guns, Guards and Gates: Our June cover story is still going strong in our top article countdown, as top security leaders break down how the industry is changing and how its leaders have to change to keep up.

From the article: “Security and the security leader is all about providing strategies that promote the competitive advantage of a company, because that leads to shareholder value,” CACI International Senior VP and CSO Jeff Berkin explains. “Rather than being focused entirely on the detail level of projects, the CSO role is often more strategic in terms of helping the company identify and exploit a competitive advantage through better security. It’s also important that there be recognition that operational effectiveness is not the same as strategy; you have to have both. Those who are higher performing recognize that.”

SECURITY’s Top Guarding Companies: Another long-standing favorite of Security readers shows the top guarding facts from 2004, many of which hold true today.

From the article: The guarding business is strong and growing, with firms providing a diversity of services. The top six firms surveyed by SECURITY magazine employ about 19 percent of the total security guards in the United States. And guarding companies say that, on average, hours billed increased by 20 percent in 2002 compared to 2001.

7 Factors Delaying Background Screening Times: Also from the June 26 eNewsletter, Jon Cano of HR Plus explains why background checks can be delayed. Hint: It’s not because all of your applicants have extensive criminal records. They might just have nicknames.

From the article: As a veteran employment screening professional, I know that in our business you are only as good as your last screening and that time is of the essence. Companies are always looking for speed in the hiring and on-boarding process, and they understand the comprehensive background screening process can exasperate some hiring managers who are befuddled by divergent local county and country regulations, laws and delays.

5 Ways to Diversify Your Surveillance Camera System: In another one of our exclusive Security eNewsletter articles, Greg Peratt, Director of Sales, Video Solutions Integration, at Panasonic, explains how you can expand the uses of your surveillance system to add value to your business.

From the article: Just as the smartphone has evolved in purpose to become an everyday tool for managing a busy life, video surveillance cameras have become a valuable management tool that can be applied to numerous aspects of business operations. In fact, organizations that are only using IP video technology for surveillance purposes are missing value and opportunity from their investment.

Plus, as a quick sneak peak for Monday, here are a few new titles you’ll want to look out for from our July edition:

Solving the Eli Lilly Drug Theft

Calculating the Cost of Megapixels

Using Education to Prevent Parking Lot Crime

Keys to Managing Sports Security

And much, much more!

What was your favorite article from our June edition? Let us know in the comments section below, or email me at meyerc@bnpmedia.com