GROUP 77
Office & Facility Security
[BUILDINGS, 2025]
[News Max, 2025]
Despite the advancements in emergency drills and modern technology, preventing tragedies like this week’s shooting in NYC remains a complex challenge. Security often becomes a delicate balancing act. While it’s important to protect people, we cannot create a "fortress" that inhibits the freedom to move. At the same time, implementing effective security measures based on best practices is essential to addressing evolving threats. [WABC-TV, 2025]
“You have the Governor’s Residence set on fire, it’s probably the biggest thing happening that night, and you have this guy mentioning the governor,” said Brian Higgins, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former police chief in Bergen County, N.J. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2025]
[NJBiz, 2025]
“What should we be doing different?” clients are asking, said Brian Higgins, founder of Group 77, a Mahwah, New Jersey, security company that is among those getting peppered with an influx of calls. “How can we prevent something like this?”
The gut reaction of some companies, Higgins said, is to buy the latest technology and blanket their workplace in cameras. But, he cautioned, that’s only only effective if paired with consistency and long-term monitoring. [Associated Press, 2025]
"If you’re not sure, don’t open the door," Higgins said, adding that citizens can stand to the side of their door and speak to officers through the door while calling 911 or the local police department to confirm that an officer was sent to their home.
Higgins said that knowing what police uniforms look like and, if you live in a town with a smaller police force, being familiar with its members helps with verifying. [Fox News, 2025]
Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and former chief of the Bergen County Police Department, did not attribute the recent reduction to any specific new laws or law enforcement crackdowns. Rather, he said, the rate is similar to what he remembers in most years before 2020.
"I don’t think the drop is the aberration," Higgins said. "I think what you’re seeing is the leveling out."
Bergen County has a very low crime rate historically, Higgins said. He cited several factors that may have led to an unusually high 15 killings in 2021, such as the public reemergence from COVID-19 lockdowns and the unrest that stemmed from the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans in police custody.
[The Record, 2025]