Marking International Security Officers’ Day in style, the New Zealand Security Association has announced the finalists for the 2020 New Zealand Security Awards.
“Today is International Security Officers’ Day (24 July or 24/7) so it is very appropriate that we announce the finalists on the same day that we recognise the fantastic contribution and commitment of the 25,000 licensed security staff in New Zealand, and in particular, the performance of security personnel through the recent Covid-19 lock-down,” stated the NZSA team in a post on the Association’s website.
Although the awards attracted well over 100 nominations across 20 categories, several categories received only a small number of nominations, and in a couple of cases only one.
The NZSA pointed out that in categories lacking nominations, the judges reviewed each nomination on its merits and made a decision to award a nomination if its score warranted it. “A low number of nominees in a category does not detract in any way from the quality of the finalists and the eventual winner,” the NZSA stressed.
The “Install and Service Electronic Sector (Corporate) Technician of the Year” and “Install and Service Electronic Sector (SME) Technician of the Year” categories, for example, appear to have attracted only one nomination each despite being created from a former singular category “Install and Service Electronic Sector – Technician of the Year” in order to encourage and recognise nominations from smaller integrators.
Other categories were hotly contested, with many receiving large numbers of highly competitive nominees.
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Overall, the quality of the field appears to reflect an industry punctuated by exemplary levels of professionalism and employers focused on recognising excellence from among their employees.
Ultimately, 52 finalists were selected from 111 nominees, with finalists and winners to be recognised at a live-streamed awards ceremony commencing at 5pm on Friday 07 August.
And the finalists are:
Cash Services Professional of the Year
Ben Carr – Armourguard Security
Mark Jeffery – Armourguard Security
Rosie North – Armourguard Security
Communication Centre Operator of the Year
Avaayah Tito – Red Badge Group
Jeremy Horne – Alarm Watch Ltd
Sarah Tipping – Electra Services Ltd trading as SECURELY
Customer Champion of the Year
Dee Wakelin – Red Badge Group
Geoff Stone – Armourguard Security
Georgina Crawford – FIRST Security
Design and Support Electronic Sector Professional of the Year
Britta Offergeld – Advanced Security Group
Daniel King – Nelson Alarms and Security
Matt Collins – Advanced Security Group
Electronic Trainee of the Year
Daniel O’Connor – Alliance Fire & Security
Mikee McLeod – Advanced Security Group
Taina Hetet – Red Wolf High Level Security
Guarding Sector Trainee of the Year
Eric Cilicewa – Secureflight Ltd
Teressa Sykes – Armourguard Security
Vicky Roberts – Red Badge Group
Install and Service Electronic Sector (Corporate) Technician of the Year
Blair Courtier – Advanced Security Group
Install and Service Electronic Sector (SME) Technician of the Year
Zane Stephenson – Alliance Fire & Security
Michael Pepper Award for Outstanding Security Training Initiative
Advanced Security Group
Hard Target
Secureflight Ltd and Stratcom Security
Outstanding New Product or Service of the Year
Bespoke Security Group
Gallagher Proximity and Contact Training Report
Outstanding Skills for Industry Employee of the Year
Knikita Tarawa – Red Badge Group
Outstanding Staff Retention/Staff Development Programme
Advanced Security Group
Secureflight Ltd
Patrol Officer of the Year
Michael McCormack – Matrix Security Group Ltd
Sheena O’Brien – Armourguard Security
Timothy Cummings – FIRST Security
Security Administrator of the Year
Darlene Clark – Secureflight Ltd
Sabrina Crowe – Red Badge Group
Yegeshnie Chetty – Advanced Security Group
Security Consultant of the Year
Andy Gollings – Red Badge Group
Jo Lloyd – ICARAS Consultants
Scott Carter – Matrix Security Group Ltd
Security Integrator of the Year
Daniel King – Nelson Alarms and Security
Mark Chessum – Advanced Security Group
Shanan Marsden – Alliance Fire & Security
Security Officer of the Year
Anton Kritzinger – Armourguard Security
Edith Swetman – Matrix Security Group Ltd
Phoenix Witehira – Millennium Services Group
Security Supervisor/Operations Manager of the Year
Colin Norman – FIRST Security
Neil McKinlay – Armourguard Security
Simon Ward – Red Badge Group
Security Trainer or Workplace Assessor of the Year
Ben Kingi – ACT New Zealand
Jennifer Burne – Armourguard Security
Jeremy Peake – Advanced Security Group
Visionary Leadership Award
Blair Malcolm – Recon Security
Hayden George – Advanced Security Group
Ken McKenzie – Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum
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