HOUSTON ASIS CHAPTER MINUTES

December 18, 2002

The Chapter held a luncheon meeting at the Renaissance Hotel. Chairman Mike Mason CPP presided. Forty-five members and guests attended.

Opening and Pledge of Allegiance: Mike Mason

Mike Crocker CPP, our newly elected Chairman recognized Mike Mason for his outstanding leadership this year. He was presented with a gold ASIS International lapel pin and an engraved clock. There was a brief review of the Chapter accomplishments under Mike’s guidance this year.

Increased level of attendance at the lunch with excellent speakers.

Increased training programs coordinated with the UofHD

The highest revenue to date generated at the Golf Tournament benefiting scholarships at the UofHD Academy.

Web site expansion

Committee amplification and support

Strong CPP Review program with 6 new CPPs for our Chapter

Reinstatement of a newsletter, both electronic and periodic hard copy.

Outside organizational involvement, such as CFE and ASSIST

Business Activities:

Treasurer’s report: Bob Cascino reports that all outstanding bills are paid. 30 people have paid their new local chapter dues. If you haven’t received your invoice, look on the web page or contact Bob.

Golf Tournament: Bob Cascino is heading up the golf committee. It is our primary fundraiser to support scholarships at the UofHD Academy. They are finalizing dates and have tentative locations established. If anyone has a particular course they would like to recommend, please contact Bob.

Law Enforcement Officer of the Year: J.P. Riordan, S.A. with the F.B.I.

This is our first year to recognize an Officer of the Year. J.P. Riordan is an exceptional nominee. Her supervisor, Stephen Alexander, accompanied her. J.P. was placed in a newly created position as WMD Coordinator for the Houston area shortly after 9/11. She immediately recognized the need for an alliance between private industry and law enforcement. She coordinated hundreds of meetings and supported five training programs either by speaking herself or identifying qualified speakers. Her efforts have established a foundation of communication and teamwork that will enhance Houston’s ability to be proactive to terrorist threats, as well as have a coordinated response plan. J.P. was awarded a plaque to commemorate her accomplishments.

Training: Richard Hill

The Masters in Security Management program is expected to start this fall at the U of HD. It has been approved by the state but there is still some paperwork to do. Surveys are being mailed or can be found on the ASIS web page. Getting business and individual support is a critical factor in the final approval process. Please participate in the survey.

Speaker: Tom Pierson; Handwriting Analysis and its use in different environments.

Tom Pierson, a graduate of the Leadership Command College is a 28-year law enforcement veteran with 20 years as a school district police officer. Tom has served at all levels in a school district police department up to and including Assistant Chief of Police. He is a handwriting expert and has used Neurographics in an educational environment for over 7 years. Tom has taught Neurographics at the University of Houston and trained numerous school and law enforcement officials.

Neurographics means “brain writing”. We actually write with our brains, not our hands. Handwriting is pretty much taught the same way, with students copying the teacher. As we reach puberty we start to develop traits in our handwriting that reflect certain personality traits. For example: extroverts will slant their words to the right and the words will be closer together and are written with more pressure. Introverts slant to the left with more space between the words. Social extroverts allow themselves to be extroverted in a social environment but prefer isolation and quiet in their personal space. Their handwriting tends to slant to the right but the words are farther apart. In crime, an extreme extrovert will directly confront you while an extreme introvert will write notes (such as the Unabomber).

Most traits have positive and negative aspects. If you start to see letters or words slanting towards each other, the author is in real conflict. A “T” that is crossed like a club or double-crossed indicates anger. However, the context and the content of the message are equally important in analysis. As the personality or even mood changes, the writing style will change because you are writing from your brain. However, it is wise to never base your analysis on one trait.

Identifying personality traits has many uses, not only in criminal investigation, but general employment as well. For example, when hiring or teambuilding, it can be critical to a project to know a person’s tendencies: to be the creator versus the doer, work alone versus work in a group, take leadership versus a follower role.

Chief Pierson then demonstrated his skills by evaluating several voluntary handwriting samples. He was awarded a plaque in appreciation of his time and presentation.

The next local Chapter luncheon meeting is the January 29^th, the last Wednesday of the month, at the Renaissance Hotel.