Building a New Standard

In 1996, Mr. Michael E. Smith, President and CEO of Griffin Security Protective Services, had a vision – to improve upon the old and obsolete practices of the security industry and provide clients with better officers, better service and better management. Although fulfilling such an ambitious dream in an industry characterized by traditional methods and old school standards was not easy—today, Mr. Smith's vision is realized through Griffin Security Protective Services.

Griffin Security employs more than 400 security officers servicing 50 different accounts across the New York Metropolitan area including such high profile clients as Riverside Church, Dress Barn, Continental Airlines, The Food Network, Long Island Rail Road and Port Authority at LaGuardia Airport. With the resources, experience, expertise and philosophy to provide the highest quality comprehensive security programs, Griffin Security has earned its rank among the nation's best and most successful security firms.

Griffin Security is certified as a small and minority business enterprise through the federal government SBA, the State of New York and The Port Authority. We are licensed and bonded to operate in the tri-state area.

Griffin Security is setting a New Standard in Security—a standard that will raise your expectations and change the way you look at security solutions.

The New Standard is more than just a person in a uniform. It is trained and motivated officers who care about their jobs. It is service that will improve the performance of your business. Griffin Security’s philosophy is to invest in our officers so that they will invest in us and in the companies they work for. They are passionate about their jobs, they go above and beyond to service customers and employees and they know that their performance counts toward the ultimate success of any client's company.

Bottom Line: The quality of your security program will impact your success as a company. You must expect more from your security provider—better management, better service, better officers and an intelligent process for protecting what is most valuable to you. Griffin Security is committed to raising the bar on the security industry—it is our mission and our guiding principal.

At Griffin Security we know that it is not enough to have recruited the best individuals or to have trained them well. We understand that excellence requires that we sustain and support our officers' ability and motivation to perform at the highest level of service and dependability throughout the organization. At Griffin Security, our management structure is uniquely designed to foster a management philosophy of accountability and empowerment.

Empowerment—Every member of our management and supervisory staff is authorized to make decisions that pertain to their job functions. We are comfortable in providing our supervisors with this element of confidence and control because we only hire candidates that are qualified and who we trust. In turn, our supervisors and staff take this trust very seriously and take pride in their performance and in the responsibility with which they have been entrusted.

Accountability—Our managers have an obligation to the people they hire and direct—they must provide them with whatever is necessary to make their team successful. This includes supervision, tools, training and resources that will ensure employees can do their jobs efficiently and are motivated to invest in and provide the right quality of service to our customers.

The Griffin Security Management Philosophy permeates our company, fostering a culture of trust and teamwork so that every employee at every level of the organization has the tools they need to success.

Michael E. Smith, President

Michael E. Smith is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Griffin Security Agency, a $12 million security services firm based on Maiden Lane in the Wall Street area of Manhattan, with more than 500+ employees.

Smith created a core business model that focuses on both his internal and external customers. Smith believes that by servicing and supporting his security staff as his internal customers, they can, in turn, service and support the company’s external customers with quality customer service and attention to detail.

These qualities help make Griffin Security Agency one of the fastest growing minority-owned firms in the security services industry. His current and past clients include Consolidated Edison, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,  American Airlines, The Food Network, CBS, Paramount Vantage, Sony, Universal Pictures, The Riverside Church, NASA, Visiting Nurse Services, and the Sports Club LA just to name a few.

He originally started the company as Wintonclyff Protective Services in 1996, later renaming it in 2003 to its current name of Griffin Security Agency Inc. Prior to launching his company, Smith amassed more than 18 years of experience in the security and retail industry providing consultation, supervision, site management, and branch management.

Smith attributes his focus on client/customer services while working in the Retail Loss Prevention field. He honed skills as an expert Investigator while working for such companies as: The Dress Barn Corporation, Bloomingdales, Woman Specialty Retailing, and TJ Maxx.  

Smith garnered a reputation among in the retail loss prevention industry for his skills in  the investigation of dishonest employees. He conducted hundreds of  interviews and interrogations of the suspected employees resulting in a successful prosecution rate of  75%  while the remaining 25% were terminated, never to work in the retail industry again.  

He received Executive Protection training through the NYC Police Department, which he used to coordinate security efforts with the Secret Service, FBI, and other federal and local Law enforcement and security agencies to protect heads of state, diplomats, dignitaries and religious and leaders such as Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, President Nelson Mandela, President William J. Clinton, the late Coretta Scott King, celebrities and entertainers such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, the Late Luther Vandrose, Chaka Khan, Steve Wonder, Spike Lee, and a host of others Celebrities dignitaries and political leaders.

Griffin Security Agency also provides security protection for conferences of conventions of organizations including the National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, and the NAACP. The company was honored to be asked to augment the Protection of the Secret Service during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, deploying 50 plain-clothes Law Enforcement and security personnel to protect the more than 100,000 convention attendees and the Democratic Nominee and now President Elect Barack Obama.

He received his desire to begin his own company while working for such firms as Burns International, Command Security, and Elite Investigations. His final employment opportunity resulted in the eventual acquisition of that company known as Halls Security thus he began his dream.

After two decades in the security business, Mr. Smith is committed to fostering a new standard in security that identifies the needs of his clients, offers solutions, and provides quality service and follow-up. Smith imparts to his employees his belief that security services is  about providing customers with the next level of service, and in this post-911 era, his security personnel are fully trained to use the latest technology on par with many large firms in the industry.

In 2008, Smith and The Griffin Security Agency were featured in a national Consolidated Edison commercial as a featured minority supplier. Smith’s various honors and distinctions include: An “Outstanding Partnership Award” from the Goodwill Organization in 2006; “Service Firm of the Year” Award by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency in 2004; “Client of the Year” Award by the Jamaica Business Resource Center. He was featured on the cover of the Sept. 2008 issue of The Network Journal, and was also selected by the magazine one of its “40 Under Forty Dynamic Achievers” in 2002.

In 2008, he created the Footsteps Forward in the Sand Foundation that will raise funds for scholarships to assist students with learning disabilities receive tutoring and special education assistants in college. Diagnosed with dyslexia when he was grade school, Smith benefitted from the support he received from his family and educational system, but realized there was a call for such services once he reached college. It is with this foundation that Smith believes he will be able to change a life and offer opportunities to young people who would ordinarily fail because they did not have the help they need to successfully complete collage. He believes that if we can change a life of one person then they can do the same thus leaving Foot Steps Forward In the Sand.

He attended Pace University and studied Business Management at the Lubin School of Business prior to beginning his professional career.

Smith is the youngest of three children, a single father of two daughters and two sons. He was born in January of 1965 in New York City, and grew up and still resides in Ossining, NY.