End Users '20 under 40' 2016—Jeremy Bragg

Jeremy Bragg, 30

Manager, security operations center, Walgreens

Deerfield, Ill.

Jeremy Bragg started at Walgreens as an operator for its security operations center, after learning about the industry through guard companies and working security at the Sears Tower.

“We opened the SOC in 2012 � I came over a little bit before that and I was one of the first operators here at the security operations center—I worked up to manager from [there],” Bragg said.

Walgreens' SOC is UL-listed and CSAA Five Diamond certified. “We renew [our Five Diamond certification] every year � to show our commitment to training, to reducing false dispatches, and to safely carrying out our alarm monitoring activities.” Bragg said that his SOC is committed to video verification.

Bragg said that he got started in security after high school, working as a contracted security officer, noting that the guard company he worked with had a great training program. “This company really invested in training and helped me understand—as a newcomer to the industry—the skills I needed to develop, and exposed me to new and different areas of security, like workplace violence, terrorism prevention, cybersecurity.”

He worked as a command center operator at the Sears Tower. “It has unique safety and security challenges,” he said. “[I] had the chance to get first-hand experience with different aspects of electronic security, with life safety systems, emergency management [and] public-private partnerships.”

In terms of technology, Bragg said he's interested in geographic information systems to support physical security—specifically it would help the company build situational awareness. The company has 8,200 locations, according to Bragg.