Sander van Breugel represents the operational side of the security profession, combining frontline retail security experience with team leadership, customer engagement and a strong commitment to developing standards across the sector.
Working for Trigion in the Netherlands, Sander operates across retail environments where security teams must balance prevention, intervention, customer service and cooperation with retailers and the police. His approach is based on remaining aware of what is happening around him, assessing each situation individually and responding proportionately.
That practical expertise was recognised when he was named V-factor winner in 2024, one of the Dutch private security sector’s principal awards for frontline security professionals. The award recognised his professional knowledge, care in carrying out his work and ability to work with customers to develop solutions to operational security problems.
Frontline experience combined with leadership
Sander’s work within retail security includes both preventative and reactive activity. He has supported collective security services across city-centre locations including Breda, Den Bosch and Eindhoven, working with retailers to address theft, loss, antisocial behaviour and other security concerns.
Rather than viewing retail security simply as responding to individual incidents, he has advocated a broader approach based on collaboration, information sharing and developing new initiatives with businesses and retailers.
His leadership also extends directly to his teams. He regularly highlights the work of individual officers, shares examples of successful interventions and promotes opportunities for people to enter and progress within retail security.
Importantly, he has remained closely connected to operational delivery rather than moving completely away from frontline work. His public professional activity shows continued participation alongside security teams, reinforcing an approach in which leadership is informed by first-hand understanding of the situations officers face.
Supporting standards across the wider profession
Following his V-factor success, Sander was invited to join the 2025 V-factor professional judging panel, helping evaluate the next group of security professionals being recognised by the Dutch industry. He also presented the 2025 award to the subsequent winner, continuing the award’s emphasis on experienced practitioners supporting and recognising their peers.
His contribution to professional development extends further through involvement with the Stichting Vakbekwaamheid Particuliere Beveiligingsorganisaties, the
Dutch body responsible for examination and professional competency within private security.
This combination of operational experience, leadership and wider professional involvement makes Sander representative of the value delivered by frontline security professionals every day.
His career demonstrates that effective security depends not only on systems and technology, but on people who can assess situations, communicate effectively, work collaboratively and make appropriate decisions under pressure while helping those around them develop the same professional standards.
