Private Security Bashing

[feralmerril]

I have already wrote plenty on this. I worked with retired leo from just about every type agency you can name. Just before I retired the local commander of the california highway patrol station retired and hired in with us. One of his retired officers, a friend of mine, was already there before him. We had retired cops that found their way from citys all over the states that were guards with me. New york city, my last chief was retired from chicago, a good friend was a homicide lt from indiapolis and on and on. Several were retired AF pilots, a army col, a fbi agent or two, retired prision guards, CID, CIA, I can go on and on. We did get good pay and benifits. I also worked for a short time before that job on the bottom rung of a outfit that was a good example for the cartoons.
A lot of guard jobs exist to satisfy insurance requirments too. I have a BIL (wifes brother) that worked as a chief of police in a small town. From there he went to a small town suburb PD that borders colorado springs. Either he was lieing to me or if it was fact, I dont know, but when we visited him a couple years ago he told me what he was making and it was about half of what I had been making before I retired!
I doubt many kids want to be a "night watchman" when they grow up!
We do what we have to if times are rough and we refuse to go on welfare. When I hired into lockheed burbank in 1965 it was a department of roughly 250 guards. There wasnt one female on the department. The chief had reservations about hireing me as I was young and single. He said he only liked to hire retired military and retired cops. I dug out a picture of a girlfriend and her young son and told the chief I wanted to marry this widow from back east and needed a good job. He gave me a chance. I was the youngest at not quite 24 years old he ever hired. About six months later I had a chance to get on the ventura county sheriffs dept (From prior testing) but turned it down as I had just made probation at lockheed and didnt want to take a chance in washing out and in doing so have given up a well paying union guard job. We all have our storys. In the later 1960s the entire country turned PC. It was the vietnam era, protesters, log hair etc. Soon we had about a fifth of the department females where we had none and they started hireing a lot of younger people like me. For whatever reason I knew about 4 or 5 lesser known movie actors that also worked with me. They got to eat too.
A few of the guys were so embarassed of having to take a guard job they would change cloths at work. They seemed to get over it though.
Thank God I stumbled in there looking for work. Lockheed was good to me.

 

[Smithsrevenge]

People bash security because honestly. They don't think security does anything. Think were a joke. But what we do they usually don't know anything about because it goes unnoticed.

Tom the CEO will laugh at a guard with his buddies, but he doesn't see that same guard walking his wife to her car every night in the garage so she's safe.

Jake may call a guard a rent-a-cop and laugh. But that same guard just kept his son from getting grabbed an hour ago at an amusement park...

Steve may laugh and point at one guard but he doesn't know that same guard just spent 4 hours scouring a mall and finding a missing toddler.

Others laugh while we patrol and their gated communities and deter some thugs from kicking in their door because they want what they have.

While their laughing were keeping pressure on their grandmothers head wound until ems arrives after she slipped and fell.

While they laugh we bag 50 shoplifters that are stealing money from the company THEY work for.

While they laugh we mourn another guard who was a great guy but got stabbed by a lowlife because our friend was "in the way".

Were security, loss prevention, protection agents, mall cops, bank guards. .....but were the first line of defense that doesn't need to be called because were already there......we don't get asked to show up most of the time. Were there.

I am proud of my job. I like what I do. I can't see myself doing anything else. Yes I wear a uniform. A badge. A gun. Kevlar......but I don't feel powerful.....I just like to help. That's our job. Always be there.....always help.....those who bash us.....are just ignorant. That simple. don't let others drag ya down. Its our job to hold everything together for them

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[Fishinfool]

A lot of good men and women work in the private security business. Uniformed security guards are only a part of this huge industry.

Like many professions, the top pay goes to the top people. Most uniformed security pays about minimum wage (clean record, driver's lic., and a home phone) Rates increase with experience and job requirements. In larger cities, good paying security jobs can be found for the right individual. Back in the late 70's, when I did it, training and minimum requirements where pretty lax, but that has changed in most states, especially for armed officers. You would be surprised how many "professionals" in various jobs out there cant meet the minimum requirements to be security guards - the clean record and good credit report thing....

I was a security guard for 3 years while going to school, mostly working 12a to 8a. Did everything from basic building security, to patrol, road supervisor, and account manager. Great job in that I could get homework done, had access to office equipment - computer, copier, etc.

Most guards where students, retirees, and the occasional middle aged guy who lost a better job. Usually plenty of OT for those who wanted it, along with flexible hours. Met a lot of quality people in that profession, and while most folks were pretty normal, there were, like anywhere, a few exceptions.....

The better private security companies make it a point to train their employees on what is granted by the uniform, and what isn't. Most officers I met had a pretty firm understanding just what their authority was, and few had any intentions of going into public law enforcement.

Larry

 

[sipowicz]

Sip is absolutely correct. And he walks the walk instead of just talking the talk. You ought to see how well he treats his kids' nanny!!

True...I keep her passport in my safe and I only beat her every other Tuesday.

 

[SgtLumpy]

Consider:

Sworn LEOs are the most hated people in the world. NOTHING we do is positive for people. If we show up at your door, it's not because you won the lottery. It's because you're under arrest, you're being sued, you're being complained about or your kid's been killed in a car crash. If we're off duty and show up at our friend's backyard BBQ, everyone yells "The cops are here". If a kid acts up in Wal Mart, mom tells the kid "Be good or I'll make that police officer take you to jail".

People do a lot more than just call LEOs names. They try and hurt or kill us. They try and hurt or kill our family. It's a lot more severe than being called a "wannabe".

And, I'm not trying to offend here, you sound like you don't want to be a Private Security Guard, don't like being a PSG, aren't proud of being a PSG, don't want to stay in or advance as a PSG. And even in a forum like this, where it's pretty expected that you're in good company, you INVITE people to degrade you ...

"I also know that some of you are going to use this thread as an opportunity to talk smack about anyone in the security field..."

You may not "flash your gun" or "pretend authority you don't have" but it sounds like you might come across to people as an easy target to ridicule.

Again, nothing personal. I don't know you from a hole in the ground. Sometimes you have to do tasks that aren't to your liking. Cops do that the majority of the time their entire career. I suspect that health care professionals also have their share of stuff to do that they don't like and plenty of people who treat them in the same way ... "Oh, you're just the Xray tech. I want to talk to a REAL doctor.".


Keep your site secure or whatever it is that your duties involve. You're not getting shot at, vomited on, spit on, exposed to AIDS, being asked to solve people's marital problems in 10 minutes or less or facing crazed crack heads with machete knives. You've just got a couple people calling you "Mall Cop". Don't invite it. Be proud of it.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[P&R Fan]

Keep your head up. You're working, and that's honorable.

I worked Private Security for a year, then started my own company in 1985. I was 20 years old. I have a great deal of experience in this field. It is an honorable profession. We keep businesses and people safe, but get very little respect.
I have a lot of people who are in college preparing for a Law Enforcement career contact me to see if I am hiring. When I interview them I tell them this is the absolute best job to take prior to an LE career. We have to deal with people who may be drunk, high, mentally ill or just enraged. We don't, in most cases, carry a gun. We also have no powers of arrest. If you can get people in these situations to do what you want them to do, when you don't have the option of shooting them or arresting them, and you just have to use your inter-personal skills, it will be a great learning experience that will serve you well when you go into LE work. I am proud that many LE officers in my area got their start with my company, including the Sheriff of my county and the one in a neighboring county. One of my former employees is also currently an FBI agent.

I am also a Private Investigator. When I tell people that, I get these wide-eyed expressions of "Wow, that sounds exciting!" I don't get that when I tell them I'm a Security Contractor. Both are honorable professions, and I really don't care what some idiot who probably doesn't work himself thinks of it......and neither should you.
Jim

 

[mkk41]

Security Guard can mean anything these days. From highly trained , well-armed , well paid ex-military to the kind of people some would make fun of.

Example;

My ex-G/F was a nurse at a Philly hospital. Bad area in a bad city and she often worked nights. They were not allowed to carry any form of 'weapon' because they had a Security Guard to escort them to their cars after work. One was a probably 70yr old man who , more often than not , the girls had to help walk. He had a hat , uniform and badge that said Security Guard , a whistle and a radio. He didn't exactly instill a sense of security. The forbidden Mod.37 in her purse did.

One of my best friends thru HS got a job as a security guard for an armored car company after graduation while putting himself thru community college. Yeah , we busted his stones non-stop. Got his criminology degree. Got on with the Sheriffs Dept , first at the county prison , then as a Deputy. Went to the state police academy and is now a Sgt on a small town PD.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

To "Smoke"

I expect this thread to be locked, but I want to put IMHO for what it is worth. I, too, work in the private security industry. I will not go into details except that I consider myself a professional and approach it from that standpoint. To be honest, I have done in several cases more 'police' work than the cops who have responded.
In-house security is usually where you find people like myself. However, such positions are few and far between where I live. Contract security is a completely different animal in this market, there are often two hundred of them in service at any given time.
Now, I am going to capitalize this...please bear with me: "CONTRACT SECURITY EXISTS TO PROVIDE SOMEONE WHO WILL ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FROM AND LIABILITY FOR THEIR CLIENTS..."
That one statement sizes up the guard industry in the United States as it stands right now. It is insurance based...and basically a uniformed personnel agency. In short, if something goes wrong...you'll be the one blamed.
One can go on YouTube anytime and watch some of the videos/recruiting aids that many of these companies put out. After five minutes of watching one where the company shows it is actually acting like police (or worse, such as kicking in the doors of apartments at 2AM dressed and armed like a SWAT team), one can easily understand why the industry has the reputation it does. Guard companies do nothing to try to clean up this image. Indeed they go out of their way to further it. This makes it difficult for it to be considered "professional" by any meaning of the word. This is compounded by often indifferent or hostile clients and managers or supervisors whose incompetence and bully-like treatment of their employees is almost legendary.
The average guard, contract change out aside, lasts between six months to two years at a posting. Managers and supervisors are between one and three years. Contracts themselves are usually between one month and three years and often they have a rotational clause in them.That means in whatever time frame, you will be moved out the door one way or another, by hook or by crook.
It is a service business...in the same vein as cleaning crews and the like. I have been very lucky. I am more the exception than the general rule.

 

[old bear]

A general rule of thumb that I follow is to treat everyone with respect no matter what their station in life.

Sip summed it up so well. I can only add the old adage, be careful who's fingers you step on as you climb the ladder of success, as you may have to kiss their backsides on the way down.

Smoke, just hang in there, I really believe things will always improve for someone such as your self who is willing to work hard an apply themselves.

 

[labworm]

A general rule of thumb that I follow is to treat everyone with respect no matter what their station in life. That goes for the busboy who fills your water glass and the guy in the chicken suit outside your fast food restaurant. I've been paid handsomely to write TV shows and I've also done hourly work in private security...as of late, more so in the latter. I consider myself lucky to have another line of work to fall back on.

I know this is going to be hard to take Sip, but I think we could be related.

There are many disrespectful people probably living miserable lives which they alone have created.

They enjoy going into restaurants, coffee shops etc.
Just to spread their misery, chronic complainers of everything, the "I am better than you crowd" that are the biggest losers in life.

Still say "Yes Sir", even when I am looking at a LEO who could be my grandson ( Most of them do), in fact almost everyone I come into contact with. So far it has worked out perfectly for the last 67 years.

I don't care what a man's title is, who am I to judge anyone.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

I realize that my post will cause a lot of controversy. Many of you will disagree with what I wrote (although, I do not only understand your positions and agree with them to a great extent). But it is what it is...and I stand by what I wrote whole heartedly.

 

[feralmerril]

Guys, around the mid 1990s I made over $90,000 a year for about two years. My address was lockheed, the OT was available and I needed working off a divorce settlement and child support. I worked graveyard, odd work week and was at top pay scale. I was getting close to around $17s a hour base pay in the mid, later 90s before I retired. Holidays were effectivly triple time and anything over 8 hour was time and a half. Anything over 12 hours was double time. I usualy worked a double shift on the average of once a week and many times two of them. My 6th day was 1 1/2 pay and my 7th day paid double time. It certainly wasnt a average guard job.
To get the job you had to have a spotless background. Belive me, they would question people you knew in your childhood 3,000 miles away. The security clearances cost the company a fortune! To me, it was a easy job. To most of the younger generation younger than me, if you heard them you wouldnt belive we worked the same job!
Even on the mohave desert in winter time standing in front of the guard shack checking badges at pre dawn is abut miserable cold as it gets. What about a bahroom break? How many other jobs can you think of where sometimes you are unable to take a bathroom break and you can not leave your post? I have seen guys put on a rain coat in a 110 degree day and use a waste bucket!
If for some reason your relief dont show up and no one else is available you get fired if you leave your post if your mamma is dieing!
If you nod off on a empty building assignment and the captain or a wheel shows up at 03 am and you are asleep you are fired.
On my job we were regularly tested at the worst times by someone maybe flashing a badge with a picture of mickey mouse on it, maybe setting a alarm off and standing there with a watch to see if you made it in the required minuets. The tester would probley be security agent that you never seen before. I have had one fool jump me and told me to stick em up, I have a gun on ya! That at about 3 am with supposedly no one working in the area. I didnt have much action, but when you spend 35 years at it things do happen. For me, it still beat working for a living.

 

[Fishslayer]

I haven't bothered to put my resume out there for over two years but the last time I did the only nibbles I got were from staffing agencies that wanted my to give up my full time gig for a 6 week temp position and a "maybe they'll hire you at the end of it."

If your resume's not out there nobody will see it. You need to refresh it often, too, or it sinks to the bottom of the E pile.

The questions to ask are "How long are my peers going between temp gigs?" and "How long will it take for those 6 week gigs to add up to those two years experience?"

The bodies have to come from somewhere. In my field most companies have a steady stream of temps coming & going. The people who get hired are usually networked and/or simply in the right place at the right time. I'm on my second go round with the company I'm at now. People know me and I know them. I'm not looking past the end of my 8 week contract but people that matter know what I can do.

Meanwhile I keep my resume updated constantly.

 

[wyccad915]

I am also a security guard. I do not enjoy the job to be honest. It is mostly because management are rude and unorganized. FWIW, I do not carry a gun. I hate the uniform and try not to make stops before or after work in uniform. I know my company says I can get fined or written up or something if I am not in "full" uniform, but if I do make a stop, I take the risk.

For me it is a job while I finish school. I am taking criminal justice and I hope it will help somewhat. If it weren't for the bad management and the stereotypes I would probably enjoy the job, but I always feel ashamed telling people what I do.

 

[microgunner]

For a few years in the late 90s I was a Captain for the Pinkerton Security Co. and ran a fairly large site.
I had between 30 and 50 officers working the site at various times and it was rather hard to keep up.
I would get my share of complete jerks from the office to fill the posts but most officers were like you, conscientious, prompt, alert and polite.
Didn't stop the inferior officers from tainting everyone's image though.

 

[Smithsrevenge]

Consider:

Sworn LEOs are the most hated people in the world. NOTHING we do is positive for people. If we show up at your door, it's not because you won the lottery. It's because you're under arrest, you're being sued, you're being complained about or your kid's been killed in a car crash. If we're off duty and show up at our friend's backyard BBQ, everyone yells "The cops are here". If a kid acts up in Wal Mart, mom tells the kid "Be good or I'll make that police officer take you to jail".

People do a lot more than just call LEOs names. They try and hurt or kill us. They try and hurt or kill our family. It's a lot more severe than being called a "wannabe".

And, I'm not trying to offend here, you sound like you don't want to be a Private Security Guard, don't like being a PSG, aren't proud of being a PSG, don't want to stay in or advance as a PSG. And even in a forum like this, where it's pretty expected that you're in good company, you INVITE people to degrade you ...

"I also know that some of you are going to use this thread as an opportunity to talk smack about anyone in the security field..."

You may not "flash your gun" or "pretend authority you don't have" but it sounds like you might come across to people as an easy target to ridicule.

Again, nothing personal. I don't know you from a hole in the ground. Sometimes you have to do tasks that aren't to your liking. Cops do that the majority of the time their entire career. I suspect that health care professionals also have their share of stuff to do that they don't like and plenty of people who treat them in the same way ... "Oh, you're just the Xray tech. I want to talk to a REAL doctor.".


Keep your site secure or whatever it is that your duties involve. You're not getting shot at, vomited on, spit on, exposed to AIDS, being asked to solve people's marital problems in 10 minutes or less or facing crazed crack heads with machete knives. You've just got a couple people calling you "Mall Cop". Don't invite it. Be proud of it.


Sgt Lumpy

Actually lumpy haha ......I work a campground with 5,000+ patrons a night in a drug run, gang filled tourist town that happens to have a crack problem and over 50 bars in a 12 square mile radius. Everyone on site is drunk, or high. I've been spit on , punched, kicked, attacked with a hatchet , puked on, jumped. I had to buy a new vest last year because level II ones don't protect from knives. And I have the scars and surgery bills to prove that one. Last week I thought I was going to take a mans life because 2 doses of sabre red, a x2 taser and my manodnock were not enough to convince him to stop coming at another camper with a hammer. Luckily my partner was able to knock him off center and we were able to rush and detain him. I responded to a head injury last week with visible brain matter leaking out of a mans skull after his awning collapsed. Responded to a call for a woman in trouble. Turns out 3 drunk thugs had raped her in her tent and zero patrons had bothered to try to stop them because they were drinking and "didn't want to cause trouble". My boots are always shined because I routinely have to clean human excrement and vomit from them. I carry 4 pairs of M-100s, not to look cool but because we detain over 14 people a night in peak season. Our area has a dedicated police detail that's always within 3 minutes of the site because we call them that much.

Lol security isn't just walking around a mall and getting called a mall cop. Actually that's the least of MY worries. My biggest fear is that my partner and I won't be able to walk away from a party of 30 drunk men that we have to bust In to 10 times a week. With no backup. If you ever wanna go story for story, after 11 years I've got some good ones that make our local guys cringe

We get crapped on too bro .also people don't like seeing us either, were never there to complement their behavior. Difference is.......nobody cares when it happens to us lol stay safe. And thanks for serving the public

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[Smithsrevenge]

For a few years in the late 90s I was a Captain for the Pinkerton Security Co. and ran a fairly large site.
I had between 30 and 50 officers working the site at various times and it was rather hard to keep up.
I would get my share of complete jerks from the office to fill the posts but most officers were like you, conscientious, prompt, alert and polite.
Didn't stop the inferior officers from tainting everyone's image though.

I know those types. Big tough guys with loud mouths and bad training. They last about 2 days in our company .

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[Smoke]

I can't really say I don't like my job as such as dealing with the negative stereotypes associated with this industry in general.

As far as security gigs go I actually landed a good one. The company I work for has the city contract so we make about 50% above scale for Colorado. I work on a "restricted" site that has no public access so I don't have to deal with the public on the same level a loss prevention guy or a mall guy would and there are only about 15 client employees that have access to the site so I don't even deal with a lot of people most of the time. I'm also the site supervisor so I get a pay increase for that as well as the Mon-Fri day shift.

I have good job security in that even if my employer loses the city contract (as they surely will sooner or later) the incoming company generally hires the current guards so I go to work Friday in my XYZ uniform and come back Monday in my new ZYX uniform at the same pay.

I spend most of my day doing roving patrols on foot (good exercise) and checking for physical security and malfunctioning equipment. I have co workers on other sites that spend hours each day signing visitors in and signing visitors out and getting treated like trash by said visitors.

So no I'm not ashamed of my job, I'm not some loser who can't get ahead at my company, I'm just tired of all the **** I read here about "flash light cops" and "wannabes"

 

[feralmerril]

There are good security jobs and bad ones, probley like any other field. I have worked them both. There was a guy that lived just about two blocks from me. He owned the biggest if not only security company around. I met him and was not impressed. I dont know what his problem was but he went belly up. I think he is frying chicken or something now. I do know he didnt have a good "demeaner" as I wrote of before. No matter how you look at it if you werent needed, you wouldnt be there! In my case when I was a young fellow every job I had prior was bull work and paid bad. When I got my good guard job I protected it and stayed for the next 35 years. I found I could make more than the chief by taking the ot so I never wanted to advance. I also refused to learn computers as I never wanted to work the control desk. The way it turned out I was there much longer than any supervisors that hired in as a guards after me. They therefore never bugged me or ever question any actions or decisions I made and I never, ever asked them for advice on how to handle any event. It made for a good job for me. I also never complained about a assignment. I would work any "Bad" detail without complaint. That was unusual as most all newbys were habitualy complaining that they should get such and such post. The payoff is the boss`s leave you alone and protect your butt if you do occasionly make a bad call or get in trouble.

 

[madmikeb]

True...I keep her passport in my safe and I only beat her every other Tuesday.

You know, you could probably hire a nanny that doesn't have a passport much cheaper...............................