Security makes me insecure

[Broomjockey]

Okay, no offense to anyone here who's done security for hire type work, but I have to say, the companies around here are a joke. I'm feeling a little miffed at them now, so I'm going to detail the failings of the two companies we've dealt with.
Company 1:
- used nothing but very old men, or people who did not speak English much. Leading with that last part, I don't think everyone needs to speak my language, but if you're in a position where panicked people are going to be telling you important information quickly, that's not really where you want a language barrier. Especially when we've a large Chinese student population who's English ranges from very good to Introductory levels, and so very little communication would be going on there. As for the old men, they were all nice, but they were 70 if they were a day. They weren't going to deter anyone from doing anything. They also tended to fall asleep on the graveyard shifts. Actually, credit where credit's due. The young guys fell asleep on the job too. Also, they refused to do jack squat, and would simply call whenever there was an issue. Even if it didn't require calling, but simply some thought on their part.

Company 2:
- slight improvement, as their guys spoke English well enough to communicate with the international students (definitely helps minimize trouble calls), and were young enough to actually act as a deterrant for shennanigans. However, their scheduling sucks. The first two nights, no one showed up. At all. Apparently, they'd pushed back the start date of the contract, but didn't tell us. The next night, the guy showed up, then went and fell asleep on the couch. Bossman wasn't happy about that at all. That guy didn't come back, except for the couple of times he mixed up which building he was working at, which segues nicely into
- the guards don't know what building they're working at. We regulary have multiple guards show up here at the dorm because they don't know the difference between the buildings, or they can't get in to the building they're supposed to be at
- also, the scheduler will randomly miss days, though we're supposed to be 7 nights a week, midnight to eight am. The last time they missed a day was on the same evening that my boss and his boss met with the scheduler to get assurances that it wouldn't happen again.

Overall though, I prefer company 2. The guards are nicer, and more competent (when they show up to the right place), and the regular guard we have now is one of the best I've met out of all of them, I just really hate his nights off

[Plaidman]

Our first security was pretty good, but the company went under.

Our second security, their /main/ guy that went to our stores was a HUGE guy who didn't take crap from anyone, employee or customer. My company got rid of them when the guy chased a shoplifter twelve blocks and pistlewhup him. I'm not sure if the guy got arrested or not. (Didn't happen at my store).

Our third one was owned by the same guy who owned the first one, and had a really great main guy who came to our stores. Like the main guy, he didn't take crap from customers and certain clerks who didn't treat him with respect. (He's one of those guys who will be nice to you for a while, and hope it's a twoway street, but if you keep being an ass, he'll be a bigger ass back). Ironically when I got in a fist fight, he got there faster then the police did, and police were closer! He broke the law and speed through several red lights (All didn't have cars going through, or he wouldn't have done it). JUST to see iff I was ok, then helped me clean up all the broken displays that were knocked down over the shruggle. He recently quit. The /new/ main guy is a perv from what i heard, who will be fired/thrown in jail real soon when the invesgation is complete. Several girl employees have come forward saying he has tickled or tried to tickle them.

[digilight]

My wifes cousin owns a fairly good sized security company and my BIL is a supervisor for him. From the stories I've heard both from cousin and BIL I would have to say that for the most part security companies are fucked from the ground up. Their biggest problem is employee retention, they are always going thru employee's. Second like you said was scheduling, bozo the clone scheduler will forget to put someone at a post, or will have someone start at 7pm when the guy he's replacing is off at 6pm leaving a post unmanned for an hour. Just alot of retarded crap like that.

[crazylegs]

When I did security work I always worked Inhouse (IE not through a contract) The contract workers all seem to want to be Police (and seem to think they are) and have a massive attitude. I have yet to find a good Agency security guard who has stayed any length of time, with one exception, but he shall remain nameless for his safety.

[BlaqueKatt]

wow we must be lucky-we have a great guard mon-fri he's the shift supervisor, and he's a former guard for a super-max prison! He'll come smoke with us, come out when a large group goes out for someone's b-day or other party etc.

[ArenaBoy]

Ugh, the security dept. at Whiskeyclone was one of the most incompetent groups of people I ever dealt with. Took them ages to come and handle a fight that broke out and as they were approaching us they were FREAKING walking not making any point to hurry up because the fight was getting worse.

[wagegoth]

Locally, there was a security company that scared me. They wore all black, pants tucked into combat boots, black baseball caps, and they carried guns. They used to work at the grocery two blocks from my home.

One of our neighbors got a job working for them, and my husband ended up getting in this guy's face because the guy was practicing quick draw moves with his gun and pointing it toward our place.

The company was shut down after one of the guards shot an Oakland police officer. It was so weird. The cop had pulled over someone on the street and was talking to the guy in the car. This guard went in his house, got a gun, came out and shot the officer. I never heard why. But the company was shut down. Something weird was going on.

[Gurndigarn]

The company was shut down after one of the guards shot an Oakland police officer. It was so weird. The cop had pulled over someone on the street and was talking to the guy in the car. This guard went in his house, got a gun, came out and shot the officer. I never heard why. But the company was shut down. Something weird was going on.

They got bought out by Blackwater.

[Lady Heather]

The 70ish woman that does security in my mall is really scary, NOT! They always have her do the patrols, while the 20 something Karate instructor sits behind the desk. WTF!

[xlr82xs]

The 70ish woman that does security in my mall is really scary, NOT! They always have her do the patrols, while the 20 something Karate instructor sits behind the desk. WTF!

she might be able to kill people with her mind

[blas]

The security at the factory is a JOKE. I'm not saying you need a college degree to do it, but it would help if it were college kids going into the criminal justice field, or hell, it would help a lot if there was a physical test or something required other than just being a body to do it.

My coworker's car was broken into last year. He always parks right in the front, where security has a plain sight view. Some dumb kids pulled up at 2 am and bashed his back windshield and stole a bunch of his stuff. Security had no idea. So they just installed more cameras and gave my coworker a handicapped spot so he could park right next to the doors.

We had a girl who passed out a lot. We started to think she did it for attention, but nonetheless, when she DID do it, a couple of times, she fell right onto the hard floor and started bleeding. We have an emergency # we call and security calls the police and ambulance. Pete, this particular security guard, was sick and tired of getting calls about a girl passing out in X department, so one time he took his dandy old time, 45 minutes to be exact, to call the ambulance! Hell, our supervisor, after 15 minutes, called Pete screaming why isn't the ambuance on the way? Pete said he hadn't called yet!!! So my sup dialed 911 and our first responders tended to her while we waited. HELL EVEN THE FIRST RESPONDERS HADN'T BEEN NOTIFIED BY PETE! He should have been fired on the spot, but meh, he's still there, ignoring the phone. So 45 minutes later, when the EMTs where already there, was when Pete decided to call 911.

Pete likes to play smoking police as well. We have an ashtray that is outside for smokers who are smoking and walking up to the building. He stands and stares, and if you take too long to put out your smoke, hell if you stand and take a few extra puffs, he screams at you for loitering and disturbing the non smokers right to clean air and that smoking is prohibited! Um, no it isnt.

One security guard takes his vehicle and parks by the exit and watches everyone leave during shift change, when 1st shift comes and 3rd goes. One day he walked outside himself and stood next to MY CAR with his arms crossed, watching people drive away. I had to ask him to MOVE so I could get into my car and leave.

The 2nd shift security guard walks/drives around the parking lot and shines his flashlight into everyone's vehicles.

You have to call the front desk to get your supervisor's extension when you call in sick. Security answers the phone. The last time I was sick, I tried to call for 3 hours before someone picked up. They should be thanking themselves I wasn't a bigwig or a customer! Lazy worthless rent a cops.

[repsac]

I think my very first job when I moved here, (Georgia) and possibly my first job ever, came when I worked for a security firm near where I lived.

Uniform wise, we had a pretty nice set. Simple blue shirt, black baseball cap, and black slacks with either loafers or combat boots. I chose the latter.

I was assigned as a gate guard at a chicken processing plant. Most of my duties were to spend midnight to 8 am babysitting some tractor trailers that had their refrigeration units running. Beyond that, I camped out in the guard shack with my feet up watching television. That or checking in trucks and doing random inspections. I even had the power (and was expected to) Pop the seals on trucks and inspect them to ensure they were carrying what they said.


I didn't eat chicken for a year after that.

[Jester]

she might be able to kill people with her mind

Or at the very least by boring them to death with her endless pointless stories.

The security at the factory is a JOKE.

Lazy worthless rent a cops.

Many security guards are, in fact, people who wanted to be cops but for any number of reason didn't or couldn't make the cut to do so. So they go on their little power trips acting like cops, even though they aren't. Fun people. Or as I call them, assholes.

[Broomjockey]

Okay, just to throw some irony in the situation, I'd like to mention that not only does my school have its own daytime security people, employed directly by the college (who are pretty darn good), it has a certificate program for security/police studies. You'd think after all the issues they have, it might be easier to, you know, hire some graduates? Apparently not. Or maybe find out which companies don't have major issues, or at least the fewest number of major issues. Something like that. Again, apparently not.

I'm just lucky I've not met a power-tripping hire yet.

[digilight]

For those of you with outsource security at your workplace here's one idea. Find out the company that is currently servicing the account. Normally this can be done simply checking out their shirts. Remember though that from time to time security companies will hire out to other security companies if they don't have the manpower at the time to cover all the shifts. Watch for a few days, see if all the guards have the same shirts (hint most companies have their name and logo on their shirts).

Then simply start calling their competitor companies and ask to talk to a shift supervisor or manager. Remember that some security companies will send all calls to a switchboard if you call the number listed for them in the phone book. If you are able to get info from a guard you know either personally or see at another place even better. But let the company you are contacting know what the issue's are, give them a little bit of ammo to attempt to go in and steal the contract away. The companies around here are ruthless and will jump at an oportunity like that.