Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The security guard motto is to "observe and report." Security guards are not normally
required to make arrests or otherwise act as police officers except in some United States
jurisdictions in which the security officer is invested with arrest powers like those of a
county sheriff. In contrast to the above mentioned motto, a Private Security Guard's or
Officer's actual primary duty is prevention of crime. Security personnel do enforce
company rules and can act (as would any other person) if necessary to protect lives or
property. In fact, they frequently have a contractual obligation to provide these actions.
Security Officers are often trained to perform arrests, operate emergency equipment,
perform first aid, take accurate notes and write effective reports, and perform other
tasks as required by the property they are protecting.
One major economic justification for security guards is that insurance companies
(particularly fire insurance carriers) will give substantial rate discounts to sites which
have a 24-hour presence; for a high risk or high value venue, the discount can often
exceed the money being spent on its security program. This is because having a security
guard on site increases the odds that any fire will be noticed and reported to the local
fire department before a total loss occurs. Also, the presence of security guards
(particularly in combination with effective security procedures) tends to diminish
"shrinkage," theft, employee misconduct and safety rule violations, property damage, or
even sabotage.
Security guards also perform access control at building entrances and vehicle gates by
ensuring that employees and visitors display proper passes or identification before
entering the facility. Security guards are often called upon to respond to minor
emergencies (lost persons, lockouts, dead vehicle batteries, etc.) and to assist in serious
emergencies by guiding emergency responders to the scene of the incident and
documenting what happened on an incident report.
Although security guards are a distinct type of personnel from either police officers or
the military, a very high proportion of security personnel, including most senior
management personnel, are either former or retired members of one or both services.
Many security guards who don't fit this profile (young people in particular) use the job as
a springboard into a police career.