Guard services industry overview and characteristics

Guard Services Industry

Guards are also called security officers and their job is to patrol areas and inspect the condition of the property where they have been assigned. Their job is to ensure protection against fire, theft, vandalism, terrorism and other illegal activity. These workers are to save the investment made by their employers, ensure that laws are observed on the property and stop criminals from operating on the property. They are also to call police, fire or emergency medical services as and when needed. They are expected to work in shifts and prepare complete reports about their observations and activities noted during the shifts. Their job may also involve interviewing of witnesses or victims, preparation of case reports and testifying in the courts. (Security Guards and Gaming Surveillance Officers)

Most of the security guards in all places perform the same duties, but some of the duties may vary on whether the guard is working in a fixed position or is mobile in a vehicle. When they are in a static position, they are expected to serve at the same position for a long period of time. These guards thus get to know the property very well as also the people who regularly visit the place. Their duties sometimes involve the operation of alarms and close-circuit TV cameras. Whereas the guards who are mobile move within a fixed area and conduct checks on material or people within that area. These guards are sometimes given the power to arrest violators of laws within that region, and look after informing people of criminal activity in that region or even look after traffic violations in that region. The responsibilities of the guards depend on the size, type and location of the organization employing him.

In organizations like department stores their main duty is to protect the property of the owner and the buyers and this is expected to be done through protection of people, records, merchandize, money and equipment. Often they are a group helping the detectives in finding out the problems in the organization. To help them move around fast within the organization, they are also provided with bicycles or horses. They are also responsible for law and order in the premises of the organization. In places like airports they check the passengers and visitors for weapons and explosives through metal detectors and other equipment. (Security Guards and Gaming Surveillance Officers)

They are expected to be the first line of protection against terrorists for the protection of many lives and billions of dollars that are invested in real estate and properties. Yet, they are often not properly equipped to do the job they are expected to do. USA has more than 1 million guards and they are unlicensed, untrained and not checked before employment. The value of the industry is now estimated to be $12 billion and yet has many problems like low pay, few benefits, high turnover and no planning. The seriousness of these guards should have been brought home by the incident on 9/11/01, but it has had no effect. When there is a demand for more guards, the supplier companies just put a man in a uniform and send him for the job. The laws vary from state to state. Most of them do not carry guns and only the small number that do, get some training and background checks. (Private security guards are Homeland's weak link)

Yet unarmed guards keep moving around in office buildings, apartment complexes, shopping malls, sports fields, warehouses and cargo terminals. For being an unarmed guard, no training is required in 29 of the states and the District of Columbia. There is no license required in 22 of the states and in 16 states they are not even put through background checks. When the company is big, it hires people from big security firms and these individuals are taught to find out suspicious packages, man security cameras and evacuate people from buildings. When one has to look at the national picture, there are 11,000 security firms and there is little investment in training and checking of background. The story of an $8.40 an hour security guard in Los Angeles is clear on this. He was trained only through having to go through a four hour video that every recruit had to go through.

According to the figures for 2000 and that is the latest that is available, their average earnings are $17,570 in a year. In this business the contracts are given to the one who quotes the least and this makes the security companies oppose any government rules which will increase their costs. The businesses which employ them also do not want increased charges. This has resulted in criminals becoming security guards, and even those that are checked, go through the checking of records in only one state. Stories keep coming about beating, raping and robbing the people they are expected to protect. Even according to New York Daily News, there have been employment of criminals for the protection of Statue of Liberty and some of the guards were even convicts. At the same time, the labor department expects that demand of security guards will grow up very fast till 2010, and they are now concerned about the effect it will have on terrorism. (Private security guards are Homeland's weak link)

The airports in the country also do not have a trained or closely monitored force of security guards working in an environment which is efficient and standardized. The situation after 9/11 also exposed this and the security measures taken were not standardized. The methods in other countries had been studied by U.S. For a long time, but till the events happened there was never any intention to set up similar measures in this country. The logic has been that terrorism was never though to be a threat to this country and the regulatory process was felt to be very difficult for implementation. Even the airlines argued that they could not set up a system similar to Europe. The security workers used in U.S. And Canada are from security companies and they handle baggage and passenger screening. (Looking Abroad for Answers on Airport Security; Attacks Add Urgency to Long U.S. Effort)