Monty, maybe you should just settle down. This thread is as typical and ordinary in its intent as a thread about scum-sucking lawyers or Nazi Moderators.
People rag on other people’s professions. Or didn’t you notice?
My daughter’s fiance works as a security guard in a railroad yard (very necessary) but from what he’s told me the purpose of a lot of the guys hired was to wreck the company vehicles.
(emphasis added) :eek: might???
Ah, it all depends on the security company. There is a co-op across the street. They now have a terrific security company with security guards that really do their job. They patrol the grounds regularly (it’s a big co-op), including the underground parking garage which would otherwise be pretty isolated. If you’re in the garage and they don’t recognize you, they ask to see your key.
If there’s screaming or yelling, they seem to materialize out of nowhere. Once some kid got really mad at some other young kids and started screaming. The security guards were there in seconds! It was a false alarm – just a child’s hissy fit – but it was great to know that had some Bad Person been trying to mess with a kid, some big burly uniformed guards would have been there in plenty of time.
They are polite, courteous, and they’ll even help the older tenants negotiate the stairs or wheelchair ramp into the building if it looks like they need assistance.
They’ve saved many neighbourhood asses. They aren’t supposed to leave the co-op, but people who get in trouble run to the co-op’s. It’s the fastest way to get help, especially at night. A guy collapsed from the heat last year, bystanders ran to the co-op for help. A weirdo started to chase a woman, she ran toward the co-op and the guards came rushing out to scare off the guy.
They aren’t guarding my building, but I’m very grateful that they’re across the street at night.
That being said. Some security companies suck. At the top of my post I said the co-op has a great security company now. The security guards they had before?.. They beat the shit out of a resident! It was a gay bashing – they thought he “looked gay.” He was beat up so bad, he didn’t remember who had attacked him until months later when he recognized the security guard’s boots. The boots that had kicked him in the head repeatedly. The company that employed those maniacs have a reputation for being violent – they have a security video of their guards beating up an intruder and they use it as a selling feature when they meet potential clients.
So it all depends on the company that hires, trains, and maintains the security guards. Some are great. Some suck donkey balls.
Gorgon: I haven’t been unsettled in this thread. I’m just pointing out that a lot of prejudiced remarks are getting bandied about. And, yes, I have noticed that other professions get denigrated (military, police) also with prejudiced comments about them. Oh, well. I tried.
I gotta lean on the side of Monty here.
Think of it this way: Following the stereotype, these poor saps are working for pennies on the dollar. If something were to happen, wouldn’t you really want an even halfway-trained Barney Fife to be on the case to observe it? I mean, a second pair of eyes really can’t hurt at all.
Yeah, our college security was inept at best, but damnit, they were the first guys I called when my place got broken into, and damnit, the Prescott Police were on the scene within minutes.
Tripler
An invaluable aid, as far as I’m concerned.
Personal ancedote:
I used to work in a mall and one night I had worked late. So I was walking to my car in an empty and rather creepy parking garage.
All the sudden, some guy started following me. Pretty quick. Scared the beejezzes outta me. He stayed behind me, but as I was walking rather quickly (as one would when some weirdo is following them) so was he.
I jumped in my car and got the hell out of there. The next day, I was telling my coworker about it and found out he was the security guard.
The hell? Why didn’t he just identify himself? Obviously, since I was walking pretty damn fast and looking over my shoulder every couple of seconds, I didn’t know who he was. He wasn’t wearing a uniform or anything, just dark pants and a dark t-shirt.
The following night I asked him why the hell he didn’t tell me who he was and that he had scared the crap outta me. He told me I looked like I didn’t want to talk.
:rolleyes:
[Simpsons]
Security Guard at Morningwood Penitentiary:
“Why do I always shout first? It just gives them a chance to run away…well, I’m an idiot.”
[/Simpsons]
I always thought security guards guarding empty buildings at night were there solely for the purpose of getting the company a cheaper insurance rate.
Re Mustaches- In general real police officers tend to have mustaches. The previously mentioned segment who are rejected by the cops and become security guards often grow mustaches to be more cop-like.
Re- Witnesses
I don’t know about this. Convenience stores are widely known to use cameras. AFAI can tell by the local news, this does not deter armed robbers. The video stills given to the police and shown on the news do make it very easy to identify, catch and convict the criminals.
Re-Crossing Guards
An entirely different subject. They break up fights, prevent larger kids from picking on the smaller, and perform the extremely valuable service of keeping kids from walking into traffic. As a child I tended to be even more absent minded than I am now. I wouldn’t have seen the cars coming and they may not have seen me. The crossing guards likely saved my life simply by stopping me from stepping off the curb.
Re-Empty Buildings During The Night Shift
This is one of the few jobs that make sense to me. These places make tempting targets for teens who want to vandalize something and feel cool. A camera may record evidence but a guard may hear and stop them before they’ve done much damage.
Re-Escorts
I’m wary of these for an entirely different reason. How do you know that the personal is an actual security guard? There are plenty of places to buy the generic rent-a-cop uniform. Targets would actively ask a rapist in guard’s clothing to accompany them to isolated areas.
Why do you think Insurance Companies offer lower rates to places with guards? My guess is that it’s because guards offer protection from theft and vandalism. Mind you, that’s just a wild ass guess.
A friend of mine was a ‘guard’ at a reservoir, maybe 10 years ago. Cushiest job ever. Basically, his job was shooing away trespassers once every couple of weeks. Sounds like nothing, but if there was no guard at all, word would spread and the place would become a hangout for teens and vagrants. Crap would be dumped all over, things would be vandalized, it would be a bad situation.
Security guards aren’t going to stop any armed criminals, but they can definitely have an effect on overall crime.
That was me back in the 80s. I was a security guard at a midsize office building for the telecom giant at the time in NJ from 4-12 midnight. At 6:30 I’d lock the place up then have people who were going home late sign out and I’d sign the cleaning crew in and out and sometimes escort people to their cars if they wanted. Other than that I’d talk on the phone, read, listen to music, type letters. It paid more than minimum and wasn’t a bad college age gig.