# What was this security guard doing when checking every door electronically? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380 "2019-03-01T15:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/21 "2019-03-02T14:40:45Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > 15 lb! > > I think 5-10 lb was more common? You’re quite possibly correct. I never actually saw the thing. As I said, I only saw a training film regarding it. The weight estimate came from the long-timer Pinkerton agent who trained me. He may have been senile, trying to shock the new guy or just stunningly full of bull feces. I couldn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/22 "2019-03-03T01:31:04Z")
I saw them in the early 90’s and sometimes had to replace or pull the tape if there was a question about something that happened during the night. As I recall, the ones I saw were about the size of a salad plate and about 2" thick (including the leather carry case) and weighed a couple of pounds at most. The overnight guards were primarily posted in the City Hall building and would make hourly rounds during the night (checking doors and clocking in) around the area. This was the only time they carried the device. Some of the long time guards said that the old devices were much bigger and heavier, so may be what the old timer was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/23 "2019-03-03T01:44:52Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I bet they make the minimum-wage security guys use their own phones too. As has been pointed out, the security guys are likely making more than minimum wage. I don’t the cost of phones or plans in the States, but everyone has them these days and the data for this information is going to be minimal. Unless I’m missing something, it’s much less of a burden than requiring pizza drivers to gave their own cars. ---
**Author:** ![bubba001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@bubba001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba001)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/24 "2019-03-03T02:24:21Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > As has been pointed out, the security guys are likely making more than minimum wage. > > I don’t the cost of phones or plans in the States, but everyone has them these days and the data for this information is going to be minimal. > > Unless I’m missing something, it’s much less of a burden than requiring pizza drivers to gave their own cars. Not very much more. We had security guards that were hired into our plant after they got rid of all the regular GM guys. The made minimum wage to start. They went thru several companies, trying to get the cheapest. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/25 "2019-03-03T03:23:53Z")
I’ve done security guard work at different times in my life starting in the 90s. The last security job I had was 15 years ago. I’ve carried a Detex clock around, scanned bar codes on door frames and signed books at stations. I’m not surprised that there is a cell phone check in system now. All methods to make sure the guards actually patrol the area on the schedule the client requires them to. It’s not the most challenging job, earns little respect from the people you have to deal with and doesn’t pay much above minimum wage for most people. At my last job, I earned $9 an hour, plus $1 hour extra for handling a dog. The pay sucked, the job sucked, but hanging out with a dog made it marginally bearable. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/26 "2019-03-03T12:57:05Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > 15 lb! > > I think 5-10 lb was more common? That’s what [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchclock) says. > [@](#): > > The approximately five pound circular watchclock was enclosed in a black leather pouch attached to a leather strap and carried over the shoulder. If I was expected to lug around a 15 pound clock on my rounds, I’d want a backpack. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/27 "2019-03-03T13:18:01Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > […] > > I’m told that years before I was there, the security person would have to carry a portable time-clock device the size of a hubcap and weighing about 15 pounds. At each station on the round, he would have to use a specially coded key that was chained to the wall to punch through a timed, rotating paper disk in the time-clock. I had to watch a training video on that device but never had to deal with it myself. In 1975/6 I worked as a security guard and used these at some of the sites for which I was trained. Like later posted, 5 lbs sounds about right. I don’t know if this had a tape or a disk inside, but I bet it was a tape, because the clock was cylindrical in shape and the axis of the clock and the key would be parallel in use. Some sites liked everything neat and orderly, the rounds done at precise time intervals and the locations walked in the same order every time, but some preferred things to be a bit variable so that somebody watching the guard make rounds would not be able to predict the timing of the next round well. There were various checks in the system to avoid collusion between the guard and others, and to prevent the guard cheating. Of course the clock was one. Also, opening the clock required another key, and I didn’t have access to that. Somebody else was in charge of keeping the clock running and the paper loaded. Guards were generally not to get too chummy with anybody that worked at the site (though in other settings this wasn’t discouraged at all, such as when I worked at a pinball arcade in a shopping mall during operating hours to keep the kids from becoming too unruly). I also had to be bonded. I got fingerprinted by the police, who checked to see if I had any sort of criminal record. Some sites involved going indoors and outdoors, which at 4:00 AM in the chilly Massachusetts winter made the flimsy uniform pants pretty insufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/28 "2019-03-03T17:07:08Z")
Between the tape version and the disk version I know that one was larger and heavier than the other, but for the life of me I cannot remember which was heaver. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380/29 "2019-03-03T20:15:39Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Effectively clocking in at each point. I once did a few nights as a security guard in a large factory. We had a device, a bit like a supermarket scanner. At various points around the building, there were cards with a barcode which we had to scan. This was how the bosses checked that we were actually patrolling and not fast asleep in our office. Well, until you made copies of those barcodes and kept them in your office desk drawer. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > The newer phone app serves two purposes: > > 1. It give the boss instant access to what is going on, and > 2. It is a _lot_ cheaper to buy and maintain than the previously used scanner devices. A smart phone is not cheaper than a bar code scanner. But, if you assume that your employees will have purchased them on their own, then you can save money by having them use their equipment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-security-guard-doing-when-checking-every-door-electronically/830380.md?page=1)