I have worked both sides of this coin and can feel for the plight of the security guard. I used to wear a vest when I was a Scarborough Town Center guard, had a big ole mag light and cool leather gloves that I would find any excuse to strap on. I was there for the original race riots, kicked rapper "Snow" out for being a dink (accused me of picking on him because he was white), used to wade into the middle of fights to grab kids with not much back up. I made hundreds of arrests and was living the adventure. And I was being an unsafe idiot.
Having the vest gave me a false sense of security. Many fire arm rounds will still potentially kill you from the blunt trauma even if they don't penetrate (which many do) and most knives and pointy things (ice picks) will cut through them like butter.
Don't forget what you are hired to do. TTC police are sworn constables and only by policy are they precluded from carrying. As a security guard you are paid to observe and report. Thats it. Maybe your company doesn't want to give you more equipment because they are concerned that you will go cowboy and get into a jack pot. And if you get hurt, and you are doing something that falls outside of your job definition, watch how fast Workers Comp drops your ass and you have nothing to show for it but a lingering injury that may make you unfit for a real police job.
It is hard to stand by and be a spectator while criminals are breaking the law right in front of you but unless you have been specifically directed to take action ie) doorman at a bar, it just isn't your job to step in.
little ruddiger said:
While the OACP, CPA and PAO moan about how the vehicles and uniforms are too close to that of police. The real issues of proper pay rates, back-up, comms., protective gear (ie. vests, hatch gloves and even rain coats) get largely ignored. Even many clients don't appreciate how very dangerous and important decent security is on private properties. So while police management attempts to beat security management into submission (which is hard as long as it doesn't affect profit) front-line police and security staff continue to interact on a daily basis with varying degrees of effectiveness. The fact is neither group can operate effectively without the other and this adversarial attitude from the top has to change.
Yeah, the wanna be uniforms and fake cruisers will seem like a great idea until one of you guys gets waxed by some crack head that is fleeing from an armed robbery and you come wandering up and not realize what just happened. No doubt it is tough to work your security mojo on the honeys wearing polyester navy blazer and grey pants, but it will keep you a lot safer.
I'm also pretty sure that facilitating closer working relationships with private security firms is not a priority for most services. It's only you guys that see it as adversarial. We kind of don't care what you do, we just don't want to see anyone get hurt. In the mean time, I'm confident that I can do my job effectively without the full cooperation of the security industry behind me.