Women in the Security Field

[SecurityChickie]

Hi, new here.

I've just been hired as a Security Guard for private security company which watches over the local mall (start next week). I always noticed that they have a few female security guards, and wondered what it would like to be one. I'm about to find out, and very excited about it. My question for anyone on this forum is - are you a female security guard? For any of you with experience working as or around females in the field... are there any significant differences or adjustments that need to be made? Are there different job requirements? Would you say it is perhaps easier or more difficult than being a male in the position? For the men... do you have any complaints about working with women? Do you feel they are treated as equals? I'm really looking for sincere answers here... i'm very curious to know!

My dad was an engineer and as an only child i grew up very used to getting physical and dirty and working with my hands. I very nearly joined the military right out of high school. All the jobs i have ever had were in mainly men-dominated fields... i really actually prefer working with men, and i like being hands-on - which is why i decided to enter the security field. I'm not bad-looking, and i've had to deal with a lot of crap from guys over the years... even from my superiors... i really hope not to end up in that situation again but i'm kind of expecting it honestly. i'm married now so hopefully that will make a difference. Is there a way to overcome the stigma of being the small cute girl without being standoffish with your coworkers?

anyways, thanks for the responses and i really enjoy reading this forum.. you all seem to be very informative and well-spoken. unlike many forums. take care.

[Lawson]

:D In my experience, I have worked with both male and female officers. In this field, it is my feeling that men and women are going to have two types of different interactions.

A lot of male contacts who arent going to like you are going to fail to treat you with respect, and they will [try to] use the fact that you are a woman against you. Against males they will sometimes and typically play the "macho" game, "Just because you have a uniform and a badge doesn't mean I cant kick your ass." kind stuff.

On the flipside of this, you will likely to find some people to be more respectful of you because you are a female.

If I am working tandem to a female officer, I will keep an eye over them. It is not saying they cant hold themselves as well... lets just say, I wish women would talk to me the same way I hear some guys talking to female officer ;) :D

[Mr. Security]

Welcome to the forum. :) Women can be successful in the security field, just as they are in LE. Actually, some female officers are better at diffusing potentially dangerous confrontations because they know the value of using their heads instead of acting tough like some male s/o's just because the use of force MAY be in their favor from a physical standpoint. Remember, you will likely have back-up nearby, so don't be afraid to utilize that option. Part of any s/o's job is to finish their shift safety, whatever it takes.

[N. A. Corbier]

I've worked with females in high risk enviornments. Just like everybody else, so long as you are properly trained and know specifically what your job is, they work out fine.

There is the whole differing set of interactions. You are no longer female in a uniform, you are a "rent-a-cop," "immitation bacon," etc. In other words, you will attract all the contempt people have for the police, with the added contempt that you have "no authority," so people feel they may safely harass you, etc.

Develop of tough skin, quickly.

If your working for IPC, you will probally be trained. Take a look at what equipment your co-workers are wearing, regardless of who you work for. If you see alot of handcuffs and flashlights, but nothing else - the handcuffs are probably for show, or security guards are expected to detain offenders with their bare hands.

If you are given a pair of handcuffs and do not recieve training in their use, do not touch them. You will be sued, and you will lose, as you are not trained to an industry standard in their use. Such things as double locking, placing on the wrists, positional axphixia, loading the bow, and other topics that are covered in handcuff training will be used against you in court.

Again, if you are given other equipment, such as a can of pepper spray or a baton, and recieve no training, use them only to protect your life, not the life of someone else. An untrained person with an expandable baton is considered under IL law to have a deadly or dangerous weapon, depending how they're using it. If someone is trying to kill you, however, you can use whatever weapon you want - your authorized to do anything up to killing that person to make them disengage long enough for you to escape.

A last thing of importance is to verify under IL law if "abandoning post" or difficency in duty is a criminal charge. In some states, standing there and failing to do your job, or retreating, is a criminal offense - which your employer or the police may prosecute on. "Abandoning post" could mean the location of an incident, or it could mean "running off the site." Many police officers will tell security guards to flee their site upon confrontation, because only the police may remain. (This happened to me in Florida, and the officer was surprised that dereliction of duty was a misdemeanor, and then acknoledged that "running away" was illegal. He also didn't know what to tell me about a drunken resident trying to attack me, other than "run away, only a police officer can stand their ground.")

[SecurityChickie]

Very interesting...

oh, this particular mall has full-time private security, and also 3 police officers in a sub-station located in the mall at all time. i know the security guards have handcuffs on their belts and pepper spray was mentioned at the interview, so i know those are at least there. in dealing with difficult people, it was mentioned roughly that our main job would be to keep things as "low-key" as possible and to call in the shift leader or whatever his title is and he would do the physical restraining for us.

for anyone who knows about mall security... do you know how they divide up time usually between inside patrols, exterior patrols, and watching the cameras? i'll find all this out next week, but its never bad to get a leg up on the information.

thanks all, be safe

[Bill Warnock]

Women have made and will continue to make valuable contributions in all aspects of private and public security as well as in federal, state and local law enforcement.
The first woman to enter the security was Kate Warne hired by no less of a personage that Alan Pinkerton in 1856.
?According to the Pinkerton Corporation's website, Kate walked into the agency's quarters in Chicago in 1856, seeking employment. Pinkerton was surprised that the slender, brown-haired young lady was not interested in clerical work but in becoming an agent! Repressing a laugh, he told her that it was not the agency's custom to employ women operatives.
Kate argued her point of view eloquently," reads the website, "pointing out that women could be 'most useful in worming out secrets in many places which would be impossible for a male detective'. A woman would be able to befriend the wives and girlfriends of suspected criminals and gain their confidence. Men become braggarts when they are around women who encourage them to boast. Kate also noted that women have an eye for detail and are excellent observers. Her arguments swayed Pinkerton, who hired her the next day and never regretted the decision."
Thus, Kate became the first female detective in the United States. Moreover, Pinkerton soon hired other females based on Kate's suggestion, appointing her Supervisor of Women Agents. Their ranks grew, Kate having shown Pinkerton their intrinsic value to his organization.?
Women by their very nature ?listen.? Men by their very nature ?hear.? To hear is not the same as to listen. That point was driven home by Dr. Claire Walker, a college professor and frequent lecturer at varied law enforcement academies. She stressed the need of being both nimble physically as well as mentally.
You will still find a mindset that women have no place outside the home and hearth, but those folks are starting to fade into history.
If you have a degree, under the age of 35 and really want a challenge in law enforcement, consider becoming a Deputy US Marshal. I retired from that Service and do a little recruiting on the side.
Were I you, I would consider changing the site name to something other than ?Security Chickie,? which in my humble opinion is demeaning.
Enjoy the day,?
Bill

[SecurityChickie]

That was a very interesting article. Thank you.

I don't particularly consider the name "demeaning" - I just couldn't think up anything else at the time!

I've done many things over my life, and have much more life experience i would say than many people my age... although i have never attended college. I have always considered a LE career, but never enough to seriously look into it... until recently. I honestly can't say that i would be interested in being a street officer for any long period of time.. i have a young child at home and that level of danger is just not something i'm looking to get into for his sake. I would really like to know more about other careers though, so if you have any information i would really be interested to hear it. Feel free to email me. I'm working part-time now, but once he enters school i'll be looking to pursue something full-time, and i'm planning on going to school at some point over the next few years.

[Will]

I've never been a uniformed guard, I wear street clothes to work. That being said, I don't care of your a man, woman, both, neither, whatever; so long as you know what your doing, glad to have you along.

[Taser]

There's nothing wrong with women in the security field. As long as they watch my back, I'll watch theirs too.

[N. A. Corbier]

Very interesting...

oh, this particular mall has full-time private security, and also 3 police officers in a sub-station located in the mall at all time. i know the security guards have handcuffs on their belts and pepper spray was mentioned at the interview, so i know those are at least there. in dealing with difficult people, it was mentioned roughly that our main job would be to keep things as "low-key" as possible and to call in the shift leader or whatever his title is and he would do the physical restraining for us.

for anyone who knows about mall security... do you know how they divide up time usually between inside patrols, exterior patrols, and watching the cameras? i'll find all this out next week, but its never bad to get a leg up on the information.

thanks all, be safe
'fraid you'll have to wait for that information. Every post is different, and any guesses are just that, guesses.

Since you'll be required to assist in physically restraining people, I would suggest that you click on one of the two links in my signature. Both are defensive tactics sites for non-armed professionals. My suggestion would be SPE, which has free defensive tactics for police and security officers. The videos and discussion should give you an indication of what you'll be facing in terms of legality, threat, and the mental aspects of defensive / offensive (Arrest) tactics.

It always amuses me that we call arresting someone "defensive tactics." Its not defensive, we're the aggressor. We're the one trying to do something to the other person (gain a submission and restrain).

[VET13]

We have 2 female officers where I work. Both are extremley good at their jobs. We had 3 when I started but now she is working K9 for the PD. At my former job my boss was a Loss Prevention manager, one of the best bosses that I have worked for. We still keep in touch.

[Charger]

Well, I'll step in and toss my .02 around.. ;)

I've worked with many female Officers over the years.. many of which were excellent Officers.. As someone mentioned earlier, women have a tendency to use their heads better than men, so they tend to get into less scuffles overall... On the flip side of that, however, depending on your 'stature', women who are.. how would you say, "Petite?", will run into issues with guys being more insubordinate because there's not as much of an intimidation factor as there would be with a 200+ lb. guy.. regardless of what you're wearing on your belt. Just something to keep in mind.

Additionally, you asked specifically about malls. My first security job was at a mall, stayed there for almost 2 years. (Worked my way from an entry-level Officer all the way up to head of security, before I left the site for an armed patrol position). As far as time spent in different areas, I'm sure it depends on the mall management's decisions. At the mall where I worked, there were no in-mall cameras set up, so we didn't have to worry about that. The individual stores were responsible for setting up/monitoring their own camera systems. Patrol-wise, we split our time 50/50 between interior and exterior vehicle patrols. In order to keep our visibility up, the idea was to keep moving. General rule of thumb was to do an internal patrol, (took about 15 mins), then a vehicle patrol, (took about 15 mins), repeat those 2, then stop by the Security Office to update the logs & do any reports that needed to be written... Officers were not supposed to spend more than 10 minutes at a time in the Office, however, so it ended up that on average the Officers were patrolling for 50 out of every 60 minutes. As I said though, your mall may be different. I'm sure they'll have a similar routine set up for you.

On a side note, welcome to the site, and to the industry! The more, the merrier after all! If they don't offer it as part of your training, I personally HIGHLY recommend you check out some Verbal Judo books, or see if they offer a supplemental training class in it. Comes in VERY handy. ;)

[hemi444]

Such things as double locking, placing on the wrists, positional axphixia, loading the bow, and other topics that are covered in handcuff training will be used against you in court.

We have had one case in the area, that an agencies s/o had cuffed an individual, he had his circulation blocked off to his fingers and sued the Agency and the officer. I havent heard anything else on it so far.

[Huey County]

Security Chickie,

Does this sound familiar:
"You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A?"

Am I Right?

[N. A. Corbier]

Security Chickie,

Does this sound familiar:
"You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A?"

Am I Right?

I was thinking IPC over at Westfield Court or whatever it is in Schaumberg. Nice place, big mall, my GF went to college across the street at an art school (In an office building, no less)...

In other news, that office building complex was funny. I went into the wrong office building at 11 PM, the elderly officer at the desk was like, "Oh, hellos! What floor?" I was not an authorized visitor, signed my name into the book, and said 6. By the way. The name I signed into the book was Frank Castle.

Figured out it was NOT the right building, left by the stairs. Mr. Castle never signed out that night. He may still roam those halls.

Guard had a nice TV, though, built right into the desk console.

[N. A. Corbier]

We have had one case in the area, that an agencies s/o had cuffed an individual, he had his circulation blocked off to his fingers and sued the Agency and the officer. I havent heard anything else on it so far.

Smart crook will notice you didn't double lock, and start bashing his wrists in an attempt to get an injury suit. Or worse, complain, have you unlock, and then use the tension in the cuffs to get a cuff off and bash you with it.

Cuff someone right the first time, and its the cop's problem uncuffing them.

[Serpico]

My loss prevention boss was a female. She was the best LPO we had. Ridiculous amount of felony stops. Thing is, a lot of guys saw her sex as a weakness and she got assaulted several times in the past year. Didn't help that she was making apprehensions while solo.

[SecurityChickie]

You're dead on... how did you know? ;)

I really don't want to say too much out of fear someone i may end up working with in the near future is reading this... but i really have to thank you all for the great input. I'm very excited about this opportunity. I wish you all the best!

[Huey County]

^ What do I win?

...maybe a cookie?

[hemi444]

We have had one case in the area, that an agencies s/o had cuffed an individual, he had his circulation blocked off to his fingers and sued the Agency and the officer. I havent heard anything else on it so far.

950,000.00 obtained on behalf of a man who was struck on the head by a hotel security guard causing permanent brain damage. (other cases arising out of brutality by police officers include recovery for a handcuffed individual who was subdued and suffocated as a result of police action; recovery on behalf of a man struck in the head by a Prince George's County police officer; and recovery for a man who obtained a spiral fracture as a result of unnecessary force used in a handcuff procedure). :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[james2go30]

I was thinking IPC over at Westfield Court or whatever it is in Schaumberg. Nice place, big mall, my GF went to college across the street at an art school (In an office building, no less)...

In other news, that office building complex was funny. I went into the wrong office building at 11 PM, the elderly officer at the desk was like, "Oh, hellos! What floor?" I was not an authorized visitor, signed my name into the book, and said 6. By the way. The name I signed into the book was Frank Castle.

Figured out it was NOT the right building, left by the stairs. Mr. Castle never signed out that night. He may still roam those halls.

Guard had a nice TV, though, built right into the desk console.
Frank Castle...so they have record of a visitor by THE PUNISHER lol....I'd used Logan and just thew in a last name...lol thats funny dude

[HotelSecurity]

Lawson nails it on the head, i.e. i could never hit or strike a female cop if she tried to arres me but if it's a male cop I'd have no problem taking a swing at him.

You really don't like Cops, do you? You often quote laws in your posts, Maybe you should check into resisting arrest!

[Curtis Baillie]

[QUOTE=Marchetti, David, M]Lawson nails it on the head, i.e. i could never hit or strike a female cop if she tried to arres me but if it's a male cop I'd have no problem taking a swing at him. Old school mentality that men should not ever hit a woman, but dirtbags don't follow this rule. When working with a female officer ya I have kept an eye on her for safety, grins but if she's cute in uniform I'll buy her lunch... Good luck with the new job.

Still more fodder for your Connecticut State Legislature. You really can't help yourself....can you? Just how much more unprofessional can you be?

[HCSecurity]

Lawson nails it on the head, i.e. i could never hit or strike a female cop if she tried to arres me but if it's a male cop I'd have no problem taking a swing at him. Old school mentality that men should not ever hit a woman, but dirtbags don't follow this rule. When working with a female officer ya I have kept an eye on her for safety, grins but if she's cute in uniform I'll buy her lunch... Good luck with the new job.

Wow...how lucky for women you work with. You watch out for their safety and buy them lunch for looking cute. What a gentlemen thing to do... haha was that comment for real?

[outofplacevikingfan]

Now a days I think a lot has change, I know of a lot of dirt bags that would care less if your a female or male. If you get in the way they will take a swing or worse, espically the thugs coming up in age now.

[copelandamuffy]

One of the best in the Security Guard Industy is a woman I know quite well.
Excellent, well written DAR, informative Incident Reports, vigilant patrols,
and amongst the best at access control. She works for the same contract
Security Guard company as I do. Her Account Manager has told me
she is one his best Guards. Has been chosen for "Officer of the Month"
for this past December. She wears her uniform with pride. Her fellow
Security Officers have told me that they like working with her, as she
is a team player.

As an Account Manager, sadly she cannot work at my post, as there
could be a conflict of interest.

Yes I am a tad prejudice about this particular woman.
She is my wife of 25 years.

[davis002]

Ummm are you guys like anal retentive - here's a dollar go buy a sense of humor and get a life geeshhhhhhh.

You brought all of this on yourself, so don't act all surprised... Granted you have toned down quite a bit in the last couple days, because perhaps it was sinking in that your conduct was over the top. You dug yourself a DEEP hole in the course of a week or two, and it's going to take even longer to get out of it.

[Chucky]

Security Chick go armed. I swear you will like it a lot more than unarmed. Especially on pay day. The level of respect goes up dramatically. On one location I do, people have actually come up to me and thanked me for doing what I love to do anyway. In the last month I have had 3 cups of coffee and one guy brought me some sort of Portugese cheese rolls warm from the bakery. Always a little leary about ingesting free stuff but what the heck food poising or lead poising it's a risk we all take :) Whatever you choose good luck and stay safe.

http://bestsmileys.com/cops/4.gif

[N. A. Corbier]

It frightens me that I know what series that is from.

[CorpSec]

Females can and do succeed in this industry. I have worked with a few that were top notch.

I'll be honest in saying that sometimes they can upset the "chemistry" of a staff. It has been my experience that where a male officer will tell another male officer he has a problem with something he is (or isn't) doing right to his face. Women officers have been much more likely to run to administration or Human Resources.

Having said that though, I actually prefer a female bosses.

[ValleyOne]

In my experience new female officers take a little while to find the fine line. I mean they either call for back up way to much, or they somehow feel that they have something to prove and don't call for backup and end up in an un-needed scuffle, or go out looking for one. There's a difference between holding your own and always asking for someone else to hold it for you.

Then again we all know guys like that as well...

A little pet peeve of mine regarding females is that SOME play the 'I'm just a girl thing' and pawn off details or calls to the guys that have been there longer.

Bottom line. Just do the job and everything will work out.

[james2go30]

http://bestsmileys.com/cops/4.gif[/QUOTE]
Chick in this pic looks like a chick from this vampire anime I got last week lol.

[davis002]

Looks at you and laughs, I did not dig myself into anything you nimrod. We have a difference of opinion is all on various topics. If I had dug a hole rest assured a body would be in it - grins, my conduct was over the top?, laughing you don't know me too well do you. Dig myself out of what laughing, shaking his head. Whatever chuckles......

Thanks for proving my point...

[N. A. Corbier]

Looks at you and laughs, I did not dig myself into anything you nimrod. We have a difference of opinion is all on various topics. If I had dug a hole rest assured a body would be in it - grins, my conduct was over the top?, laughing you don't know me too well do you. Dig myself out of what laughing, shaking his head. Whatever chuckles......

You're making my head hurt. Can you please either write in a novella form, or in standard forum posting, and not some strange hybrid of both? Its confusing.

For example, the quoted post would read:

David looks at Davis002 and laughs, "I did not dig myself into anything, you nimrod. We have a difference of opinion is all, on various topics. If I had dug a hole, rest assured a body would be in it." David grins. "My conduct was over the top?" he asks, then laughs. "You don't know me to well, do you?" he asks again. "Dig myself out of what," he says, laughing as he shakes his head. He chuckles, finishing with "Whatever."

[james2go30]

The plot is weak and the characters...I can't connect with them on a personal level...it needs some spice...I know make one of them drug abusing serial killer that has fetish to dress up like a school girl. Might have a best seller then.

[davis002]

looks at N.A. and grins, softly speaking into his ear he states - N.A. nothing personal but ummm you don't have anything better to do then to complain about other peoples writings then you really need to get a life and move along, go become an English teacher or something as that takes no personality, whatever.........laughing

More or less, he (along with many others) just complain about you :rolleyes:

[T202]

Marchetti, David, M]looks at N.A. and grins, softly speaking into his ear he states[/U] - N.A. nothing personal but ummm you don't have anything better to do then to complain about other peoples writings then you really need to get a life and move along, go become an English teacher or something as that takes no personality, whatever.........laughing

The part about speaking softly in his ear is scaring me. I now have an image in my mind that I can't get rid of. :(

[ValleyOne]

looks at N.A. and grins, softly speaking into his ear he states - N.A. nothing personal but ummm you don't have anything better to do then to complain about other peoples writings then you really need to get a life and move along, go become an English teacher or something as that takes no personality, whatever.........laughing

David, I know am one of the newest guys here. But, why don't you stop tossing people dollars here and there to go and buy themselves a sense of humor and save it up yourself. After all, Wal Mart now has meds for $4. Maybe get a refill on yours???

Food for thought... :D :cool:

[SecTrainer]

In other news, that office building complex was funny. I went into the wrong office building at 11 PM, the elderly officer at the desk was like, "Oh, hellos! What floor?" I was not an authorized visitor, signed my name into the book, and said 6. By the way. The name I signed into the book was Frank Castle.

Figured out it was NOT the right building, left by the stairs. Mr. Castle never signed out that night. He may still roam those halls.

Just curious. As a presumed security professional who should know better, why did you commit these obvious security violations? It doesn't sound from your post like you were being paid to test the security of that building as you say you accidentally went into the wrong building.

If it was a "joke" on this "elderly gentleman" at the desk, I know it's a terrible personality deficiency of mine, but I've never been able to develop much of a sense of humor when it comes to security officers pulling stunts that might very well trigger full-building searches (as this probably should have done) or cause all kinds of other problems for someone. Call me humorless, but IMHO the one kind of stunt that security officers should never pull - on duty or off - are those involving security violations.

[N. A. Corbier]

Just curious. As a presumed security professional who should know better, why did you commit these obvious security violations? It doesn't sound from your post like you were being paid to test the security of that building as you say you accidentally went into the wrong building.

If it was a "joke" on this "elderly gentleman" at the desk, I know it's a terrible personality deficiency of mine, but I've never been able to develop much of a sense of humor when it comes to security officers pulling stunts that might very well trigger full-building searches (as this probably should have done) or cause all kinds of other problems for someone. Call me humorless, but IMHO the one kind of stunt that security officers should never pull - on duty or off - are those involving security violations.

Mainly because I was never officially at either building.

[Miguel]

For any of you with experience working as or around females in the field... are there any significant differences or adjustments that need to be made? Are there different job requirements? Would you say it is perhaps easier or more difficult than being a male in the position? For the men... do you have any complaints about working with women? Do you feel they are treated as equals? I'm really looking for sincere answers here... i'm very curious to know!


Welcome to the forums! :)

I´ve worked ocasionally with females. Some were good s/o and others not, just like men. I´ve never seen that gender is a big issue in this industry those days. You´ll be judged by your performance, so you don´t have to worry much about anything else. You might find the odd dimwit that tries to give you crap for being a women, but if you´re a good s/o, he´ll soon will be told to STFU. :D

It´s important as well that you don´t accept ANY type of discrimination if you want to be treated as an equal. I don´t believe in the concept of "affirmative action" and neither will some of your co-workers. There are no "good" and "bad" types of discrimination as far as I´m concerned. So if your boss offers you any type of privilege for just being a woman, refuse it.

Study well the law, get in shape, learn some form of self-defense (Judo or Krav Maga are good options), and get any other sort of training you can. And never forget the most important asset you´ll be protecting is YOUR life.

[CorpSec]

A thing to keep in mind is that there are a ton of different types of security work. The vast majority of security work around here is in relatively nice office buildings where the most upset person you will ever have to deal with is an executive who is huffy about having to sign in when he/she has forgotten their access card.

A lot of the talk in this forum centers around the more enforcement oriented type of security positions. In a lot of areas, security positions where your employer expects you to engage in any confrontations are the exception, not the rule.

You have to make a determination what type of security work fit in best with your personality, abilities, and aspirations. I worked hospital security for years in my early to mid 20's. I was gung ho and loved the action.

Now, that I am getting into my mid 30's, I am quite content to work a corporate security gig that is centered more on things like privacy legislation compliance and stringent access control.

[HotelSecurity]

A thing to keep in mind is that there are a ton of different types of security work. The vast majority of security work around here is in relatively nice office buildings where the most upset person you will ever have to deal with is an executive who is huffy about having to sign in when he/she has forgotten their access card.

A lot of the talk in this forum centers around the more enforcement oriented type of security positions. In a lot of areas, security positions where your employer expects you to engage in any confrontations are the exception, not the rule.

You have to make a determination what type of security work fit in best with your personality, abilities, and aspirations. I worked hospital security for years in my early to mid 20's. I was gung ho and loved the action.

Now, that I am getting into my mid 30's, I am quite content to work a corporate security gig that is centered more on things like privacy legislation compliance and stringent access control.

Even within the same type of security things can be different according to the shifts, In hotel day shifts are completely different from the other 2 shifts.

[james2go30]

Even within the same type of security things can be different according to the shifts, In hotel day shifts are completely different from the other 2 shifts.
Yea 1st shift is totally different from 2nd and working 3rd is completely different then 2nd...I know what you mean.

[CorpSec]

I feel for officers in the warmer climates on day shift. If I lived in a state like Arizona, Nevada, or Florida, I bet I would like nights more than I already do.

Living in Minnesota, I can take the cold far more than I can take the heat.

[Dragonfyre024]

As a female security officer who has been in the business for almost 12 years, female officers can be as good as they want to be. There are some male officers who are not accepting of it, still maintaining the mentality that it is a man's job. But some have mentioned that women can be very successful and that is the truth.

I've been promoted myself on a couple of occasions and right now I am in charge of training for approximately 160 officers on a 5200 hour/week account. So the best advice I can offer is just do your job and you shall earn your respect over time.