Leaving Work In Uniform

[Lawson]

It usually depends on where I am and where Im going. If I am going home at 3am on an August summer and swing into a 24hr store in a small quiet town, Im probably not going to put a jacket over my uniform or disassemble my shirt from the keepers and duty belt suspenders just to take it off.

However, if I am stopping to go shopping at 6pm on a Friday night in downtown Norfolk, yeah Im either gonna change or cover up at least.

[Tuff]

When I'm working I usally carry several sets of clothes....First off with all honesty I do not work uniformed unarmed security work and never will for my own personel reasons. " 1st set" I have a clean pressed set of 5.11's, t shirt and a pressed button up over shirt, "2nd set" is a full suit and tie set for executive protection work, "3rd set" would be a uniformed work set complete with my duty belt.

When I do uniformed work it is done doing one of two things, private escorts for high value couriers, or moblie work for tech's that are doing repairs and need a officer with them. When I'm done I either drive home or to another assignment....If I'm just going to do my own thing I will change to just a pressed casual set of clothes and carry concealed with a permit and two extra mags.

Gentlemen, what ever you were in this profession ALWAYS be a polite professional....

[PolarDeer]

I've never understood colleagues that decide to go to work while wearing their uniform openly. That sort of behavior is only going to get you into trouble sooner or later.

It is perfectly OK to throw a coat, jacket or whatnot over the uniform while you're going to work, but openly declaring yourself as a security guard while not even at the designated site is just stupid. I've seen a few colleagues get into arguments and verbal disagreements with people while they've been out of the site and smoking cigarettes in the nearby streets or corners. It isn't that hard to throw a coat or a jacket over the uniform shirt that has your patches on it in order to cover them. But then again I think that some people use this sort of behavior to boost their professional image or at the very least their ego.

The wearing of your uniform outside of work is at best only going to confuse people and at worst get you into physical confrontations with folks who do not think very highly of security guards.

Also, depending on the way you interpret the legistlation here wearing the uniform while not on shift could actually be illegal. Though whether or not its illegal its still likely to get you into extra trouble and also confuse people regarding jurisdiction and such.

If I'm taking my car to work, then I might have the full uniform (without the equipment belt, though) on but will always put on my own jacket or something if I decide to grab a coffee underway or need to exit the car for some other reason. If I'm walking or taking a public transport to work I usually have just the uniform trousers on and my own shirt or jacket on top of the company shirt, said uniform trousers have a fairly visible company logo on the left thigh pocket but that's not been a problem before.

[Jaeger]

There have been occasions when I've worn the shirt, trousers and the tie while commuting to work.

They're all easy to conceal under a coat or a jacket. It just makes you look like a regular "salary man" going or coming to work, but usually the guys who go to work while wearing the "field uniform" trousers and show up into the metro or bus tend to get identified as security officers by me, at least.

[ShutDown24]

When I'm coming home from a uniformed shift I rarely change clothes, even if I intend to stop somewhere. But I generally only stop for gas or food (drive thru) so it's not much of an issue.

I have a couple tales from when I was in uniform in public locations though.

My first night working uniformed I stopped into a Sheetz and while I was waiting for my food to be prepared there was a younger male who kept looking at me. He finally came over and stood behind me and said something to the effect of "I thought I noticed a cruiser outside!". He seemed stoned. I looked outside and there was a police cruiser parked right in front of the door. I told him I wasn't with law enforcement and he mumbled something about me lying. I just stood there and didn't look at him. When the officer came into the store the kid whispers to me "Don't let your partner arrest me!". I got my food and left. I got a hoodie out of the trunk and put it on as soon as I got back to my vehicle. As I got into the drivers seat and started the car the LEO came out with the kid cuffed. Not sure what happened, I was just happy it didn't involve me.

A few months later I was coming home from some overnight work and stopped at a fast food drive thru for breakfast. This particular establishment has two lanes and two speakers involved with their drive thru, which expedites traffic very well until you come to the windows, where the lanes merge. I've seen several accidents occur at this location. Two men tried to pull into the single lane at once and just narrowly missed one another. They soon began cursing out the window at each other and eventually got out of their vehicles. Now there was all kinds of chaos because it was 7:45am and there was a lot of traffic behind us. I was directly behind the argument. After cars stopped flowing to the window a store employee (I assume management of some sort) came out and tried to tell the men to keep moving. But they just yelled over her and ignored everyone else who were yelling and beeping as well. The employee was visibly frightened because the confrontation had gotten quite heated. At that point I decided it might be a good idea to get out and encourage the men to forget about the incident and move along. I was tired and just wanted to get home. So I stepped out of my car and the second I did they both gave me a once-over and got back in their vehicles. I had completely forgotten I was in uniform to be honest. And while I don't suggest wearing the thing around all over the place, but that was one instance where having the badge on actually helped me. That's something I wouldn't make a habit of trying, though.

[PolarDeer]

They're all easy to conceal under a coat or a jacket. It just makes you look like a regular "salary man" going or coming to work, but usually the guys who go to work while wearing the "field uniform" trousers and show up into the metro or bus tend to get identified as security officers by me, at least.

For this reason I might also just put the uniform trousers in my bag and use my own, especially when going to and coming from sites in the more crappy areas. I know of one case in which a workmate got trouble after work heading to the central railway station wearing the uniform trousers and subsequently getting threatened by some random junkie. Nothing happened since the station security removed the junkie, though.

[Trunk Monkey]

For this reason I might also just put the uniform trousers in my bag and use my own, especially when going to and coming from sites in the more crappy areas. I know of one case in which a workmate got trouble after work heading to the central railway station wearing the uniform trousers and subsequently getting threatened by some random junkie. Nothing happened since the station security removed the junkie, though.

I guess I'm lucky, my uniform trousers are just black Dickies

[jeff mcmaster]

A little food for thought. When I worked in corrections, an officer from another prison was going to his mothers house after work. He decided to stop at a convieniance store to buy a six pack. He was in full uniform and as he got to the cooler there were two teens just completing a beer run. When they saw the officer, one of them drew and handgun and shot the officer. Later when they were told that they had killed a peace officer, they stated that they thought that he was a security officer.

[LV_PSO]

Never heard of Mall Ninja...even when I was working at a shopping center.

But Mall Ninja knew about you. You never even saw him watching/lurking...

[LV_PSO]

I'll routinely stop for a cup of coffee in uniform, or fill up the tank. No biggie. If I stop into the grocery store to get something my wife needs for dinner, I go to the one by my house, where the employees know me anyway from my frequency shopping in civvies. I agree with the logic of avoiding particularly hostile areas. But for normal to nice parts of town... eh, who cares? Not that they're immune from bad things happening, but we have easily defined areas in town where there's a lot more neutral to positive disposition towards LEOs (resulting in lower chance of SOs mistakenly being assaulted).

I know situational awareness doesn't make one immune from the SHTF, but I make sure to stay aware of my surroundings (which I do anyway in normal clothes because I constantly carry concealed). I carry myself professionally and politely inform the few people who might comment on my uniform that I'm not LE. The upside is if there's gonna be trouble, I have more tools at my disposal.

But most people here just don't care. Lots of people from lots of professions run errands in their uniforms in Las Vegas. And we have lots of SOs. I suppose we're some sort of anomaly.

I think it looks sloppy to break up the uniform and it's usually WAY too hot for the majority of the year to add more layers.

Maybe I'm just too stubborn to find changing clothes worth it. Call me crazy, but I've thought it through and I don't think it's a big deal.

Let the beatings commence.