Pool Security is best left to "professionals" (throw away min wage clowns)

[Squid]

This was the dumbest security detail I ever worked. You can't win - the owners get miffed because you had the audacity to ask them if they lived there (because, you know, I should know all 900 residents by name); the trespassers get mad because they got caught.

I had one boss who had the correct view - if they aren't causing a disturbance and are being low key, let it go. What are they doing, exactly? They're swimming on a hot day. Yes, they're "stealing" from the owners in a sense, but in this day and age, pretty low on the "stuff we really have to worry about" scale.

The card and key thing is just a practical way to resolve things quickly. We stopped a guy one night at 3:00am because he was acting weird and we didn't recognize him as a resident. PD rolls out, and the guy starts pulling the "sovereign citizen" routine. Cop talks to us, says to the guy, "If you can hold up your house key and these guards tell me that it is an apartment key for this complex, we'll all leave and you can go about your business." Believe it or not, the guy refuses, so the cop says, "Fine. We'll go sort it out down at the station." Only in America...

another biggie with pools is OWNER'S LIABILITY, or at least owner's fear of some random trespasser drowning and their family suing.

prob with any key or pass is they can get lent out. just takes one resident with a off site family member with a big crew who are overjoyed at THEIR new deluxe pool.

At the least, the fact that you should EXPECT to be accosted for your ID should be VERY clearly spelled out to all "members of The Pool" (not that it would help in this case).

I'm guessing we'll see less and less pools especially in new apts as America "changes".

I'm a big fan of How can we use cheap existing tech to solve a Security Issue?

No reason why part of getting Pool Access isn't having your pic taken with someone's handy smart phone and that pic gets added to file of pics Security (or even Community On Patrol...C.O.P.s) all get updated instantly.

[Squid]

Squid,

Your attacks against LE are wearing thin. You haven't a clue as to how it works, nor are your stories about your interactions with, and how cops act, believable.

Fact remains, if reports are correct, the cop was way off base. Its semi-understandable that he thought he'd apply "common sense" without thinking it through regarding Pass Card VS ID.

It also true that once you get outside the richer areas of SF bay or other "big city" the PAY for cops drops massively, along with the quality of the PD's employees. I've dealt with lots of people from The South and they seem amazed that here is Silicon Valley cops are mostly at least OK.

aren't you the guy that claimed "cops don't chase down illegal fireworks" prior to 4th of July, then it turns out San Bruno PD arrested 25. I'm guessing that is about the most arrests SBPD has ever made in a single day.

Illegal fireworks are a pretty big deal in CA, due to fire hazard. Any "life safety" is taken pretty seriously around here by our high-end PDs. You tell a cop you are "feeling dizzy" they will roll an ambulance in Walnut Creek or Los Altos.

Interestingly enough, the one time I was "removed from post" was because (in one condo owner's view) I wasn't doing enough about the "illegal fireworks" in the complex. Actually, San Jose PD wouldn't care about THOSE fireworks, its the wildfire stuff we care about in CA that will get out of control before any Fire Dept could arrive.

[Soper]

Squid,

Your attacks against LE are wearing thin. You haven't a clue as to how it works, nor are your stories about your interactions with, and how cops act, believable.

[Condo Guard]

This was the dumbest security detail I ever worked. You can't win - the owners get miffed because you had the audacity to ask them if they lived there (because, you know, I should know all 900 residents by name); the trespassers get mad because they got caught.

I had one boss who had the correct view - if they aren't causing a disturbance and are being low key, let it go. What are they doing, exactly? They're swimming on a hot day. Yes, they're "stealing" from the owners in a sense, but in this day and age, pretty low on the "stuff we really have to worry about" scale.

The card and key thing is just a practical way to resolve things quickly. We stopped a guy one night at 3:00am because he was acting weird and we didn't recognize him as a resident. PD rolls out, and the guy starts pulling the "sovereign citizen" routine. Cop talks to us, says to the guy, "If you can hold up your house key and these guards tell me that it is an apartment key for this complex, we'll all leave and you can go about your business." Believe it or not, the guy refuses, so the cop says, "Fine. We'll go sort it out down at the station." Only in America...

[Squid]

http://www.startribune.com/white-man...ool/487492131/

This is exactly why you want a disposable "throw away" outside hire doing this job.....not an upstanding leading homeowner with a good job in the real world. Might as well prep your Security Company to get ready to put a new guard on the post in a diff looking uniform and pretend "new company" when the first guy gets "thrown under the bus" for doing his job.

Funny, the one time I was ever "removed from post" was because of complaints by one famously complaining condo owner for NOT breaking up a G-rated 4th of July parent's pool "party".

Not sure if in this article but I read something about how the cops said "she had the pass-card and that is good enough". No it isn't, dumbass, and as a policeman its is above your pay-grade to comment on rules of a HOA. When the cops pull over a car does the driver just show them the key and "that is good enough"? Neither is "knowing the code". The purpose of asking for ID is to see if they "borrowed" the pass/key and thus aren't supposed to be there. Ditto with any Codes. Naturally, all this is in the WRITTEN "Pool Rules" this woman signed, but that of course doesn't matter. There are two type of people: those that understand things like Front Desk Check-in at their PRIVATE gym is for THEIR benefit (so the place doesn't become a Homeless Camp overnight) and those who simply lack the brains to understand that and react instinctively to any query as an "attack".

What I'd do, is have a nice big file of face pics of all persons with pool access. I guess you'd want to group them by "type" for easy reference and "visual identification" (politically correct minefield warning LOL). That way the Pool Monitor can just look it up on his smart phone. You SHOULD be able to do that from 100yrds away with binoculars while still in the gated community guard shack at front gate without "intruding" on the residents.

I keep seeing these great sounding Security job ads that turn out to be Pool Security at large low-income apartment complex chain (3 locations, 1000+ units in crappy part of town). They want the guard to "verify each person in the pool area". LOL. Wouldn't touch that with a 20ft pool Rescue Pole thingy. Not only the Politically Correct problem, but most of people in the pool are gonna be minors and dealing with minors has its own set of liability issues.

But like I said in title, stuff like this is GOOD for private security as more and more regular Americans get royally screwed over for attempting to handle their own mundane Security issues DIY-style.

"In the future it will be 1/3 of the people protecting 1/3 of the people from 1/3 of the people" said a wise man.