Alone or with a partner(s)?

[mh892]

Just thought I would use this forum to vent a little frustration...

Just got a call last night from my relief... sick, cant make it in... Okay that's cool... until I look on the board and low-and-behold the other S/O is taking a Vacation day that was not on the pre-scheduled time-off board...

So I call... every... single... security officer... and no one answers the phone? Why not? Because they see "BHR Security" come up on the caller ID and they know damn well why someone would be calling 20 minutes prior to shift change.

So...

I decide I'm going to wait for the Security/Facilities supervisor to arrive. According to the receptionist, she isn't coming in today, so I'm S.O.L. there. So we give a ring to the administrator on-call. Take a guess...


that's right... NO answer.

So here I sit, having just completed a 12-hr shift, with absolutely no idea wtf to do, no one to contact, no relief in sight. In my time in security, I have never abandoned a post.

Today may be the first.

Yep. And in the back of your mind; "We ain't paying overtime without prior approval from home office." , "The state and contract states your not allowed to work more than a twelve hour shift without an eight hour break (or something like that)." and "You can go to jail for abandoning your post."

But the big pizzer is that tomorrow everybody is going to act as if, "Yeah. O.K. Stuff happens."

And, P.S. I wouldn't hesitate letting home office know about the problem. You know it won't get much concern from your's and your supervisor's level. Thats the real world.

[N. A. Corbier]

Its worse, its in-house. They'll just fire him if he abandons post.

[Lawson]

Its worse, its in-house. They'll just fire him if he abandons post.

Well, I bailed. No security officers called back, no word from any administrators, nothing. I contacted one of the units and had them call in an extra mental health aide, so at the least there was an extra body for intakes, discharges and unruly patients. I filled out the situation in the log book for the incoming night shift and then hung a note on the door that says, "Sorry, there is no Security on duty at this time 7-5-2007 : 0800-?"

I worked 1 hr OT, enough for someone to do a call-back. If they decide to fire me (which I highly doubt.) Oh well, Im looking at getting out of this job anywho.

[mh892]

Well, I bailed. No security officers called back, no word from any administrators, nothing. I contacted one of the units and had them call in an extra mental health aide, so at the least there was an extra body for intakes, discharges and unruly patients. I filled out the situation in the log book for the incoming night shift and then hung a note on the door that says, "Sorry, there is no Security on duty at this time 7-5-2007 : 0800-?"

I worked 1 hr OT, enough for someone to do a call-back. If they decide to fire me (which I highly doubt.) Oh well, Im looking at getting out of this job anywho.

Did you make a copy of your entry and sign for yourself. Yes, I've heard, company property, etc. etc. C.Y.A.

[HotelSecurity]

Probably the main reason why I have never liked & do not have my staff do 12 hour shifts. If someone doesn't show up the most you have to cover is 16.

[JB diligence]

Gotta love, going in at 06:00 and finally gettting a relief at 22:00

[CorpSec]

I have abandoned post a few times in my career. I would never do it at my present job since I am management and have a mortgage. But, back in my contract days, after giving them several hours to find relief, I called them and asked them what their preference was as to where I left the keys, radio, and site access card prior to me leaving.

I never got in a bit of trouble. This company routinely had posts running "open" In some cases, the field supervisor would just go to the account, start a new sign in log for the day, and leave to go to another account that was running open to do the same thing. I am guessing that in a lot of cases the client was billed for an officer even though nobody was there. This was the largest company in the twin cities doing this!

[HotelSecurity]

I have abandoned post a few times in my career. I would never do it at my present job since I am management and have a mortgage. But, back in my contract days, after giving them several hours to find relief, I called them and asked them what their preference was as to where I left the keys, radio, and site access card prior to me leaving.

I never got in a bit of trouble. This company routinely had posts running "open" In some cases, the field supervisor would just go to the account, start a new sign in log for the day, and leave to go to another account that was running open to do the same thing. I am guessing that in a lot of cases the client was billed for an officer even though nobody was there. This was the largest company in the twin cities doing this!

During the summers while in Police Technology in college I worked for Pinkerton. Iwas working at a sugar refinery where we had about 6 Officers on duty. I remember being picked up in the middle of the shift by a patrol Officer & being driven to a one man site where the Officer had called in sick. I got paid for both sites at the same time because Pinkerton didn't want either of them to know what they had done.

[N. A. Corbier]

Ah, yes, Ghosting.

I've seen people be up to three places at once before. God help you if the client finds out. Any of them.

[junkyarddog]

from post #33 on down....my god that is so bad. What else is there to say about it? Ghosting? Abandoned posts? Management that does not have contingencies covered? The whole thing is pretty upsetting.

[N. A. Corbier]

from post #33 on down....my god that is so bad. What else is there to say about it? Ghosting? Abandoned posts? Management that does not have contingencies covered? The whole thing is pretty upsetting.

This whole thing is par for the course with most contract security firms, honestly, and some in-house firms as well. They don't have the resources to be able to fill positions.

And, lets face it. In this day and age, many people will simply refuse to answer the phone when their employer calls. Especially in low paying jobs like contract security.

"I put my 40 in, they ain't gonna bug me past my 40. They ain't gonna change my schedule. They can go to hell, cause I'll quit and go back to Securitas, they never asked me to work overtime..."

[bigshotceo]

This whole thing is par for the course with most contract security firms, honestly, and some in-house firms as well. They don't have the resources to be able to fill positions.

And, lets face it. In this day and age, many people will simply refuse to answer the phone when their employer calls. Especially in low paying jobs like contract security.

"I put my 40 in, they ain't gonna bug me past my 40. They ain't gonna change my schedule. They can go to hell, cause I'll quit and go back to Securitas, they never asked me to work overtime..."

That's one of the main reasons security companies often hire recent immigrants despite the fact that for various reasons (such as not speaking English very well) they're not really suited for the job. If you call them, they will do extra hours if at all possible. They don't have the same way of though t as most of us non-immigrants, in which you put in 40 hours and that the rest of your time is entirely yours, free from obligation.

[EMTGuard]

"I put my 40 in, they ain't gonna bug me past my 40. They ain't gonna change my schedule. They can go to hell, cause I'll quit and go back to Securitas, they never asked me to work overtime..."

Frack that. I beg for overtime.
My check I got for my latest 2 week pay period had 80 straight hours and 64 OVERTIME hours. Do I like working 72 hour work weeks? No but it means that I will be able to pay off my car insurance and most of my home insurance. The 72 hours I work this week means I can pay off my car note early.
If my phone rings I go.

[CorpSec]

Frack that. I beg for overtime.
My check I got for my latest 2 week pay period had 80 straight hours and 64 OVERTIME hours. Do I like working 72 hour work weeks? No but it means that I will be able to pay off my car insurance and most of my home insurance. The 72 hours I work this week means I can pay off my car note early.
If my phone rings I go.

That is the attitude to have in my opinion. Contract security around the Twin Cities seems to be a little different animal then it was 10-15 years ago when I was doing it. I talk to contract guys that don't get that much OT at all.

That is in stark contrast to the days when "flex" officers routinely put in 100+ hour weeks. I remember one officer being scheduled 5 doubles a week and then picking up shifts up the weekend. It was common to have to hold over a few minutes to allow these officers to travel from the post they were on to yours. Insane if you ask me.

Although I did average 60 hours a week while going through the police "skills" program up here, so I guess that was crazy in it's own right.

If it isn't all the time, overtime is great.

[Hank1]

We operate single officer patrol cars. However, we share patrol zones with zone partners and we always roll to every call together for officer safety. Very seldom do we respond to calls alone.

Be safe,

Hank