Officer apearance

[hemi444]

I was in the local wawa and seen this armored car s/o. He had his blue uniform shirt, his black jean pants and his brown belt. His pants were down almost to were you could see his underbriefs, with his revolver holster unsecure and his side arm flopping in the wind. I cant forsee anyone or myself to represent a amored car employer looking the way he did. Do most Armor car carriers provide a full set of uniforms?

[Charger]

I have yet to come across any armored carriers in my immediate area, but down in the Portland Metro area I used to run into them all the time... All of them were wearing company-issued matching uniforms, but I too have seen this 'gangster-style' on a few of their guys... Always wondered if they realized how goofy they looked...

[Tennsix]

Your Uniform Is A Weapon

From the first second a bad guy lays eyes on an officer, (s)he is sizing up that officer. The purpose of this evaluation might be as simple as "Can I scare this guy into letting me have my way" or "Can I kill this cop if I had to". Uniform appearance means everything.

Friend and Foe alike notice how we present ourselves. There has been more than few stories about a bad guy that decided not to take on an officer because his uniform was squared away.

[Mr. Security]

From the first second a bad guy lays eyes on an officer, (s)he is sizing up that officer. The purpose of this evaluation might be as simple as "Can I scare this guy into letting me have my way" or "Can I kill this cop if I had to". Uniform appearance means everything.

Friend and Foe alike notice how we present ourselves. There has been more than few stories about a bad guy that decided not to take on an officer because his uniform was squared away.

Tennsix is right on the money. Sloppy uniform = sloppy tactics and procedures. Even warm body security companies emphasize the value of looking professional to deter criminals. If you see a sloppy armored car s/o, take note of the vehicle marking, where and when you saw it, and report it. Who knows, you may save the guy's life.

[Mr. Security]

I might add that we have had guys show up in sweats, wrinkled shirt, no tie, and an X-box play station. What an embarrassment! I had one guy show me is 40 caliber semi-automatic at an unarmed post. He wanted me to hold it to see how good it felt. I told him the last thing I needed is for my prints to be on his gun and to put it away before someone gets hurt.

[Echos13]

I was in the local wawa and seen this armored car s/o. He had his blue uniform shirt, his black jean pants and his brown belt. His pants were down almost to were you could see his underbriefs, with his revolver holster unsecure and his side arm flopping in the wind. I cant forsee anyone or myself to represent a amored car employer looking the way he did. Do most Armor car carriers provide a full set of uniforms?

I see carriers all the time here with the large trucks or the vans. Some of them are called replenishers by the ATM techs. Or rather called idiots mostly because they do such a sloppy job of refilling the bins in the ATMs. About a third of the calls for coverage are techs having to fix the machines because the money jammed the presenters due to being replaced wrong. But yea I have seen some dressed like they all just stepped off the transient bus from a third world country. A select few I have seen looked good and even where professional in both manners and attitude. But I have met some that looked good that were complete alpha hotels as well. I think attitude goes with appearance too. The biggest thing about appearance that gets to me and I hope I don?t start any flames here is how big some of these people are. I am not talking about height here. They have shirts that sag over the edges with buttons missing and duty belts look like they are in a 45 degree pitch to hold up their bellies. I saw a gate officer the other day with a white t-shirt under his dark blue top and wearing a baseball cap of some sports team. No wonder security gets bad press sometimes. I am all for equal opportunity employment but sometimes I just shake my head.

[Bill Warnock]

Supervision, supervision and supervision. While conducting a survey I had the misfortune of meeting two men such as has been described. Then wonder of wonders, in walked their supervisor. He looked like he had been ridden hard and put away wet.
After a brief interview, conversation with a purpose, we parted company. I subitted my findings.
I can say with all honesty, why more of these machine fillers have not been robbed is a mystery to me.
They are part of the security community and therefore their presence make all of us in this profession look bad.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[1stWatch]

From the first second a bad guy lays eyes on an officer, (s)he is sizing up that officer. The purpose of this evaluation might be as simple as "Can I scare this guy into letting me have my way" or "Can I kill this cop if I had to". Uniform appearance means everything.

Friend and Foe alike notice how we present ourselves. There has been more than few stories about a bad guy that decided not to take on an officer because his uniform was squared away.

This is entirely true. It has saved me on several occasions. On one occasion last year while at an apartment complex I was confronted by several individuals who I learned later were known drug dealers who later committed a murder in the area over a botched drug deal. The uniform I was wearing was midnight blue and meticulously ironed with an LAPD style badge and buttons with polished leather gear and all its equipment. However, I only weigh 150 lbs at 6'1", which makes my appearance less than intimidating at times. This individual decided to walk up to me and ask "what the f*** are you doing here". He was closely watching my body language and positioning to see what I would say and do. I told him I was providing security on the property and he needed to either go inside or leave and did not avert my eyes from him, turn red, or have any interrupted breathing. They decided not to take me on and walked to an apartment while I followed them. They ended up leaving after they saw I wouldn't go away. The apartment they went to was later served eviction papers after the occupant was caught transporting drugs. The way I see it, my uniform not only protected me, but prevented a murder while I was there.

[Guest]

Appearance does not just extend to the uniform. It is important to have good posture and to project yourself.

If you are seen as being neat, proper, and fit. Then you are conveying that you are in control. Bascially, if someone can handle there posture, uniform and overall appearance, then they are set to take care of other matters too.

[Mr. Security]

Appearance does not just extend to the uniform. It is important to have good posture and to project yourself.

If you are seen as being neat, proper, and fit. Then you are conveying that you are in control. Bascially, if someone can handle there posture, uniform and overall appearance, then they are set to take care of other matters too.

That's true. Barney Fife had his uniform squared away, but his posture and lack of confidence made him a clown.

[N. A. Corbier]

Most of the armored courriers up here carry one Glock, one extra mag, and that's it. Some have radios.

I saw one guy with a revolver, two pairs of cuffs, a full duty rig, and he was carrying the liability in a football crunch on his off hand. That was the only one who seemed to realize what he was carrying, and why he was armed.

The rest of them would carry the bag loosely with their weapon hand. Considering they have two options: Shoot or Run, it was obvious which one they were aiming for.

[EMTGuard]

I've seen SOs show up to work at my post in no uniform at all, just 'street' clothes. I asked why the SO was reporting to work, on day shift in the middle of a work week no less, out of uniform. He tells me that he had gone to a neighbors house to do laundry the night before and then returned home and fell asleep before finishing and retreiving his uniforms from the neighbors' washing machine. Since all of his uniforms were in the wash and he didn't want to wake his friends to get his clothes he just came in his civies. He worked the entire shift like that.

[Mr. Security]

Most of the armored courriers up here carry one Glock, one extra mag, and that's it. Some have radios.

I saw one guy with a revolver, two pairs of cuffs, a full duty rig, and he was carrying the liability in a football crunch on his off hand. That was the only one who seemed to realize what he was carrying, and why he was armed.

The rest of them would carry the bag loosely with their weapon hand. Considering they have two options: Shoot or Run, it was obvious which one they were aiming for.

If I were an armored courier, I would be more worried about my coworkers (inside job) than any threat from the outside. At least you expect it from the outside.

[hemi444]

The biggest thing about appearance that gets to me and I hope I don?t start any flames here is how big some of these people are. I am not talking about height here. They have shirts that sag over the edges with buttons missing and duty belts look like they are in a 45 degree pitch to hold up their bellies. I saw a gate officer the other day with a white t-shirt under his dark blue top and wearing a baseball cap of some sports team. No wonder security gets bad press sometimes. I am all for equal opportunity employment but sometimes I just shake my head.

No offense taken here since i am a big person myself. The 45 degree picth is not my cup a tea and it also gets me flared up. My trousers and duty belt are even and not saggien underneath the belly.

[N. A. Corbier]

I couldn't help but smile when reading through this post. Barely out of my teens, I worked for on of these (National) Armored Car companies (starts with a D) we liked to call ourselves "Armed Couriers" but a better description would be "Armed Reckless Drivers." I used to love pushing my truck to it's limit.

We were forbidden to carry anything other than a firearm for protection. That means our escalation of force went from uniformed presence, to deadly, and that was it. I once lobbied for use of radios (contact between driver and "Hopper") but my idea was shot down because of "cost efficiency." Imagine that?

My DC colleagues were restricted to revolvers during that city's reign of "Murder Capitol" and our body armor consisted of poly/cotton uniformed shirts. Sadly, during my tour a Driver/Guard was killed during a robbery. Facing an AK-47, the poor Guard never had a chance.

I finally lost it, when, nievely having faith in this company's hiring practices, my partner was found ciphering about $1,000 per week in bank deliveries into his own pocket. Shame is, he was a damn good driver. After he was caught, he wasn't fired, the company deducted from his pay for some time to repay the loss. At no interest rate!!!!!!

ROTFL. He's probally a branch manager by now.