Should we take a oath or not.

[Steve354]

What is a security officer ?? A security officer is the eyes and the ears of the police.

What is a security officer's job. His/her job is to obverse, monitor and report.We under take some training to which I feel for what we do is not long enough. I feel that our training should be along the lines of police and have some rights as they do.

Therefore I ask you should we undertake an oath or not. Our job is can be just as dangers as the police, and in some cases if not all we get very little recognition for our work form thous in law enforcement.

We put our lives on the line to every day we are out there doing our job. Which is to protect the community and the lives that live in it.

[flashlightcop509]

Personally, I don't think an Oath is appropriate, due to the fact that most Security Officer's are assigned to a post or location assigned by their Company, and as far as duties are concerned are somewhat constrained by the particular Post Orders/requirements of the client...

One post you may cover may have a completely different procedure than that of another post you may work at, and a lot of Security companies don't require the same hiring/training requirements as others (read: no background checks, no formal training, just sign your W-2 and pick up a uniform type of deal)... And as most of your average SO positions are of the O & R variety, where company policy forbids anything other than writing down occurences and if necessary, calling the appropriate LE agency, than swearing to "Uphold and Defend" whatever policy from site to site at personal risk of life or limb for $10/Hr...

I feel that our training should be along the lines of police and have some rights as they do.

Not me... If I wanted to endure 16 weeks of Academy training, I'd have easily chosen to do so for a LE position and not an SO job. As far as rights, that goes into the area of "I'm not a Police Officer (with jurisdictional restrictions, unless State), but I got a uniform and a badge and I think you just did something wrong" kind of situations...

remember, SO's are NOT Police unless duly authorized as any variant of such; At least in my area, SO's have about as much arrest authority as old man Smithers down the street...

[EMTGuard]

[COLOR="Blue"] A security officer is the eyes and the ears of the police.

The Police? Dude, I dont work for the police. I'm there to be the eyes and ears of my company's client. I also don't see the reason for an oath. I follow the post orders, the company pays me. Simple.

[N. A. Corbier]

"The eyes and ears of the police" is something that the police have come with. News flash: Security personnel do not work for the police, nor the city, nor the government. Unless that is the client.

In most cases with some major companies, you are NOT to report activity to the police, you are to report it to your supervisor or your client, who will decide if police intervention is required. (G4S Securitas General Orders Book)

As far as an oath... Sworn to by whom, and punishable by what? There is no law for "misprison of office" except for government employees or constitutional officers.

A government employee violating his oath of service is brought up on federal "misprison" charges, and state or local "violation of oath" charges.

A private citizen violating an oath gets sued.

You are not the "eyes and ears of the police." In many cases, you would actually harm your client if you reported every event to the police. Except in states were security is specifically required to report criminal events, there is no duty to report.

Hilton Hotels, in the late 1990s, specifically wrote in their procedures manual that police officers shall not be used without specific permission of the Vice President of (Safety and) Security in any Hilton hotel.

The reason for this was because a police officer was required by his oath of office to act on such things as public disorderly, where a security officer can just stuff the drunken fool in his room. While there is police discretion, there's still the chance that they may arrest for it. And the hotel can't tell the police not to arrest.

[Hank1]

It is my opinion that Law Enforcement Officers and Security Officers have two very different missions. LEOs pursue and apprehend the bad actor. SOs prevent, deter and defend the clients employees, assests and liabilities.

Be safe,

Hank

[UtahProtectionForce]

No. unless we are titled Law Enforcement or become Servants of the state..

[dsoul27]

Yea I'll have to agree with everyone else. We can't be compared to police. We don't work for them we just happen to call them if need be. There's know different from us calling the police for protecting the companies property/personnel or a citizen calling the police trying to protect his family/property.
no need for a oath, do your part and follow your company mission statement.

[ddog]

No. unless we are titled Law Enforcement or become Servants of the state..

Whoops! Missed those few questions on 570 answer pop quiz today.

I'll do better on my one tonight and the next one after that, lol.

Without my taking my D class yet this weekend, that was a tough distinction being asked 30 shades of dull questions for verification. But its the same exact thing as if you were an employee of the client company: ask the boss man first.

Reporting to law rarely does any good anyway, except to pacify bogus rules for insurance to compensate someone ONLY if they waste 10 hours of their time in exchange. Its pretty much just a waste of time unless someone was hurt, and want it documented for liability or insurance concerns

[N. A. Corbier]

Whoops! Missed those few questions on 570 answer pop quiz today.

I'll do better on my one tonight and the next one after that, lol.

Without my taking my D class yet this weekend, that was a tough distinction being asked 30 shades of dull questions for verification. But its the same exact thing as if you were an employee of the client company: ask the boss man first.

Reporting to law rarely does any good anyway, except to pacify bogus rules for insurance to compensate someone ONLY if they waste 10 hours of their time in exchange. Its pretty much just a waste of time unless someone was hurt, and want it documented for liability or insurance concerns

You'll learn in your D course that you have no duty to report a crime, but do have a duty to extinguish or report a fire.

BTW, ask your D instructor about 493 and use of force. If he says you can throw a trespasser out, he is WRONG. 493.6118(j) says that if you use force except to protect people from physical harm, you can be arrested for it, and your license taken away.

[N. A. Corbier]

Oath of Office, and how your company can take an Oath.

Public Officers and Employees, as well as Constitutional Officers and Deputies are required to take an oath of office. Violation of this oath is usually a criminal offense, in both public law and state law.

So, say you want to have a swearing in ceremony for your firm. Well, only sworn officers can have that, right? BS.

Any firm can require a sworn oath, under penalty of perjury, simply by having the employee execute a notarized statement, then having a public swearing in. If the employee violates their oath of "office," as an employee of the company, they can be sued civilly.

So, sure. Security guards and officers can have an oath. Just to their employer, not to the people of the state they work in.

[Steve354]

I can clearly see that there is a lot to be learnt about the Security in the U.S.A. to here in Australia. The reason I made that statement at the being of my post is because that is what I was told during my 10 days of training.

I hope that i did not step on anyone toes with my post.

[N. A. Corbier]

I can clearly see that there is a lot to be learnt about the Security in the U.S.A. to here in Australia. The reason I made that statement at the being of my post is because that is what I was told during my 10 days of training.

I hope that i did not step on anyone toes with my post.

No, not really.

Basically, Steve, there are a lot of urban legends about security the world over. Did a police officer teach your certification course? And in your state, do the police run the security licensing?

If the cops are running your training, then they basically decide what you're told.

[Hank1]

Unfortunately, I know of at least one instance where a police instructor taught security courses. However, if my information was correct he was not a liscensed K instructor. This situation was a reserve LE officer a few years ago who used his employing agency's range and shot a awful lot. But when it came time to submit his paperwork to the Division of Liscensing. It was worthless and he had to start all over. Just because you are a LEO, does not make you knowledgeable in the private sector.

Be safe,

Hank

[DarkMetalWolf]

I look at it like this, a persons work ethics are the same regardless of an oath or not. As Security Officers, what would an oath change?

[N. A. Corbier]

I look at it like this, a persons work ethics are the same regardless of an oath or not. As Security Officers, what would an oath change?

An oath ceremony can be used for team building, or esprit de corps purposes.