Women in the Security Field

[SecurityChickie]

Hi, new here.

I've just been hired as a Security Guard for private security company which watches over the local mall (start next week). I always noticed that they have a few female security guards, and wondered what it would like to be one. I'm about to find out, and very excited about it. My question for anyone on this forum is - are you a female security guard? For any of you with experience working as or around females in the field... are there any significant differences or adjustments that need to be made? Are there different job requirements? Would you say it is perhaps easier or more difficult than being a male in the position? For the men... do you have any complaints about working with women? Do you feel they are treated as equals? I'm really looking for sincere answers here... i'm very curious to know!

My dad was an engineer and as an only child i grew up very used to getting physical and dirty and working with my hands. I very nearly joined the military right out of high school. All the jobs i have ever had were in mainly men-dominated fields... i really actually prefer working with men, and i like being hands-on - which is why i decided to enter the security field. I'm not bad-looking, and i've had to deal with a lot of crap from guys over the years... even from my superiors... i really hope not to end up in that situation again but i'm kind of expecting it honestly. i'm married now so hopefully that will make a difference. Is there a way to overcome the stigma of being the small cute girl without being standoffish with your coworkers?

anyways, thanks for the responses and i really enjoy reading this forum.. you all seem to be very informative and well-spoken. unlike many forums. take care.

[Lawson]

In my experience, I have worked with both male and female officers. In this field, it is my feeling that men and women are going to have two types of different interactions.

A lot of male contacts who arent going to like you are going to fail to treat you with respect, and they will [try to] use the fact that you are a woman against you. Against males they will sometimes and typically play the "macho" game, "Just because you have a uniform and a badge doesn't mean I cant kick your ass." kind stuff.

On the flipside of this, you will likely to find some people to be more respectful of you because you are a female.

If I am working tandem to a female officer, I will keep an eye over them. It is not saying they cant hold themselves as well... lets just say, I wish women would talk to me the same way I hear some guys talking to female officer

[Mr. Security]

Welcome to the forum. Women can be successful in the security field, just as they are in LE. Actually, some female officers are better at diffusing potentially dangerous confrontations because they know the value of using their heads instead of acting tough like some male s/o's just because the use of force MAY be in their favor from a physical standpoint. Remember, you will likely have back-up nearby, so don't be afraid to utilize that option. Part of any s/o's job is to finish their shift safety, whatever it takes.

[N. A. Corbier]

I've worked with females in high risk enviornments. Just like everybody else, so long as you are properly trained and know specifically what your job is, they work out fine.

There is the whole differing set of interactions. You are no longer female in a uniform, you are a "rent-a-cop," "immitation bacon," etc. In other words, you will attract all the contempt people have for the police, with the added contempt that you have "no authority," so people feel they may safely harass you, etc.

Develop of tough skin, quickly.

If your working for IPC, you will probally be trained. Take a look at what equipment your co-workers are wearing, regardless of who you work for. If you see alot of handcuffs and flashlights, but nothing else - the handcuffs are probably for show, or security guards are expected to detain offenders with their bare hands.

If you are given a pair of handcuffs and do not recieve training in their use, do not touch them. You will be sued, and you will lose, as you are not trained to an industry standard in their use. Such things as double locking, placing on the wrists, positional axphixia, loading the bow, and other topics that are covered in handcuff training will be used against you in court.

Again, if you are given other equipment, such as a can of pepper spray or a baton, and recieve no training, use them only to protect your life, not the life of someone else. An untrained person with an expandable baton is considered under IL law to have a deadly or dangerous weapon, depending how they're using it. If someone is trying to kill you, however, you can use whatever weapon you want - your authorized to do anything up to killing that person to make them disengage long enough for you to escape.

A last thing of importance is to verify under IL law if "abandoning post" or difficency in duty is a criminal charge. In some states, standing there and failing to do your job, or retreating, is a criminal offense - which your employer or the police may prosecute on. "Abandoning post" could mean the location of an incident, or it could mean "running off the site." Many police officers will tell security guards to flee their site upon confrontation, because only the police may remain. (This happened to me in Florida, and the officer was surprised that dereliction of duty was a misdemeanor, and then acknoledged that "running away" was illegal. He also didn't know what to tell me about a drunken resident trying to attack me, other than "run away, only a police officer can stand their ground.")

[SecurityChickie]

Thanks for all of the input

Very interesting...

oh, this particular mall has full-time private security, and also 3 police officers in a sub-station located in the mall at all time. i know the security guards have handcuffs on their belts and pepper spray was mentioned at the interview, so i know those are at least there. in dealing with difficult people, it was mentioned roughly that our main job would be to keep things as "low-key" as possible and to call in the shift leader or whatever his title is and he would do the physical restraining for us.

for anyone who knows about mall security... do you know how they divide up time usually between inside patrols, exterior patrols, and watching the cameras? i'll find all this out next week, but its never bad to get a leg up on the information.

thanks all, be safe

[Bill Warnock]

Women have made and will continue to make valuable contributions in all aspects of private and public security as well as in federal, state and local law enforcement.
The first woman to enter the security was Kate Warne hired by no less of a personage that Alan Pinkerton in 1856.
?According to the Pinkerton Corporation's website, Kate walked into the agency's quarters in Chicago in 1856, seeking employment. Pinkerton was surprised that the slender, brown-haired young lady was not interested in clerical work but in becoming an agent! Repressing a laugh, he told her that it was not the agency's custom to employ women operatives.
Kate argued her point of view eloquently," reads the website, "pointing out that women could be 'most useful in worming out secrets in many places which would be impossible for a male detective'. A woman would be able to befriend the wives and girlfriends of suspected criminals and gain their confidence. Men become braggarts when they are around women who encourage them to boast. Kate also noted that women have an eye for detail and are excellent observers. Her arguments swayed Pinkerton, who hired her the next day and never regretted the decision."
Thus, Kate became the first female detective in the United States. Moreover, Pinkerton soon hired other females based on Kate's suggestion, appointing her Supervisor of Women Agents. Their ranks grew, Kate having shown Pinkerton their intrinsic value to his organization.?
Women by their very nature ?listen.? Men by their very nature ?hear.? To hear is not the same as to listen. That point was driven home by Dr. Claire Walker, a college professor and frequent lecturer at varied law enforcement academies. She stressed the need of being both nimble physically as well as mentally.
You will still find a mindset that women have no place outside the home and hearth, but those folks are starting to fade into history.
If you have a degree, under the age of 35 and really want a challenge in law enforcement, consider becoming a Deputy US Marshal. I retired from that Service and do a little recruiting on the side.
Were I you, I would consider changing the site name to something other than ?Security Chickie,? which in my humble opinion is demeaning.
Enjoy the day,?
Bill

[SecurityChickie]

Thank you Bill

That was a very interesting article. Thank you.

I don't particularly consider the name "demeaning" - I just couldn't think up anything else at the time!

I've done many things over my life, and have much more life experience i would say than many people my age... although i have never attended college. I have always considered a LE career, but never enough to seriously look into it... until recently. I honestly can't say that i would be interested in being a street officer for any long period of time.. i have a young child at home and that level of danger is just not something i'm looking to get into for his sake. I would really like to know more about other careers though, so if you have any information i would really be interested to hear it. Feel free to email me. I'm working part-time now, but once he enters school i'll be looking to pursue something full-time, and i'm planning on going to school at some point over the next few years.

[Will]

I've never been a uniformed guard, I wear street clothes to work. That being said, I don't care of your a man, woman, both, neither, whatever; so long as you know what your doing, glad to have you along.

[Taser]

There's nothing wrong with women in the security field. As long as they watch my back, I'll watch theirs too.

[N. A. Corbier]

Very interesting...

oh, this particular mall has full-time private security, and also 3 police officers in a sub-station located in the mall at all time. i know the security guards have handcuffs on their belts and pepper spray was mentioned at the interview, so i know those are at least there. in dealing with difficult people, it was mentioned roughly that our main job would be to keep things as "low-key" as possible and to call in the shift leader or whatever his title is and he would do the physical restraining for us.

for anyone who knows about mall security... do you know how they divide up time usually between inside patrols, exterior patrols, and watching the cameras? i'll find all this out next week, but its never bad to get a leg up on the information.

thanks all, be safe

'fraid you'll have to wait for that information. Every post is different, and any guesses are just that, guesses.

Since you'll be required to assist in physically restraining people, I would suggest that you click on one of the two links in my signature. Both are defensive tactics sites for non-armed professionals. My suggestion would be SPE, which has free defensive tactics for police and security officers. The videos and discussion should give you an indication of what you'll be facing in terms of legality, threat, and the mental aspects of defensive / offensive (Arrest) tactics.

It always amuses me that we call arresting someone "defensive tactics." Its not defensive, we're the aggressor. We're the one trying to do something to the other person (gain a submission and restrain).

[VET13]

We have 2 female officers where I work. Both are extremley good at their jobs. We had 3 when I started but now she is working K9 for the PD. At my former job my boss was a Loss Prevention manager, one of the best bosses that I have worked for. We still keep in touch.

[Charger]

Well, I'll step in and toss my .02 around..

I've worked with many female Officers over the years.. many of which were excellent Officers.. As someone mentioned earlier, women have a tendency to use their heads better than men, so they tend to get into less scuffles overall... On the flip side of that, however, depending on your 'stature', women who are.. how would you say, "Petite?", will run into issues with guys being more insubordinate because there's not as much of an intimidation factor as there would be with a 200+ lb. guy.. regardless of what you're wearing on your belt. Just something to keep in mind.

Additionally, you asked specifically about malls. My first security job was at a mall, stayed there for almost 2 years. (Worked my way from an entry-level Officer all the way up to head of security, before I left the site for an armed patrol position). As far as time spent in different areas, I'm sure it depends on the mall management's decisions. At the mall where I worked, there were no in-mall cameras set up, so we didn't have to worry about that. The individual stores were responsible for setting up/monitoring their own camera systems. Patrol-wise, we split our time 50/50 between interior and exterior vehicle patrols. In order to keep our visibility up, the idea was to keep moving. General rule of thumb was to do an internal patrol, (took about 15 mins), then a vehicle patrol, (took about 15 mins), repeat those 2, then stop by the Security Office to update the logs & do any reports that needed to be written... Officers were not supposed to spend more than 10 minutes at a time in the Office, however, so it ended up that on average the Officers were patrolling for 50 out of every 60 minutes. As I said though, your mall may be different. I'm sure they'll have a similar routine set up for you.

On a side note, welcome to the site, and to the industry! The more, the merrier after all! If they don't offer it as part of your training, I personally HIGHLY recommend you check out some Verbal Judo books, or see if they offer a supplemental training class in it. Comes in VERY handy.

[hemi444]

Such things as double locking, placing on the wrists, positional axphixia, loading the bow, and other topics that are covered in handcuff training will be used against you in court.

We have had one case in the area, that an agencies s/o had cuffed an individual, he had his circulation blocked off to his fingers and sued the Agency and the officer. I havent heard anything else on it so far.

[Huey County]

Gotta love the Mills!

Security Chickie,

Does this sound familiar:
"You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A?"

Am I Right?

[N. A. Corbier]

Security Chickie,

Does this sound familiar:
"You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A...
You are now entering entrance A?"

Am I Right?

I was thinking IPC over at Westfield Court or whatever it is in Schaumberg. Nice place, big mall, my GF went to college across the street at an art school (In an office building, no less)...

In other news, that office building complex was funny. I went into the wrong office building at 11 PM, the elderly officer at the desk was like, "Oh, hellos! What floor?" I was not an authorized visitor, signed my name into the book, and said 6. By the way. The name I signed into the book was Frank Castle.

Figured out it was NOT the right building, left by the stairs. Mr. Castle never signed out that night. He may still roam those halls.

Guard had a nice TV, though, built right into the desk console.