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Okay. So your job is to "observe and report". Just what does that mean to you? Observe how? Observe what?
"Observation" can mean a lot of different things and can involve different methods, ranging from very passive to very active. You won't observe lots of things unless you are actively and deliberately LOOKING for them. Lots of us only "observe" the things that happen to cross our field of vision...or things we just stumble across.
Take a parking garage, for instance, where your job is to patrol, observe and report. Just what are you looking for, and how? Are you just wandering around on patrol, bored as hell, or do you have an active plan for a thorough inspection of the facility?
1. Do you look at license plates? Notice anything unusual about them, or the way they're affixed to the vehicle, etc? Would you notice a clean license plate on a filthy car, or vice versa?
2. What about parking stickers other than your own? Even bumper stickers can tell you something sometimes.
3. What about the visible contents of vehicles?
4. Unusual conditions of vehicles that might indicate the vehicle has been stolen (broken windows, punched-out trunk locks, etc.)? Unusual fluids leaking? Unusual odors? Noises?
5. Do you have access to police BOLOs for stolen or other vehicles of interest? Why not?
6. Do you sight under vehicles for the feet of someone hiding from you?
7. What about safety conditions in the garage? Oil spills? Damaged barriers?
8. Garage lighting all functional? How about those distress call boxes?
9. Are there stairwells? Who's hiding in them?
10. Any objects left lying around anywhere? Did you inspect the trash receptacles?
11. Very likely, SOMETHING has changed in the time since your last patrol? So, what's different?
The field of security is no longer merely a "labor" industry; it is now a knowledge industry. That means:
1. Knowledge about security threats to your facility.
2. Knowledge about security vulnerabilities and the history of incidents in and around your facility.
3. Knowledge about security countermeasures, methods and technologies.
4. Knowledge about the current "normal" state of the environment in and around the facility, and changes in this environment over time. What's happening today that isn't "normal"?
5. Knowledge about emergency services of all kinds, how they are accessed, what their expected response times are, etc.
...and lots more, all pertaining to the officer who believes that his job is "just" to "observe and report".
We often complain that security clients only want "warm bodies", and so that's all we give them. It's up to us to prove them wrong, and nothing does that like reports flowing in from proactive, knowledgeable, savvy officers that tell the client something that he didn't know and wouldn't know if it were not for such reports.
If we want the client to understand the difference between a "warm body" and a professional security officer, we must be living models of that difference until the client finally "gets it". And, you'll enjoy your job much more in the bargain.
"Observation" can mean a lot of different things and can involve different methods, ranging from very passive to very active. You won't observe lots of things unless you are actively and deliberately LOOKING for them. Lots of us only "observe" the things that happen to cross our field of vision...or things we just stumble across.
Take a parking garage, for instance, where your job is to patrol, observe and report. Just what are you looking for, and how? Are you just wandering around on patrol, bored as hell, or do you have an active plan for a thorough inspection of the facility?
1. Do you look at license plates? Notice anything unusual about them, or the way they're affixed to the vehicle, etc? Would you notice a clean license plate on a filthy car, or vice versa?
2. What about parking stickers other than your own? Even bumper stickers can tell you something sometimes.
3. What about the visible contents of vehicles?
4. Unusual conditions of vehicles that might indicate the vehicle has been stolen (broken windows, punched-out trunk locks, etc.)? Unusual fluids leaking? Unusual odors? Noises?
5. Do you have access to police BOLOs for stolen or other vehicles of interest? Why not?
6. Do you sight under vehicles for the feet of someone hiding from you?
7. What about safety conditions in the garage? Oil spills? Damaged barriers?
8. Garage lighting all functional? How about those distress call boxes?
9. Are there stairwells? Who's hiding in them?
10. Any objects left lying around anywhere? Did you inspect the trash receptacles?
11. Very likely, SOMETHING has changed in the time since your last patrol? So, what's different?
The field of security is no longer merely a "labor" industry; it is now a knowledge industry. That means:
1. Knowledge about security threats to your facility.
2. Knowledge about security vulnerabilities and the history of incidents in and around your facility.
3. Knowledge about security countermeasures, methods and technologies.
4. Knowledge about the current "normal" state of the environment in and around the facility, and changes in this environment over time. What's happening today that isn't "normal"?
5. Knowledge about emergency services of all kinds, how they are accessed, what their expected response times are, etc.
...and lots more, all pertaining to the officer who believes that his job is "just" to "observe and report".
We often complain that security clients only want "warm bodies", and so that's all we give them. It's up to us to prove them wrong, and nothing does that like reports flowing in from proactive, knowledgeable, savvy officers that tell the client something that he didn't know and wouldn't know if it were not for such reports.
If we want the client to understand the difference between a "warm body" and a professional security officer, we must be living models of that difference until the client finally "gets it". And, you'll enjoy your job much more in the bargain.
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