Live at the apartments you secure???

[BoyInBlue]

Here is the posting:

Small charming apartment community is in need of an in-house courtesy patrol. This position will require an on call pager for after hours noise complaints and walking the community a few times a night to make sure everything is secure.

Someone with a police or military background is preferred. This is a great opportunity for a 50% discount off of an apartment in exchange for light work duties.

So from what I understand you get 50% off your rent in exchange for being a live in security guard of some kind.

What do you guys think about this, especially people that have worked apartment complexes.

I guess a lot of it depends on the people that live there and the problems they are having (external v. internal). I sure wouldn't want to s*** where I eat, so to speak.

...And how nice the apartment is.

[craig333]

Sounds like they don't want to spend to money to hire from a security company or form in house security. Most likely illegal by CA law.

[BoyInBlue]

good point. would it be legal to carry a wepon here (exposed) with a CA Firearms permit?

[ValleyOne]

I would like to know more about this so called "light duty" I've had things blow up on me that went way beyond light duty.

Lighty duty can mean anything this side of complete and utter rebuld; drywall, plumbing, roofing...

1/2 off rent isn't too bad, but all this on top off the possibility to run into an illegal operation?

Nah, I'll pass thank you very much...

[Hank1]

Here is the posting:



So from what I understand you get 50% off your rent in exchange for being a live in security guard of some kind.

What do you guys think about this, especially people that have worked apartment complexes.

I guess a lot of it depends on the people that live there and the problems they are having (external v. internal). I sure wouldn't want to s*** where I eat, so to speak.

...And how nice the apartment is.

Hell NO! You are just a victim waiting to be victimized!

[HotelSecurity]

One of my ex employees who was hired as a transit security officer & became one of the first security officers to become full fledged police officers when police took over patrolling the transit system, tranfered to the east end of town shortly after starting work for the transit commission. She lived in the west end & was running into too many people she knew. She felt safer working in a different area.

[N. A. Corbier]

I lived in condos that we had gotten the account at later. NO. People banged on my door at night, thinking I was the duty officer.

Even worse, some new idiot gave a marked car a ticket (The kind you peel off and stick on, requires scraper) for parking in my resident spot. Reason? "No commercial vehicles."

HIS OWN COMPANY'S CAR.

He got to scrape it off, too.

[Andy Taylor]

I can see the attraction to 50% off the rent, and, IF SINGLE, might not be a bad arrangement, depending on the complex. You would need to be aware that your actions on duty could make you an easy target for retaliation.

I really don't see why this would be illegal as long as they are paying you at least minimum wage in addition to the rent discount, and all other labor laws are followed. The rent discount is no different then any other benefit any employer might offer, such as medical insurance. Firearm with exposed permit? Again, as long as all other legal requirements are met, such as liability insurance, uniform compliance, etc.

When I worked for a contract company several years ago, I turned down an assignment at a Circle K store because it was to near my house.

[CorpSec]

I know a guy who does this full time and gets the apartment free and a wage on top of it. He likes it. I wouldn't do it though. There is just too much room for problems.

A few of the local cops live in public housing for free as well. Again, I think it is just asking for problems. I like to keep my work/home life separate as much as I can.

[Blade Runner]

As the general rule of thumb has been stated, never $h!t where you eat. Working a job like that and living on property is BEGGING for trouble. Don't expect your vehicle to stay nice for very long, as it'll probably be the first victim.

[Lawson]

There's an apartment complex here that advertises in Police Stations $99/mo rent for a live-in security guard. I called them about it and asked, they said,

"You dont have to patrol or anything." "You dont actually have to go to peoples apartments" "Just keep an eye out for suspicious activity"




"Oh, but you have to park your police car in our parking lot"

[BadBoynMD]

Single, no kids, sure why not. However, you'll have to live with the rules of the property. You can't go shut down a loud party, and yet, have a party yourself days later. Or, tell the knuckleheads to move along from the parking lot, and then have your friends over and as your saying goodbye while hanging out in the parking lot. That pager could be a PITA, especially if the property manager is a micro-manager. Then the always greatful to things to hear such as...

Residents: We don't ever see security...why is that? Aren't we paying for it?
Manager: Well, the security person is only for a couple hours a week
Resident: What's the point of that? We are paying for it, we want to see security.
Manager (to security person): We "need" you to cover "more" hours, as we are getting "complaints" from the residents.

[ddog]

As the general rule of thumb has been stated, never $h!t where you eat. Working a job like that and living on property is BEGGING for trouble. Don't expect your vehicle to stay nice for very long, as it'll probably be the first victim.

My only requrements are a house/townhouse with a one-car garage (w/garage opener). It takes time to find a reasonable deal, but its worth it even if you live in a marginal neighborhood. Work on the house as required to get electrics/etc.. in shape for your use. Its worth it. Crooks never know if you are there or not. My rent ranges in SE US have ranged from $300 (country brick house) to $650 (deluxe new brick townhouse) per month.

If I don't have a garage for my truck, motorcycle, bike, & washer/dryer, then forget it. Free or reasonable deals for Security Duties with garages would be few, and then the demands would likely keep increasing and terms changing.

Once you have a garage with door opener, you can never do without one again for any extended period of time But admitedly, FREE would be hard to resist, if you didn't have to move knowing you'd be moving again later for a "too good to be true" deal.

[locknid]

I wouldn't live at most places I do security for even if they paid me on top of free rent, personal expenses....well you get the point. I would also never work in-house because you have no one to back you up. You are out there all alone with no dispatch and no other guards that can come to your aid. Your only aid is if you can dial police non-emergency or 911 on a cell phone before the shiat hits the fan. Also if an incident does happen that goes wrong you have no comapany to support you with lawyers and insurance money when you get sued.

I had one offer for 16.00 bucks an hour, could carry any and all tools i needed including a gun, but it was only part time.

[N. A. Corbier]

With most contract guard firms, there is no one to back you up. Other guards can't leave their posts. The patrol supervisor has things to do, like site inspections and doing patrol hits, which are more important financially to the firm than backing officers up.

Your backup is 911, basically. If you work for a firm where this is not the case, then you have a rarity indeed, and you are blessed.