Between Patrols?

[Cactus]

Hey guys, just wondering what you guys do between patrols. I'm currently just a reader and plan on learning French this way as many of you know. Most of my coworkers just bring in laptops and watch movies.

I'm looking for ideas on things to do when I'm done my books.

Also for any of the other readers out there, anyone have any good author suggestions for me? I like short little novels as the big long books tend to bore me too quickly. Mostly I read Palahniuk (Fight Club author) and Ellis (American Psycho author) so I really enjoy the strange ones lol. Thanks for the help and info.

[EMTGuard]

Read magazines and newspapers or watch TV shows and movies on my laptop computer.
Other officers I work with play games on their phones or sleep.
I've actually had my coworker complain that when she got off work at 6 am that morning that she got home and couldn't get to sleep until after 10am because she slept so much the night before at work. I've actually seen SOs who showed up for work with pillows.

[NRM_Oz]

I bought an inflatable camping pillow from an airline book in the USA on a short trip and it was invaluable. Also I found a bivvy bag to be another good thing to have in your work bag for keeping warm in a cold post or for just using to pad some of those hard seats.

Often when I worked at night, my partners were all investigators like me so we often caught up on our reports outside of work duties, especially typing up those boring briefs of evidence too. Yes a PC with a tv tuner is a god-send and I swear by mine for those long boring nights when I worked those hours in the good old days.

I have completed many texts for my college stuff and even put a partner through a real-estate management course for a month on night shift - he appreciated the extra help and questions and then I sat for the same exam as him for the sake of $250.00 - not rocket science either.

[CorpSec]

Currently I will work on administrative stuff, surf the web (I actually consider surfing this site work related), work on my fantasy football line ups, watch tv, B.S. with the other guys, chat with the cops, listen to the scanner.

Things I have done to kill time at past jobs:
1. Sleep
2. Work out
3. Wash my car, change the oil, other vehicle maintenance
4. Swim (I worked at a place with a pool)
5. Have a girlfriend come to the site and...well.
6. Go to the local gas station and read the magazines, drink free fountain pop and eat free sandwiches and chat with the cops and the clerks.
7. Go to the local car dealerships and look at all the shiny new cars.
8. Meet up with other guards and B.S.
9. Do homework, write papers, etc.

[officerchick]

Wow, now I feel less guilty LOL. I thought I was the only one who effed off when not patrolling. I read the newspaper (comics first, then editorials. Front page, Metro, Guide Live if there's time. Gotta have priorities ) Now that I have a computer, I surf the internet. I agree with CorpSec that this site is work related. I've learned much more here than I did in our 8-hour "class" at hire. I also look for other security related articles and sites, ie nononsenseselfdefense.com and Homeland Security.

And sometimes I play ridiculously silly games on the computer. Shhh, don't tell

[tacscuba]

When I worked at a private community club house, it had a pool. In addition to doing security, I had to test the pool. So occasionally I would "test" it by taking a swim

At my other job I just brought my laptop and worked online off of somebody's wifi. I want to get one of those mobile broadband cards, but I don't think I could afford the $60 a month.

[Aussie-SO]

Sudoku!!! Oh yeah I am addicted, and hook into them between patrols, keeps the brain matter active.

[NRM_Oz]

Reminds me of the bar work before I did security. I would work at a night club (I was only 16 3/4 at the time) collecting glasses which was fine by me. I would collect 20 glasses, take them to 1 bar and go past the packed dance floor, enjoy a few dances with some girls, and then collect some more glasses to take to another bar. I made sure I was seen by the manager collecting glasses in the cocktail bar before going back and snatching a free beer off the bar staff. I used to work 9 hours on a Friday and Saturday night and earn 2 weeks wages in 2 nights as what I did in 40 hours of office work.

With my first patrol partner we enjoyed the good life. He was the shift field commander so he wasn 2IC of every shift so gave us the best patrol runs. We attended his neices wedding 1 time and in between courses would make sure we did a few short runs to cover our backsides and we usually went looking for doors and windows and anything for his holiday house he was building from council clean up days. We never missed a call out and we never cut our runs short to do nothing - just made sure we timed them right to be the most efficient with our time and fill up prior to returning to base to save time.

Oh and at one site we had a full size pool table so I would always have a few games with the warehouse manager over night or the local patrol officer who would come in to use our clean dunnies after the cleaners had left.

[EMTGuard]

Yes a PC with a tv tuner is a god-send and I swear by mine for those long boring nights when I worked those hours in the good old days.

I've been considering getting a TV tuner for my computer but never seem to have the money when they are on sale. I really can't justify it since I already have a potrable TV which I keep in my car. Oh well.

[CAPTAIN KOOLAID]

Between Patrols?

Clean the car
work on the car
clean my gear and weapons
read magazines
watch dvds
surf the net

[NRM_Oz]

I think I paid about $60 US - just toss some change into a jar each day and you will have the money for it in a month. Surprising how much you can carry around in loose change in your pocket - we do have $1.00 and $2.00 coins which can soon add up. Most importantly, do you have a 12 volt charger or inverter to run your notebook from your car ?

[bpdblue]

When I was on duty I never fooled around. I patrolled, or walked around. I checked every door in town to make sure it was locked. I stopped every person I saw to find out what they were doing. When it real quiet I practiced my ninja tactics.

Then some fool would honk their horn or something, wake me up, and cause me to spill my slurpee all over my uniform and comic book. Man and the dream was going so good too.

[HotelSecurity]

I do a regular 8 hour shift at the downtown hotel. I do my "Assistant Director" duties for the 3 hotels between calls, patrols etc.

[Bill Warnock]

When I was on duty, I was on duty. My job was to prevent crime by my presence, respond with all deliberate haste, due initial investigation and take approprate. I have tried to maintain that same decorum in all subsequent endevors. If you take the man's money for a service, perform the service to the best of your ability.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[Hank1]

When I went into service, that is what I was doing, all night. No videos, DVDs or books. Individuals bringing in pillows and blankets? Unbelievable! If I ever caught one of my people doing this, I would relieve them of duty immediately!

Be Safe,

Hank