How's your relations with your local police?
When I started in hotel security back in the late '70s we were looked upon as rent-a-cop, want-a-bes. The police had very little to do with us. When they needed information they would go to the front desk & speak to whoever was working there.
Over the years we became more professional. We hired police technology students (like me
). We formed an association of hotel security directors & met once a month with the police & fire officals. Police Officers would come & spend time with us. It became so that no police officer would walk into a hotel without checking with the security unless he was in hot pursuit!
Then Montreal changed to Community Policing. Everything has changed. This system was supposed to bring the police closer to the citizens. It might have with the individual person but not with us. In order to keep them free for quicker response to emergencies we now must send victims of crimes, where there is no suspect on the property to the police station where the citizen has to write his own report. The police then issue a report number & if the crime was serious enough pass it onto the investigators.
Where as I used to know all the Constables patrolling my hotel by first name I don't even know the last names of many of them now.
When I started in hotel security back in the late '70s we were looked upon as rent-a-cop, want-a-bes. The police had very little to do with us. When they needed information they would go to the front desk & speak to whoever was working there.
Over the years we became more professional. We hired police technology students (like me

Then Montreal changed to Community Policing. Everything has changed. This system was supposed to bring the police closer to the citizens. It might have with the individual person but not with us. In order to keep them free for quicker response to emergencies we now must send victims of crimes, where there is no suspect on the property to the police station where the citizen has to write his own report. The police then issue a report number & if the crime was serious enough pass it onto the investigators.
Where as I used to know all the Constables patrolling my hotel by first name I don't even know the last names of many of them now.
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