Killed in the Line of Duty

[1stWatch]

This is a recurring theme that we are hearing more about in the media recently. Valiant and selfless police officers, firemen, and soldiers have given their lives in the course of service for their country, honor, and protection of fellow human beings. This has also been the case for security officers, but sadly we do not merit the attention of the public eye when this happens. There are no state benefits for us if we are murdered or killed in an accident. The only mention in the media in most cases is a photo in the obituary.

Many have ended up like this poor guy:

http://www.assisttexas.org/fallen.shtml

Considering the law enforcement sister site to this one posts an article anytime they hear of a police officer being killed, this would be an excellent place to post a story about a security officer who pays the ultimate price for duty. I look forward to seeing what we can come up with.


And please,
Stay safe, arrive alive, and make it home at the end of the shift.

[N. A. Corbier]

That story is sad, in many, many, many respects. The site was armed, required two people... So the company ghosted it with one unarmed employee. That's ... just no.

I've been thinking about keeping track of things like this for awhile, now. The only problem is that the media rarely reports these things as "duty deaths," only as "interesting homicides." You have to dig deep, sometimes, to figure out that the victim was a security officer on duty.

Ie: Bob Bobbs, age 34, was killed yesterday at the Hacienda Inn. <fourteen lines of text> Mr Dobbs was a security guard at the inn.

I hope that Texas Patrol was held up to the responsibility that their inability to fill the post correctly cost a man his life.

[davis002]

Here is a crimestoppers video regarding the security guard murder mentioned above by 1stWatch

[Mr. Security]

Empty holster? Reminds me of what N. A. Corbier has posted on this site about companies who dress their s/o's to look the part but the duty belt is just for show.

What makes this story especially sad is that no one called the police until much later. They are just as guilty as the gunman as far as I am concerned.

I wonder if this forum/website could have a section that lists security officers who are killed or died while trying to save lives in the line of duty. Any thoughts?

[1stWatch]

What is even more sad than the idea this person or others like him were killed while on duty is there is no form of public benefit to their families. In his particular case, the remaining family was unemployed and lost the apartment they were staying in. Since they did not speak English it was that much harder to find such employment. This happened in 2003, so I don't know what has become of the family, but last I heard, if I heard right, they were having to take up camp in a homeless shelter.

The local police still have not even come up with any leads on a suspect. No one has been arrested. Not a single one of them attended his funeral. Very few security officers attended and those who did were of an "elitist" circle of the business. Compare this to an honorable police funeral where 2,000 officers attend from all over the state to at least show a gesture of support.

It seems if this situation happens the family is truly all alone. No emotional support. No benefits for those injured. Not even enough for proper burial at a funeral. This man's body had to be disposed of by the county authority since no one ever came up with funds for burial.

A "fallen officers' fund" was created by a statewide grassroots organization. So far in two years it has only been able to muster a total of $14,027.50. That is less than one year's income.

Furthermore, this situation is not unique. Six security officers were murdered while on duty that year in the same city. Compare that to police deaths in the same city, which were 3 from car accidents.

I would dearly love to see these types of incidents chronicled in some form of national media and to see laws passed making it where compiling exact statistics of this would be possible. I would also love to see statewide, for each state, and nationwide associations dedicated to supporting those who are injured or killed on the job.

The dangers we face on the job are real. I take every bit as much risk for my safety a police officer takes anytime I get out of the car to approach a suspect or make a verbal contact with someone. Since I'm working by myself, it is actually more risky. Training is crucial, yet so neglected by every security company I have ever seen.

Still, things get accomplished. I have made numerous high profile arrests and saved lives by removing people from disaster areas and by administering first aid. I am not the only one doing this kind of thing. Many security officers are stepping forward and seeking out better training and standards. There is a distinction that is becoming more clear between a "security guard" and a "professional security officer". But still, somehow our lives are considered by some to be worth less.

[1stWatch]

Here is a crimestoppers video regarding the security guard murder mentioned above by 1stWatch

Where is the video? I don't see any link or anything.

[Mr. Security]

The local police still have not even come up with any leads on a suspect. No one has been arrested. Not a single one of them attended his funeral.

The trial would be done and over with (if the perp. lived that long ) if this was a cop.

The dangers we face on the job are real. I take every bit as much risk for my safety a police officer takes anytime I get out of the car to approach a suspect or make a verbal contact with someone. Since I'm working by myself, it is actually more risky.

And for less pay and respect to.

[N. A. Corbier]

There are some, a large majority, who say that a security guard has no business stepping out of a car and approaching anyone, that is the job of law enforcement. That the security guard should observe the issue, then report it to their client, who will call law enforcement to respond. Several states, as well, seem to be in this line of thinking.

As far as a public fund - this will probally never happen. Security itself being a private industry, it does not serve the public good to set aside tax dollars for a benefit or other compensation for those killed while employed. Those that would oppose this expendature would ask what other service industries should have such benefits, and restate that if the industry wants them, they should invest in pensions like other private companies.

These are the problems the industry faces. You have some very, very, large corporations who do not the stereotype changed. This would affect their profitability. When general society begins believing that the job of private security is more than "observe activity, report to police, do not become involved," then the standard of care increases, which requires higher wages, more training, and state regulation.

California's Security Guard Training Manual is available on the internet. It is a good read, for a state that codified citizen's arrest. It is the only state that I know of that your duty to remain on post outweighs your duty to report criminal activity - if there's no communications on post - you have no duty to summon authorities or become involved. If you make an arrest, you have no requirement to remand your prisoner to the police, nor summon them, till you are relieved. It specifically states that the job of a private security guard is to observe events and report them to their employer, who may report them to law enforcement/EMS/Fire, and/or the client. Anything else is incidental to this duty.

[3rd_shift]

$6 an hour is incredibly crappy even for an unarmed post in Dallas Tx.
$9-15 an hour is the norm for armed security in Dallas Tx.
Not sure why this guy was doing this crap for $6 an hour at such a raunchy place.
Northwest Dallas has plenty of liquer, topless entertainment and urbanblight.
Even the cleaning crew at the building I work at can make $6 an hour easy in a safe and easy place to work where US citizenship is optional legal or not.
WTF was this guy doing this high risk work for so little $ for ?!?!

[OccamsRazor]

When general society begins believing that the job of private security is more than "observe activity, report to police, do not become involved"...

Sounds like a certain company I work for. A question they posed to us in 'orientation' was thus:

You're working an unarmed post in a jewelry store when an employee screams out that she is being robbed. You look over and see a male grab a handful of jewels from the display case and run out the door. The employee shouts to you to chase the male. Do you:

a) Give chase and arrest the thief
b) Chase the thief only as far as the door, then call 911
c) Call 911 and remain at your post.
d) Do not give chase; it would take time away from your primary purpose, which is patrolling. The employee should call 911, as she could give the best description of the thief.

Yes, the correct answer was 'd'...Isn't the correct one always the longest one?

[N. A. Corbier]

Sounds like a certain company I work for. A question they posed to us in 'orientation' was thus:

You're working an unarmed post in a jewelry store when an employee screams out that she is being robbed. You look over and see a male grab a handful of jewels from the display case and run out the door. The employee shouts to you to chase the male. Do you:

a) Give chase and arrest the thief
b) Chase the thief only as far as the door, then call 911
c) Call 911 and remain at your post.
d) Do not give chase; it would take time away from your primary purpose, which is providing a visible deterrant. The employee should call 911, as she could give the best description of the thief.

Yes, the correct answer was 'd'...Isn't the correct one always the longest one?

Fixed the typo on that question. Also, the employee should call 911 so that the company is not involved in the actual situation, as the guard has completed his visible deterrance function, and is not contractually obligated to respond to the incident.

As far as a 6 dollar an hour job, reread the posts above about the employee, the family, etc. I have a feeling this person didn't have a choice. You stand there, in a uniform, you don't do much, and nobody told you anything about the property. You just punch in, punch out, and get a check sent home.

[OccamsRazor]

Fixed the typo on that question. Also, the employee should call 911 so that the company is not involved in the actual situation, as the guard has completed his visible deterrance function, and is not contractually obligated to respond to the incident.

Sadly, I quoted it verbatim.

[N. A. Corbier]

Sadly, I quoted it verbatim.

I know. Its social commentary. They used the word patrolling, most likely, because "providing a visible deterrant" can get them in hot water legally. One of the first things that an attorney would do in a suit is subpoena all of those training materials.

[1stWatch]

There are some, a large majority, who say that a security guard has no business stepping out of a car and approaching anyone, that is the job of law enforcement. That the security guard should observe the issue, then report it to their client, who will call law enforcement to respond. Several states, as well, seem to be in this line of thinking.

That is the mentality most of the security companies around here do have; however, the expectation does not fit in with the reality. Call 911 in Dallas and expect to wait at least 50 minutes for an officer to respond. This is mainly due to a shortage of police officers and a long backlog of calls which are prioritized and placed in a hard paper list. The police get to pick and choose which calls they go on.

Every night they get hundreds of calls from upset security guards, most of them who have no gun with them, screaming "I need help, I need help" and when police get to the scene, there is often an issue either: 1) created by an overly aggressive security guard who contributed to a perceived problem rather than solve it, 2) a perceived problem that is actually not a problem, not a criminal offense, and nothing the police can do with it, due to lack of training for the guard, 3) security expecting police to arrest a suspect when there is not sufficient evidence or proper probable cause for search and seizure, or 4) an incorrect message relayed to police over the phone because of poor communication skills.

Much of the time when security calls for police these days, the s/o is verbally abused by the 911 operator or the operator argues with the s/o or doesn't believe he is telling the truth about what is going on. For example, a call I made a couple of years ago about a homeless man with aids who was trying to attack people at a store with a box cutter and was screaming at his own hallucinations was relayed as "suspect possibly drunk, possibly homeless, cutting himself". The cops took an hour and five minutes to respond after taking their daisy sweet time.

In some areas of the city, police even try to arrest security because they don't like having to come out for them. It's common to hear comments from them like "why do you have this guy illegally detained" when no one at the scene was detained. They have even gone as far as to make armed security lie face down on the ground while in uniform while running them for warrants, just as a gesture of humiliation.

The idea of calling 911 in Dallas anytime you have suspicious activity or any kind of verbal disturbance is just pointless. If you want to be successful around here working in an environment like that, know the cops' job as well as your own and be capable enough to handle your own job without expecting them to do it for you. They do respond quickly to very high priority calls such as shootings, stabbings, or riots so they should indeed be called for that - but don't expect them to respond just because someone is trying to attack you with fists or is "getting in your face".

The security companies and "industry" thinks one way, but reality quickly shows its ugly face when you're really faced with a dangerous situation.

[N. A. Corbier]

In some areas of the city, police even try to arrest security because they don't like having to come out for them. It's common to hear comments from them like "why do you have this guy illegally detained" when no one at the scene was detained. They have even gone as far as to make armed security lie face down on the ground while in uniform while running them for warrants, just as a gesture of humiliation.

I'm saving this as reason why every officer in a cruiser in my company will be wired for sound and dash cams installed. First time this happens, I go to the watch commander, with questions. Second time, I go to the media.

I've seen this game played. I've seen police officers LOCKED OUT of residental complexes because they were Billy Badass, while other police officers were allowed in. The ones who were locked out bitched and moaned, threatened arrest, but its hard to arrest someone when your on one side of an 8 foot fence, and the person with the unlock button is on the other. The police were allowed in. Just not Billy Badass.

These are the kinds of games where you have to get cell phone numbers of sector officers who you trust to do their job, without some personal vendetta against another profession.