What type of training do you want?

[SgtUSMC8541]

Ok, after 14 years of being in the security industry I have opened my own small training company in the Northeast. Now I have my own thoughts of what kind of training I want to, and will offer. That being said, what do you want?

You, the Security Officer, Security Supervisor, Operations Manger, Field Supervisor............... what type of training do you wish was out there for you or your personnel.

Or if it is out there, do you wish was all under "one roof".

Thanks for your input.

[HotelSecurity]

I will let you know by the summer. Quebec passed it's new Private Security law which will require ALL security including those In-House like me to be licensed. We will have to take a 75 to 100 hour course. The contents of the course will be known in the summer. We will then have 3 years to complete it.

[Guest]

As an officer

I pursue all training opporunities I can find:

Expandable baton, straight baton, firearm, OC/CS, Pepper spray/foam/gel, handcuffing, martial arts, combat self-defense, personal protective training (bodyguard,) First Aid, Adult and pediatric CPR, AED training.

This is a list of a few of the things I have worked on since starting in the private security field. I have had to travel to get a number of the certifications I wanted. A training company with the knowledge, staff and experience to handle it all would be great, but I am sure will never come to fruition. I also think that combining some of the training into one course would be great.

For example, when I recieved my Level III certification here in Texas, I was now allowed to use cuffs, batons, and my firearm, but required addiitional training for the cuffs and baton per company policy. Why not tack a few hours and bucks on to the state training bill and get it all done with at once? Instead, I had to take off multiple weekends in a row in order to recieve the training to carry the tools of this trade.

[N. A. Corbier]

I pursue all training opporunities I can find:

Expandable baton, straight baton, firearm, OC/CS, Pepper spray/foam/gel, handcuffing, martial arts, combat self-defense, personal protective training (bodyguard,) First Aid, Adult and pediatric CPR, AED training.

This is a list of a few of the things I have worked on since starting in the private security field. I have had to travel to get a number of the certifications I wanted. A training company with the knowledge, staff and experience to handle it all would be great, but I am sure will never come to fruition. I also think that combining some of the training into one course would be great.

For example, when I recieved my Level III certification here in Texas, I was now allowed to use cuffs, batons, and my firearm, but required addiitional training for the cuffs and baton per company policy. Why not tack a few hours and bucks on to the state training bill and get it all done with at once? Instead, I had to take off multiple weekends in a row in order to recieve the training to carry the tools of this trade.

I'm going to derail this thread, since its also important for training providers to realize this. I'm sure that he already does, though.

A state firearm course is just that. A course to teach firearms. Almost all (I'd wager ALL, capital letters ALL!) training mandated by the state is to a minimum standard. It is not so much to train you, but to demonstrate to the State of __________ that you are not a menace to the public. The only exceptions I really see are for greatly expanded powers such as private police forces (with full police powers, and the title of police officer.)

So many times, a guard company wants a gun and nothing else. Why would the security industry stand still for a state-mandated training policy that goes against what they want their guards to do? It increases the cost of training, it has no bearing on what the majority of security guards do, and (worst of all, in their eyes) it gives the guard firm employees some sense that they're allowed to do things that the firm hasn't explicitly said.

So many times, in various states, I have seen security personnel carrying nothing but a gun. Why? Sometimes the "liability of an impact weapon," other times the cost of training the guard (You allow it, you better train em with it, else I forsee a negligence suit...) or some other silliness.

That's really the advice I would give: Determine what companies require the training of their guards and work to get in with those companies. Even if the guard firm won't spring for the training (they probably aren't thinking of a failure to train or negligence lawsuit...), the firm may recommend to their guards that they get it.

So many times, I have seen firms require you to have X or Y on your duty belt , and guess what? You are responsible for purchasing it all. Any training you get for it is on your own.

[bigdog]

I pursue all training opporunities I can find:

Expandable baton, straight baton, firearm, OC/CS, Pepper spray/foam/gel, handcuffing, martial arts, combat self-defense, personal protective training (bodyguard,) First Aid, Adult and pediatric CPR, AED training.

This is a list of a few of the things I have worked on since starting in the private security field. I have had to travel to get a number of the certifications I wanted. A training company with the knowledge, staff and experience to handle it all would be great, but I am sure will never come to fruition. I also think that combining some of the training into one course would be great.

For example, when I recieved my Level III certification here in Texas, I was now allowed to use cuffs, batons, and my firearm, but required addiitional training for the cuffs and baton per company policy. Why not tack a few hours and bucks on to the state training bill and get it all done with at once? Instead, I had to take off multiple weekends in a row in order to recieve the training to carry the tools of this trade.

Texas Non-commissioned security officers cant carry handcuffs?

[Mr. Chaple]

Just some basic and jumbled ideas:
Basic crowd control/strike management
OSHA compliance (especially 500/501)
Medical first responder (EMT-B and first aid, CPR-AED as alternatives)
Defensive Tactics (empty hand, baton, OC, hand cuffs, FOF oriented)
Tazer/pepperball/thumper (also FOF oriented)
Firearms (including long arms, and legalities of deadly force, ditto on FOF)
Protective Driving
Industrial fire fighting (incipient fire fighting as alternative)
NIMS certification (mostly for managers)
IPMBA (biking)
Vehicle searching (including liabilities/legalities)
Magnetometer/X-ray operation
Haz-Mat response (awareness through class B tech.)
Verbal Judo
Background Investigation Basics
Incident scene management
Confined entry/hazard rescue
NISPOM (industrial security)
Fire Prevention/Fire code Compliance
DHS compliance (homeland security)
Surveillance/ counter surveillance
Critical Incident Response (see http://www.isp.state.il.us/academy/localtraining.cfm)

[CameraMan]

As a technical guy, I always wished that physical security people (ie the end users of our products) understood not only how to use our stuff to its fullest effect but also what our stuff was capable of and what its limitations were. If I had a nickel for every CSO who decided that one PTZ camera could do the job of three fixed-position cameras, that you could read the license plate of a moving car at night from over 60 feet away, thatyou could blow up and enhance the face of a subject from 40 feet away with a camera with a 3.6 mm lens and 380 vtl... life is not like CSI. Or Star Trek.

[SgtUSMC8541]

Thanks for everyones input. Great points. Some of them I already do.....
but I will start on "adjusting" and "initiating" some more!

[LiveNlearn]

I saw one person mentioned Verbal Judo, I would second that and then some.

Communication Skills should be the first and foremost on anyones list. Its all well and good that you can fight, shoot, wrestle, hit, sprray, etc. But thoes should almost always be a last resort.

your brain is the best weapon you have and your mouth and be the most deadly. Learning to communicated effectively will help you get people to comply and do things that they need to do much more than all the weapons, gadets and do dads that you carry on your person or know how to use.

Just my 2 cents.