ALLIED BARTON SECURITY CHEAP, CHEATING, DIRTY COMPANY THAT HAS NO MORALS LAS VEGAS Nevada

All of you take what you have been told about such things as "observe and report" and all the other little cute phrases and spin and throw it out the window. If one takes a look at any typical guard company website, one might think that any one of them are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Fact is they are vendors who provide "services". This means ANY service that the customer who contracts them slaps the name "security" on. This can mean scrubbing toilets and so on. It is a highly competitive industry, especially in the larger markets. Problems in this field, just by virtue of its very nature, have existed for decades and are well known by all who use them or are involved with them in some fashion. Much of this has been documented for years and little has changed in it for the most part. If asked about this, most executives in the contract guard business will either clam up or downright deny it. The industry itself is inseperably tied to insurance requirements. If it wasn't, you'd find that the vast majority of these businesses would vanish in short order.

It is intensely profit driven and in this it is highly successful. If it wasn't as profitable as some have suggested on this particular site, it wouldn't be in business to begin with. The larger guard contractors have a mandated profit margin for each job at each contract, this runs usually between 15 and 25%. This isn't counting a lot of stuff under the table that occurs. I have found in my past experience is that you get the same level of service from these contractors whether the guard is making $5.15 or $15.15 per hour.

The general consensus both within the guard industry and many of its customers are that guards are "consumable product" and that if a guard isn't happy with their situation or job, there are a dozen more people ready to take their place that will do the job just as well. As a result, the industry tends to hire those that are desperate for a job quickly and will take whatever abuse is heaped on them for however long they choose to put up with it. Quality is hit and miss. These kinds of issues are very common in all service industries, not just with contract guard services.

Do they often give bad references to former employees? Yes, this is very common. However, the source of the referral is taken into account by many other employers. I have seen that it is usually dismissed unless there are other issues involved.

Many states, especially after 9-11, have regulations on these kinds of operations. However, enforcement can be spotty due to lack of manpower and resources to properly do this. There are just too many guard companies out there. It usually falls to the customer themselves to ensure they are getting the proper service they specify. This usually means changing out the contract and guards periodically.

The real reason guards are hired is to be sacrificed as needed and when convienet to do so. As a guard (any position or rank), you are hired to take the heat (and if required, the fall) for your customer. Yes, this often means the guard and or the guard company taking civil or criminal culpability. It also means getting the physical harm or threats thereof. Intimidation by guard companies toward their employees is more common than is reported and it often never is. Not to mention from the customers toward the guards or their superiors themselves. I have known of cases where guard company "managers" who bragged they were big, bad, dangerous, and well-connected got "put in their place" rather dramatically by their customers who WERE big, bad, dangerous and well-connected!

People have wrote on this site about changes that need to be made in the guard business. Folks, the business has ALWAYS been the way it is. Having the Federal Government take control of them (!?) would, in my professional opinion,make a bad situation worse. The best change would probably be changing the classification of them. For instance, prohibit the term "security officer (you are neither 'security' nor unless commissioned by an authority an 'officer') and any sort of even vague resemblance to police, military, etc. Elimated the badges, gun belts, patrol cars with big lights on the roof and so on. Call them "Asset Monitors" instead.

Crimianl activity will not be stopped by an unarmed guard. The best that can really be hoped for is that the guard's presence will make the bad guys go elsewhere.

Before you walk into that guard company for a job, you should be fully aware that you are applying for a JOB that is risky physically, professionally, and civily that will not pay you very much. A JOB that will treat you in an indifferent or downright hostile manner and will throw you to the wolves at the first opprotunity. It is NOT a career.

Unlike my associats who have written on this site in the past, I will not advise anyone as to their job choices. I will merely say that if you go into this line of work, do so with oyur eyes open and know what you are getting into. The end result is your decision and not something any one or any website can choose for you.

Don't try to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. The job is what it is. No matter how you look at it, A is still A.