Mr. Herbert

Security & Safety

Security Personnel - An Essential Element of a Comprehensive Security Program

By Brian Herbert, Director, Phenix Investigations

Ensuring the safety of your guests and employees is a vital part of the success for any hospitality facility. Alarm systems and surveillance cameras can help deter crime and document incidents as they occur, however they are generally reactive elements. Having security personnel on site at all times or during peak hours of operation can serve to greatly reduce crime and liability exposure and their presence will also provide a public relations boost since customers will see them in the facility and feel a greater sense of security.

While security personnel are an essential element to a comprehensive security program, it is the component most often overlooked or omitted. This usually occurs because management often believes the costs for employing security personnel are too great considering the service they provide. In reality, however, the fiscal reasons for eliminating security personnel from the staff are often not valid arguments. In fact, between employing in-house security staff or contracting with a security service to provide officers, there is an option to meet any budget. The key is to understand the differences between the two options and to determine the best course of action for each individual property.

In-House Security Personnel

Hiring, training, and equipping a security force can seem like a daunting task. Keeping them on the company's payroll and benefit plans may appear to make the costs outweigh the rewards, however it can provide tremendous benefits. Maintaining a security force made up of company employees, provides the company with the greatest flexibility to tailor the security force to the specific needs of the organization. This can be a big benefit if the company owns and operates multiple properties.

Enough can't be said for the value of proper training. Giving security personnel up-to-date training on tactics, customer service, and other important job functions will ensure that they will be the most effective at their jobs and can reduce the overall liability exposure of the organization. It also ensures that the officers receive training to the specific needs of the company and the property they are tasked to protect.

One of the biggest downsides to using an outside contractor to provide security services is that the officers employed by private, contract security companies often receive very generalized training and it often consists of simply watching videotapes, instead of incorporating hands-on instruction.

At a minimum, properties looking to hire some security officers, even on a part-time basis should strongly consider at least employing the security director in-house. A later section in the article describes a hybrid model for security, which provides for a company-employed supervisor and contract security officers. Having at least one member of the security team working directly for the company will preserve the company's ability to directly influence the style of security and the service they receive while also keeping costs down.

Hiring Off-Duty Law Enforcement Officers

While there are many restrictions placed on officers at some departments, there are many areas of the country where law enforcement officers are given the freedom to work security position during their off-duty hours. Many properties take advantage of this ability and contract with officers to provide security. One of the biggest advantages to this style of security is that the company saves money on training since the officers receive regular training from their departments. It also can often save on equipment costs since many departments that allow officers to work off-duty, also allow the officers to use their equipment while working off-duty.

One potential downside to this model of security is that off-duty law enforcement officers often command a higher hourly rate for their services based on their specialized skills and experience. While this may seem to make this model less appealing, the fact remains that while it may cost more on an hourly basis to hire off-duty police officers they will come with excellent training and experience to handle any potential situation and the company will also be able to employ them on a part-time basis in order to save money on salary and benefits. In the end, this may be one of the most effective ways to keep costs down, while also providing superior security service, however in some regions law enforcement officers are not allowed to work in law enforcement-related positions during their off-duty time so this security model may not be an opportunity for everyone.

Contracting out the Entire Security Department

Contracting out the entire security services department lies on the opposite end of the spectrum from the aforementioned in-house model. Many companies in a wide range of industries choose this model primarily because it is the most cost effective and because it is the simplest model to manage. While many managers may stop reading now and assume that the cheapest and easiest model for security is the best fit for their company, it is important to understand what comes with the service before deciding that the model is the right choice.

Security companies negotiate their contracts based on the number of officers the company wants and the number of hours those officers would work on the company¹s site each week. This information is used to devise an hourly rate the security company would charge the company for each hour worked by the contractor's security officers. This rate equals the hourly rate the contractor pays directly to the security officer, money to cover the contractor¹s overhead, and a percentage of money to provide the contractor with a profit margin. In the competitive nature of contract security, the profit margins are often very thin.

One of the main issues with this model is that the security contractors want to offer a low hourly rate for services in order to gain the accounts and so this means that they often pay the security officers actually performing the work an hourly wage generally ranging from $7-10. This is one of the biggest weaknesses to this model for security because while it may allow the contractor to provide a competitive hourly rate for services to the company, it means that the security employees who will be working at the property will be those willing to work for low wages. This leads to increased turnover rates since most people won't want to work long-term for those wages and it also means that the security employees will not often display excellent customer services and other skills key to their success on the job. While the security personnel would be contract employees, the reality is that their interactions with guests and staff will be directly associated with the company and not the contractor so this could be a problem.

"The old adage that you get what you pay for certainly rings true with contract security personnel," said Brian Bauer, President and CEO of Phenix Investigations. "We work with many clients who consistently have problems with their contract security staff. Most of it comes down to the fact that the security officers don¹t want to work very hard since they aren't making much money."

The other primary issue with using contract security officers, is that there often develops a disconnect between who the officers actually work for and how they are trained. With nearly all security contractors, they will employ a site supervisor who will manage the security officers on the property. Sometimes this individual will be stationed directly on the property and other times, they will supervise multiple sites. Either way, the tendency is for the security officers to take orders from the site supervisor and not to take direction from company staff or management directly. This can often lead to problems.

The contract officers also don't often receive intensive training either.**Security companies don't make money by having their officers sitting in training, in fact they generally lose money since they are paying the officers to attend the training but not usually billing a client for the training hours. This leads the security contractor to provide only the training that is required by law to maintain the officer's ability to work in security. Much of the training is also only video-based and many times the videos and their subject matter are sorely outdated. The delivery method for the training is also usually self-paced where officers watch the videos and sign a form stating that they watched the videos. Most of the time the videos aren't watched since no one is present to verify that they actually watched the videos. This all leads to under-trained security officers being placed on properties to protect the staff and guests with insufficient training.

"We've seen time and time again where clients have security officers on their property without the proper training or skills to complete their jobs," Bauer said. "This can be a liability risk for the company since most people will associate the security officer with the company and not with the security contractor."

Building a Model That Works on all Levels

There is a security model out there that works for every company and every budget. The key is finding it. Often times, a hybrid model that uses one or more staff security personnel to supervise and direct the activities of off-duty law enforcement officers or contract security personnel. This model ensures that the company has staff directly involved in the daily supervision of the security staff and this is especially important for companies operating multiple properties.

Figuring out the best way to construct a security plan and the department of personnel to execute that plan can seem like a daunting task. Actually, it can be achieved fairly easily with the help of a security consultant. Consultants can come in and quickly assess the property to identify the security needs and work with property management to ensure that a security program is designed to meet the needs of the company.

"I truly enjoy working with clients to assess their security needs and then help them design a security program to accomplish their goals," Bauer said. "We don¹t just help them set up a program, but we also work with those clients to make random inspections of the system to ensure that their security program is effective."

Once a program is designed and implemented, regular check ups are important.

These security reviews often happen unannounced and are designed to test the facilities security personnel to ensure that their training is sufficient and to evaluate their performance. Many times, these inspections also coincide with training provided by the consultants to keep the security department up-to-date on the newest techniques.

"I think our regular inspections are the best part of the service," Bauer said. "Our spot checks often turn up security breaches or help identify areas in the security program that need extra attention. We've accessed unauthorized locations in facilities without detection and even removed products or confidential information from properties. All of this helps expose weaknesses and increase vigilance."

Constructing a quality security department can seem like a daunting task, but with the assistance of some qualified experts it can be a smooth process and one that adds significant value to your property. Guests that feel safe while on your property will spread the word. A well-trained and supervised security staff will also help reduce liability for the company, which can save thousands of dollars annually.

Brian Herbert is the Director of Corporate Investigations for Phenix Investigations, Inc. Phenix is the recognized leader is corporate investigations as they work to assist companies large and small deal with a wide range of issues. Within his role at the company, Mr. Herbert works to manage the corporate investigations division of the company. Typical investigations he coordinates include fraud, theft, non-compete agreements, FMLA, Worker's Compensation, substance abuse, accidents in the workplace and other employee-related issues. Mr. Herbert can be contacted at 800-980-9056 or bherbert@phenixinvestigations.com Extended Bio...

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