Would you allow an underpaid total stranger to spend the night unsupervised in your building with a set of keys and the alarm codes? That is essentially what you will be doing when you hire a contract security company to provide guard service for you. Bad idea? No, not at all if you’re armed with the proper knowledge and research to choose a good company and utilize it correctly. Contract security can be a huge benefit to your corporation on several levels; just do your homework before any contract is signed. The first thing you’ll need to do is get at least an idea of what type of guard you need -- armed or unarmed. Unarmed officers are obviously limited, but perhaps your needs are quite simple. If you want someone to be located exclusively inside of a CCTV monitoring center and call the police when something happens, then an armed officer is a waste of money. Unarmed officers are also excellent for fire watch details and to minimally satisfy some insurance policy requirements for lowering premiums. Armed officers are an undeniable deterrent to crime. They are a little like putting bars over your windows and doors – not undefeatable, but upon seeing them the bad guys will quickly go elsewhere and leave you alone. That, by the way, is exactly what security is supposed to do – keep bad things from ever happening in the first place. Armed officers are clearly superior for parking lot patrols and escorts, reception and shipping areas, and suppression of robberies, burglaries, and workplace violence. Also, be aware that the only way to stop a terrorist or gun-wielding lunatic is with a firearm; there just isn’t any other way. Now that you have a good idea of what type of guard you will need, it’s time to decide on what type of guard company will best suit your needs. They are easily divided into the two categories of nationwide and independent. They are very different and each has their advantages. The nationwide companies operate on razor thin profits and pay the guards rock-bottom wages. The big advantages to you are low initial cost and the comfort of knowing that they probably won’t be going out of business tomorrow. The downside is low employee retention, typically low quality employees, and impersonal service from middle management. If squeezing that last penny is the absolute only concern, and then nationwide service is the way to go. The downside of an independent company is generally a slightly higher hourly rate. The advantages are more personalized service directly from the owner or high-level management, a typically higher quality officer, better retention, and faster response to problems and emergencies. Step three is to actually find the companies in your area. The fastest and easiest way is probably yahoo yellow pages. Just enter “security guards” for your city. There should be scads of listings for a metropolitan area. Now that you have a comprehensive listing and telephone numbers, what do you say? It is essential to know what questions to ask and what pitfalls to avoid. Pay attention to how they answer the telephone. Is it an answering machine? Cross them off and move on to the next name. The last thing you want to hear in an emergency is a machine. All reputable security companies answer their own phones 24/7. If you get a live person find out if it’s a dispatch center, a message service, or an actual manager who can answer your questions on the spot (or, in the future, solve your emergencies and problems). A message service has “fly-by-night” written all over it, and dispatch centers will also only take messages – not good. The person who answers should be helpful, professional, knowledgeable and able to answer most of your questions immediately. Call them back a couple of times during the day and night to be sure that they are reliable, at least at answering the phone. Got one on the line that sounds good? Here are some important questions to ask that professional, courteous, and helpful security professional: 1. How long has your company been in business under its current management? It doesn’t matter that the company has been around for fifty years if the new owner/manager that came on board six months ago is inept. Get the owner/manager’s name, have his resume sent to you in advance, and insist on meeting with him. Check the resume for things like an administration of justice education from an accredited college, POST certification, work experience with local or federal law enforcement, and considerable additional training and certifications. Also check to see if the private patrol operator’s license has his name on it. If not, it’s probably because he doesn’t meet the state’s minimum qualifications for licensure. This isn’t a legal problem, but it is a warning sign. If all you basically see is ten years of security guard experience, run away and don’t look back. 2. Will you please send me copies of the following items? private patrol operator’s license (PPO) liability and workman’s comp insurance policies owner/manager’s resume (see item 1) current client list former client list (these must contain contact names and numbers for verification) Be sure to ask former clients why they fired the company. The PPO and insurance policies are required by law. The other items are strongly advised. 3. Does your company currently operate under any IRS liens or bankruptcies? You definitely do not want an unscrupulous owner who is about to go out of business. 4. How much experience does your company have in protecting my type of facility? And, depending on how many guards you will require, 5. Can you meet my requirements for start date and number of qualified officers? There are a few things you should expect to receive without charge: 1. Initial site walkthrough and evaluation of current security, CCTV, alarms, access points, etc. 2. Periodic re-evaluations and security updates, joint management meetings 3. Daily reports 4. Quarterly evaluation reports 5. Frequent supervisory checks on all shifts 6. On-the-job training 7. Uniforms per your request – either blazer, police-style, or military-style 8. Communications – cell phone or radio There are a few things that you should expect to pay extra for: 1. Nonstandard hours premium -- less than eight hours or hours not divisible by four. 2. Alarm response if there is no guard on duty 3. Hiring a guard on as an employee Once the contract is signed, there are some mistakes that are commonly made on the part of the contractee (that’s you). Coordinate with the security management on where to post the officers and what they should be doing. Frequently, contractees are unaware of all of the security’s capabilities and they underutilize the guard. Or, they expect the guard to cover too many responsibilities at a time. Sit down with their management, inform them of your special needs, and jointly work out how to get the best possible results from your new guards. As tempted as you may be to require hourly rounds with Detex clocks, don’t do it. Hourly rounds are no deterrent to crime; they may even encourage it. Once a bad guy sees the guard go by, he knows he has a full hour to get into mischief without getting caught. Dull, repetitive patrols can even lull the guard into not paying attention to surroundings. If patrols are required, allow the guards to perform random checks at random times. Use your CCTV system to monitor guard activity and the more cameras, the better. Guards that know they’re being watched are guards that do their job properly every time. Another common error is to use the guard as an “extra” employee and give him menial tasks to help out around the reception or shipping areas. Stuffing envelopes or stacking boxes might seem like a good idea but they are a significant distraction to the officer’s awareness. If one guard is used as a front desk operator, then consider using a second guard exclusively for patrol. One particularly significant error is to terminate the security contract because the problem that prompted you to hire them has ceased. Your problems disappeared because the guards were doing their job. If you get rid of them, your problems will soon resurface. Always be aware that when nothing bad is happening, it’s because the guards have been hard at work. All security companies start out new contracts with zest and zeal. They put in their top people initially to give the best possible impression and management supervision is frequent. Three or four months into the contract, carefully review the quality of the service you’re getting. Have the original guards been replaced with lower quality officers? Do things just seem to be “slipping” a little? If so, call and complain. If this slippage persists, terminate the contract and get a better security company. Make detailed quarterly reviews a habit throughout the life of the contract no matter how good a security company you have. Have you been thinking that this all seems like a lot of trouble? And some of it seems to be overkill? Just remember, you are handing the keys for your building, your product, and your livelihood over to an underpaid total stranger...