Security Guard Services – What Guarding Is All About
Many people know what a security guard is, but not that many know exactly what it is that a security guard does. Ask the majority of people on the street and the most likely answer you will receive is “guarding.” While this is correct in the broad sense of the word, it demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the security services that a guard can perform.
So, let us take a look at a few of the security services that most security companies, such as www.churchill-security.co.uk, provide on a regular basis:
Key Holding
Key holding is not as simple as it sounds, trust me. This security service involves responding to a businesses alarm during the night. Should the alarm go off, the security guard will investigate, check the premises and then reset the alarm. So the business owner can remain safe and asleep.
CCTV Monitoring
As a security service, you would think that monitoring CCTV would be an easy job. This could not be farther from the truth. Rather than just one CCTV screen to monitor, most security guards, especially those who work in retail, will have multiple screens to monitor simultaneously.
Now, many companies choose to leave their CCTV unmanned – taking a reactive rather than a proactive approach by simply using CCTV to prosecute any offenders after the act. But with manned CCTV, security guards have to watch closely, monitor and then act on anything suspicious or criminal that they see – thereby taking a proactive approach to it.
So, all those films you see, where the security guard who is monitoring the CCTV is instead watching a film, are completely false or in most cases anyway!
Access Control
A popular security service at the moment is access control, particularly in the case of public institutions and big businesses. Despite the fact that biometrics is heralding the arrival of totally electronic access control systems, security companies are generally still needed to install the systems. And, in a lot of cases, to back the systems up should they need it.
Access control is often thought to be a lot more advanced than it actually is, thanks to films such as Minority Report and Mission Impossible. However, there have been some very sophisticated advances such as facial recognition technology, which will no doubt hit the security companies in the next few years.
Security Guards
This is the most basic and the most well-used of the security services. Security guarding can come in two forms – static security guards or mobile security patrol.
Static Security Guards
Static security guards remain at one site for the duration of their shift. They not only act as a deterrent but are also on hand to respond at once to any signs of trouble or suspicious activities.
Mobile Security Patrol
Security guards drive to your premises and patrol it randomly throughout the day and night. This random approach to patrolling allows security officers to catch criminals in the act more often than not.
Retail Security
As a security service, retail security is an amalgamation of other security services such as security guards, access control and CCTV. A retail security guard often has to be a jack of all security services trades.
Not As Cut And Dried As You Thought!
So security services involve more just being a security guard. Although services such as retail security and security guarding have a lot in common, there are often subtle differences between them. A security guard is not just a security guard but can also turn his hand at any other aspect of security – something you need specialist training to do. Like most other occupations, once you look a little more closely, the security services are not as cut and dried as you thought!
