Smoke & Mirrors vs Substance – Has Your Security Been put to the Test
An average day in regular security consists of nothing really exciting.
You get up, get ready for work. You get to work and your shift or detail goes as normal. Everything is predictable, you’re prepared. Essentially – nothing happens. In reality… for this day… anyone could have easily done your job.
Many times and many events nothing really happens. However, as the world evolves and changes, the odds of security being tested has grown.
Many companies hire a person or a group of people, give them a uniform and a position, cross their fingers and hope for the best. More effort is focused on filling positions and having as many positions to fill as possible, rather then ensuring quality and training are met. In some cases, this is fine and they get away with it – until something happens that is. At some point, quality has to out weigh quality.
You need to have security that not only looks the part – but also acts the part. Otherwise you’re playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.
One day, that person in a suit is going to show up to what they expect to be a normal day much like any other, and something is going to happen. Something big. The difference between that person in the security uniform and the well trained individual in the uniform or suit, is how they react.
Lets face it – in a dangerous situation, most of us would instinctively panic. Being ill prepared with little to no training, the average person would seek flight over fight. For the average situation, this is fine. Unless you are of course the security team hired to protect and guard against any such situation.
At Sentinel Security Plus, we pride ourselves on taking this industry incredibly seriously. We hire and train our team and we don’t stop there. We regularly offer additional training to either refresh, or advance our team.
We consider training, dedication, reliability and integrity to be incredible valuable and necessary traits in this industry.
Without the willingness to learn, it becomes more difficult to successfully adapt to various surroundings, positions, and scenarios.
Say for example you have an issue with the wiring in your house. Maybe the plumber is cheaper, but do they know how to work with electrical?
No. You’d find an electrician. You wouldn’t hire a plumber to do the work of an electrician.
So why would you have an untrained professional that has less invested in their career choice, to do the job of someone that cares. Someone that is trained and actively seeks to advance themselves in the industry.
Smoke and mirrors will only get you so far. You can have every technological gadget and device and promote yourself as an elite security force. But when something happens – is your team fully prepared? Are they trained to utilize whatever devices you’ve given them? Are these devices even going to actually help when it comes down to preventing or stopping an incident?
Camera’s work great at seeing things, recording things, and the odd time, preventing things from getting out of hand. If you can see something happening, you can send someone to ideally put an end to things before they snowball. In some cases however, watching something unfold on camera that needs immediate attention isn’t good enough.
Having an elite, trained team on the ground and there to set plans in motion immediately is going to work better then a person sitting behind a desk, watching a camera and hoping they’ll catch everything.
We’ve all watched movies or tv shows, and its try that if you watch them again you’re always catching things you missed the first time. Don’t think that real life is any different.
As the world and conditions evolve, your team must stay ahead of the trends. Constantly keeping ahead of the news, and on top of the industry. Standards, best practices, and routines will all change. Becoming complacent isn’t an option.
In this industry – you can no longer rely on the illusion of security. The uniform or suit means nothing without the training and knowledge to back it up.
Guest Blogger Rayna Davies
Rayna Davies is a graduate and practitioner of Business Management. She has developed an expertise in blogging, covering subjects like travel, world events and security. Having grown up with a father who has developed an expertise in Physical Security and Executive Protection in the RCMP and two major corporations, she has personally observed and 
experienced many security details. These experiences have included personally meeting HM Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and many celebrities. She presently assists Sentinel Security in Executive Protection workshops and guest blogging and also assists Gloprosec Preventative Services in Intelligence gathering and Business Administration. Her passions include World travel, having visited every continent.
