In every establishment or institution, we see security guards. Whenever we visit any commercial place, security guards greet us at the entrance. We might see them and think we know a thing or two about what they do, but chances are we all have misconceptions about security guards. These misconceptions about them are influenced by the way their job is being portrayed on tv. Now, some of those are true about their role, but it isn’t always in detail.
So what are those misconceptions? Stay with us as we discuss the most common misconceptions about security guards.
1. Security Guards Always Have to Carry Firearms
The truth of the matter is that not all security guards always carry a gun with them, and only some of them do. Although every security guard goes through training in order for them to know how to respond to possible threats, carrying firearms all the time would still require a higher level of training and certification on their part.
2. Security Guards Should Always Know What to Do
Yes, security guards are tasked to ensure the safety of everyone in the area where they are assigned, but you can’t expect them to know how to handle and cover every problem that arises. It is more of a team effort on the part of the security guard, security services provider as well as business owner, and see to it that safety is served for all.
3. Security Guards Should Always Be Well-Built
One of the most common misconceptions about security is that they should always be well-built. But in reality, it depends on what the security provider or employer is looking for. Most importantly, they should at least have a keen sense of security on things, adapt well to training and their surroundings, and good communication skills overall. The good height and physically fit body are a plus because it helps project a dominating stance, but there’s definitely more than just those attributes.
4. Security Guards are Not Trained
Oftentimes, you may think that security guards don’t go through training because they just basically stand there and guard the area, but they actually do go through training before they are assigned to a place. This is to ensure that they know how to respond to certain situations and threats. Their training is different from the training given to police officers, of course. So you can’t keep associating what security guards do with what police officers do because they both have different roles and job descriptions in the first place.
5. Security Guards Don’t Know How to Interact
Security guards are not only trained to secure the area and respond to threats, but they are also trained to properly interact with people. They can actually respond to or engage in a positive interaction despite the tough stance they are projecting.
6. Security Guards Don’t Do Anything
The thinking that security guards don’t do anything because they just stand there is probably one of the most negative misconceptions you can have about them. This misconception is often associated with them being lazy. But they are actually not. What people don’t see is that it takes a lot of physical and mental strength for every security guard to maintain their standing position and remain focused on their surroundings for possible threats — and do it for hours.
7. Security Guards are All Men
This misconception may occur in your mind, especially if you don’t normally see women as security guards in the establishments and commercial places you go to. It is a given that the security industry, is mostly dominated by men, but nowadays, there are already quite a number of women performing security jobs. Hiring women as security guards also breaks stereotypes and impartiality and helps promote equality.
Going through all the misconceptions we have listed above, did you find out what yours was? Well, these misconceptions can be avoided if we do our part in knowing first about what they actually do before we jump to conclusions.
If you are in need of security guards for your facility, contact us today and we will be glad to offer you the best of our services!