For decades business and corporate security have largely (not always, but often the case) been treated as more of a “check in the box” as opposed to building a quality, high-functioning system.
This is partially due to the businesses knowing that when things get really bad, regardless of the competence of the security program in place, they can fall back on Law Enforcement.
In part, this has led to some of the very large security companies, which are often viewed as more “staffing” companies as opposed to security companies, getting vastly larger.
Businesses have hired these companies not based on reputation, but on ease of finding them online.
I have seen it first hand, these companies under-bid large-scale security contracts to ensure procurement over local companies.
As a direct result, the baseline contract positions are minimum wage, management positions are minimal pay far below industry standard, and the contracts are mismanaged by senior leadership.
There has been a drastic shift not just nationwide, but globally in the last year and a half.
There has always been a political divide in our country to some extent.
In the last 18 months, there has been a shift that has created a divide more comparable to the Grand Canyon.
With the different political movements, the COVID-19 pandemic, the issues surrounding the vaccinations, and the 2020 election and fraud claims, the country looks quite different.
There have been many changes in Law Enforcement, laws that were in place to protect officers have been removed, officers are not getting support from their departments, departments are at all-time low numbers for staffing and officers are leaving the force in record numbers.
Businesses and corporations are now stepping back and realizing the gravity of their respective situations.
The call screens in Police Dispatchers are backed up with multiple days calls, and Law Enforcement is having to prioritize calls and leave what they cannot take.
Private organizations are quickly learning that their “check-in-the-box” security program” is gravely incapable of dealing with the very real threats we are seeing on a daily basis.
Minimum wage positions bring individuals with minimum to no professional or life experience to the table.
These individuals that have been hired for the contract private security positions are incredibly undertrained and lacking the experience to effectively deal with the daily occurrences of active threats, mass shootings, civil unrest and rioting, looting, and destruction of private property.
The Private Security Industry is starting to shift back towards the smaller specialized security companies for all of these reasons.
Smaller companies have the ability to hire specialized personnel, often prior to Law Enforcement or prior Military.
Local companies with higher standards can provide the specialized personnel to create an effective and high-functioning security program tailored to the client companies’ needs.
This is the shift that is needed to redefine the Security Industry, increase the image of the industry, and better protect private businesses and private property for the public during these difficult times.
