Archive
Private Officer International offers Wellness Program www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC MAY 19 2013
Private Officer International continues to add great member services that are non-traditional, timely and of real value to our members.
Each year we look at ways to increase our directed services, resources, training and member programs, always looking at how we can make a true difference to our membership group and to each member on a personal level.
Today, I am excited and proud to announce a new member only service that will surely make a difference in times of disaster and personal financial emergencies.
Effective June 1 2013, we are rolling out a new program called the “Disaster-Emergency Assistance and Resources program. (D.E.A.R.)
The first part of this program will provide immediate assistance to a member in times of financial crises.
We all know that security employees generally are not paid well. Many live paycheck to paycheck and often times an extra $10 or $20 is the difference between paying a bill or having a utility disconnected.
The difference between putting fuel in the gas tank to get to work or eating a meal.
Most have no access to health, dental or life insurance and as a result often go without treatment for even urgent medical needs.
A few extra dollars could mean that they could seek emergency medical treatment in times of a true urgent medical issue.
This new member assistance fund will help provide a stop gap during those unforeseen financial crises.
The second part to this new program is disaster emergency assistance involving man made or weather related disasters that have affected the member’s finances or personal property.
In times like these, a person can be left homeless, jobless and with no place to turn.
Private Officer International will provide immediate emergency relief with food, shelter, financial and other support services.
Our member department will administer this program for qualified members in good standing and there will be a screening and application process and the program will be monitored for abuse, double-dipping of services, and to insure that certain criteria have been met.
This program will not resolve all of the member’s financial deficiencies and it is not meant to resolve collection actions or to give the member a little extra “spending money”.
When used in the true spirit for which the program is intended, we’re sure that it will make a world of difference for certain members in their time of need.
POI also offers other wellness services including a 24hr crises hotline, emergency chaplain response program, injury and death assistance, a $5000 death benefit and mentoring program.
PRIVATE LAW ENFORCEMENT NOT INCLUDED ON MEMORIAL WALL www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC May 17 2013
Rick McCann
CEO-Founder
Private Officer International
Twenty seven states now allow statutory or commissioned private police officers including those who primarily work in private security but have full law enforcement authority.
Currently, when a private sworn law enforcement officer including those employed by private college police departments, are killed in the line of duty, they are not allowed to be included on the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
This honor is restricted to officers employed by municipal, county, state, federal or other recognized governmental law enforcement agencies.
A police officer is a police officer! Regardless of who signs their paycheck, each officer takes the same oath to enforce the law and to protect and serve.
In Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland alone, there are thousands of sworn special police officers protecting schools, federal buildings, train stations and the public at large.
Many of our nation’s private colleges and universities are protected by sworn peace officers who have completed the same required training as their local police counterparts.
Private Officer International is currently auditing all security/public safety officer deaths that have occurred during the past fifty years and will compile a list of officers who qualify as law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty who should be included on the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall.
If you know of any sworn college or private police officer killed in the line of duty, please email the officer’s name, date of death, location and circumstances to helpdesk@privateofficer.com.
We have also asked for a meeting with the National Law Enforcement Memorial board and started an on-line petition. http://www.change.org/petitions/national-law-enforcement-memorial-fund-include-private-police-officers-on-the-law-enforcement-memorial-wall
We ask that each and every one of you help us to change this injustice! This is an unfair and biased practice that needs to be changed immediately so that all sworn officers who die in the line of duty may be recognized for their sacrifice equally.
Most Dangerous Cities-States for Private Security www.privateofficer.com
MAY 15 2013
CHARLOTTE NC
Based on the latest data from state and federal agencies and our in-house data, we have ranked the top 10 most dangerous cities for private security and the top 5 most dangerous states.
The parameters and criteria for our study included; armed confrontations, security officer assaults, injuries and deaths sustained.
The data also reflects the most dangerous assignments where most incidents occurred:
Nightclubs/Restaurants 29%
Retail-27%
Residential/Apartments-Condos 11%
Mobile Patrol/Alarm Response 9%
Hotels/Motels 8%
Special Events 5%
Armored Car 5%
Office-Commercial Business 3%
MSC Locations 3%
THE MOST DANGEROUS CITIES FOR PRIVATE SECURITY:
HOUSTON
DETROIT
MEMPHIS
CHICAGO
MIAMI
DALLAS
PHILADELPHIA
NEW YORK CITY
ALLENTOWN
TAMPA
TOP FIVE STATES
TEXAS
FLORIDA
NEW YORK
CALIFORNIA
TN-OHIO-MICHIGAN (Three Way Tie)
The Department of Labor Statistics currently ranks the following cities with the largest concentration of private security officers per 1000 jobs:
Las Vegas NV
West Palm Beach FLA
Atlantic City NJ
Honolulu HI
Myrtle Beach-Sumter SC
Miami FLA
Memphis TN
ENFORCING CIVIL PENALTIES A SLIPPY SLOPE www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC
Rick McCann
CEO-Founder
Private Officer International
Private security companies in three states have come under scrutiny in recent months for trying to enforce civil laws and using force to do it.
In January, a Tuscaloosa Alabama property management company assigned a security officer to help evict a tenant from an apartment for being late on her rent. The property manager had posted a notice on the door of the tenant the previous day and twenty four hours later showed up with the security guard to evict the woman. Police were called and the apartment complex, although they had filed an eviction with the court, did not have the final order in hand. Even if they had police said, private security officers have no legal authority to remove property, force or threaten residents to leave the property. Only the county sheriff’s department has the right to enforce a court ordered eviction.
In Sacramento California an apartment complex hired a private security firm to “force” nine residents from a condo as part of a foreclosure.
The heavily armed security team stormed the condo at 3AM, surprising the residents and committed a burglary in doing so according to police.
The residents are suing the private security firm and the homeowners association, claiming that none of the residents knew about the impending foreclosure and that they hadn’t received service of the lawsuit before the guards barged in.
A Rockville Maryland couple is suing another security company after their vehicle was towed by a security officer at an apartment complex because he had previously been told that there was a “mechanics lien” placed against the vehicle for an outstanding debt at the repair shop. The security officers spotted the vehicle, called a wrecker and now face criminal and civil charges for auto theft.
Security officers are also being used to collect outstanding fines and other imposed fees by homeowner associations, apartment and condominium complexes and management firms while circumventing the “due process” of the tenant or other violator by not filing a civil lawsuit. Even when the company has a judgment against a tenant or third party, private security officers cannot be used to enforce or collect them and using private security for this duty in some states violates both state and federal laws.
While some retailers also have a practice of assessing civil penalties and demanding payment from shoplifters, enforcement is through the civil court process and company attorneys, not through their security staff.
Security officers have no authority to enforce civil court orders or non-criminal violations.
While client’s often use security officers to enforce property regulations such as loud music, parking restrictions or swimming pool hours, forced compliance is not an option that private security personnel have.
However, in situations where a tenant has been lawfully evicted but either fails to leave or returns to the property, or where a person has unlawfully entered a dwelling and has set up residency, private security officers may immediately take the person into custody because now there is a violation of criminal law; trespassing and/or burglary.
While the duties and some legal authority of private security worldwide continue to expand, it is imperative that both the security company and the officer know the criminal and civil laws of your state and tread lightly, being trained in the task at hand, prudent in your decision and respectful in your actions.
Amazon Warehouse Workers Sue Over Security Checkpoint Waits www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC May 10 2013
Rick McCann
CEO-Founder
Private Officer International
Two former contract workers employed at an Amazon.com warehouse sued the company in 2011 because of the often long wait in the security line to have their belongings checked before leaving company property after their shift.
Employees must first clock out before entering the security line that often has hundreds of people waiting to go through the security checkpoint which can take as long as thirty minutes and the employees asserted that they should be paid for their time since they are required to go through this process.
The lower court dismissed the case saying that the workers were not owed back wages and that Amazon because of the nature of the business and the need to prevent workers from pilfering electronics had a right to maintain security without paying employees for time spent going through the checkpoint.
Jesse Busk, 36, a temporary staffing employee assigned to an Amazon Warehouse and Laurie Castro the lead plaintiff’s in this action continued to argue that employers are required under federal law to pay employees for any mandatory time that an employee must spend at work and now a higher court has overturned the original judge’s decision and ruled in favor of the two plaintiffs.
This recent appeals court ruling in the case could have broad implications for workers at Amazon Warehouses and beyond. The federal appeals court ruling opens the door for all Amazon Warehouse employees and those of other companies who are required to go through security checkpoints off the clock, to file their own litigation for back wages.
Mark Thierman, one of the Nevada lawyers representing Busk and Castro, told HuffPost that his clients’ claims represent “an utter lack of respect for workers’ time” by Integrity and ultimately Amazon.
“From what we’ve been able to find, this is across the country,” Thierman said. “It’s not just Nevada. It’s Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Delaware. All of Amazon Warehouses’s have the same setup.”
Thierman said that this ruling could be “precedent-setting” for the industry. The argument Thierman has made is that passing through security is a vital part of the job for the benefit of the employer and not the employee.
There have been similar worker lawsuits in other low-wage industries. For years, major meat and poultry processors like Tyson Foods have been fighting lawsuits over the time workers spend putting on and removing elaborate uniforms and equipment, like protective gear and chain mail, which can add a half hour to a worker’s day. Known as “donning and doffing” cases, such lawsuits have led to multi-million-dollar payouts in the past.
Wal-Mart and other retailers have been taken to task on this very subject and in two separate court rulings workers have won and been awarded millions of dollars in back wages.
Employees deserve to be paid for the time they spend waiting on the security line, Busk argued, because it’s not by choice — and because “you drove God knows how far to this place, and you just worked 12 hours.”
NEW DANGEROUS DRUG ALERT www.privateofficer.com
MAY 5 2013
CHARLOTTE NC
By: Rick McCann
CEO-Founder
Private Officer International
Another stew of explosive chemicals could be cooking in the apartment or hotel room next door, your office or in your neighborhood and police say that the dangers could be more than that of a meth lab.
The street name for the drug is “honey oil”, BHO, alternatively known as “Butane Honey Oil and police say that it is the latest fad in street drugs. Drug enforcement agents say that on the street the drug is also sometimes called “shatter” and “earwax.
The drug, manufactured from the cannabinoids extracted from Cannabis using a cook down method involving numerous chemicals and butane lighter fluid causes the process to be highly flammable and volatile concoction. Fumes from the cooking process can linger for days making the cooking area a time bomb.
In February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a bulletin to first responders, fire marshals, bomb squads and drug task force personnel alerting them to the dangers and advising them to receive immediate training on identifying the drug as well as the handling and clean-up of a BHO cooking site.
A Rock Hill South Carolina man and his roommate were arrested in March after drug agents raided their home. One of the men said that just a little dab can you pretty high.
“One little drop of this THC is like smoking two marijuana cigarettes,” the man told a local TV station reporter.
The user extracts the potent ingredient THC from a marijuana plant and inhales it, giving them a very strong high.
The materials are cheap and easy to get said a North Carolina user and cooker in a police interview just last week.
Marvin Brown leads York County South Carolina’s drug enforcement unit. Two months ago, he’d never seen BHO.
“Up to that point, I didn’t know anything about it,” Brown said.
Now suddenly, it’s here, and the biggest danger is how it’s made. Highly flammable butane, found in cigarette lighters, and aerosol spray cans, are used to extract the THC leaving behind brown or yellow goo that looks like honey.
We checked with several west coast law enforcement agencies and they told us that the BHO is not something new to them but that have seen an increase in its use and that many of the manufacturers of the illegal drug have also been involved in the cooking of meth.
A quick check on the Internet and YouTube found dozens of websites selling the kits to make the drug and more than 40 how-to videos.
A gram of BHO can sell for up 10 times the price of marijuana.
EMBRACING PRIVATE and PUBLIC SAFETY COLLABORATION www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC April 21 2013
Rick McCann-CEO-Founder
Private Officer International
With the Boston Marathon bombing still at the forefront of our local and national news and still fresh on our minds and numerous other major sporting and national events scheduled across America in the upcoming months, it’s time that private security and public law enforcement communities get on the same page and begin to realize the value in working together, sharing information and resources.
In recent years with the increase of retail organized crimes, police in Michigan, Ohio, Alabama and a number of other states have gone from just responding to a shoplifting call to forming retail security-police alliances and working side by side covertly in store and in investigative roles to investigate, apprehend and prosecute professional shoplifters who have been responsible for millions of dollars of retail theft and fraud. In doing this, law enforcement agencies have found that they were also able to solve residential and commercial burglaries, drug crimes and in several cases apprehend wanted murder suspects who were also involved in retail crimes.
Working together, sharing data, video surveillance, manpower and other resources has proved to be highly successful according to loss prevention manager Marc Stephens.
Private security in many communities already share live video feed with law enforcement dispatch centers and participate in a number of informal information exchange programs but the full potential of shared collaboration has neither been explored nor yet realized.
Both sworn police and private security officers often are deployed into service during massive sporting and concert events, large outdoor venues and political appearances, speeches and gatherings as well as civil unrest demonstrations and protests.
The advanced sharing of training, information, radio frequencies, and joint preparation for these major events will better serve the general public safety at large while cohesively providing a much stronger security net in and around the event.
Private security forces could be trained to provide physical security in these areas checking for suspicious packages, vehicles or persons, sweeping nearby structures, parking areas or common pedestrian walkways allowing police to concentrate on criminal activity occurring at the event.
Communication between local private security and law enforcement needs to be on-going as does some level of joint training and continual planning.
Local communities could start this process by sponsoring monthly meetings between police and security agencies, proprietary security departments and loss prevention personnel.
As the private security industry continues to play a bigger role in the protection of life and property and is often assigned to protect the public, it is imperative that all professionals come together with that sole purpose in mind.
NON TRADITONAL SERVICES DRIVING SECURITY INDUSTRY GROWTH www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC April 17 2013
The use of private security forces to provide traditional physical security for construction sites, apartment complexes and office buildings and other assets that need guarding continue to drive the growth of the private security industry but so does a new breed of non-traditional services being requested by businesses who once provided the service internally or not at all.
A recent security business seminar led by Rick McCann, founder and CEO of Private Officer International gave security company owners the insight to 15 new areas of security industry growth and included the tools and marketing methods to approach the expanding market and to capture those non-traditional contracts.
“We’ve pushed the limits of the normal uniform security services”, McCann said, and “now it’s time to fill the gaps of security related but non-traditional services that many businesses are seeking.”
Some of the new growth services that McCann spoke of in the seminar included providing on-site drug and alcohol testing, accident re-creation and reporting for industrial accidents, slip and falls and traffic collisions occurring on private property. Other services that are also being requested include traffic and parking enforcement, lifeguards and other public safety oriented services not normally provided by contract security firms.
McCann points to Auburn University as a great example of unusual extended services that clients are seeking. Auburn officials hired a Montgomery Alabama based security agency to enforce curfews for their football team members during the season and to escort them back to their dorms when found in violation of those curfews.
Another great example is a contract that a company in Louisiana has to provide drug dogs to sweep ship containers and vessels and provide DOT drug testing for ship personnel and then to provide security protection services of the vessel and cargo while in port McCann added. An all-around service provider is what today’s client is seeking.
If a security provider is willing to think outside of the box and expand their horizons while expanding their ability to provide those non-traditional services, there are great rewards and growth potential waiting for them.
Many companies now are looking to outsource a number of their services and to do it under an “umbrella” contract with one provider.
While McCann cautions security providers not to make promises or take on services that they either aren’t qualified for or interested in just for the sake of winning a contract, he does say that providers willing to step away from the old and embrace the new will not only increase their bottom line but garner a larger market share while growing their brand and name recognition all the while becoming the go to company for regular security and non-traditional and specialized services.
About Us:
Private Officer International is a security-police association and national provider of security, private police, loss prevention and public safety training and industry resources. POI is also a clearing house for private security industry statistical data and hosts weekly radio shows, national seminars and special events.
For more information, business consultation or to hold a training event please contact:
Kyle T Greene kyletgreene@privateofficer.com
SIX SHOOTINGS INVOLVING PRIVATE SECURITY REPORTED www.privateofficer.com
Fourteen security officers face serious charges in use of force www.privateofficer.com
Charges including murder, aggravated assault and manslaughter have been levied against licensed private security officers, nightclub bouncers and proprietary security agents alike.
In the latest incidents, Greenville SC authorities say that a security officer working at a hotel, shot a man inside a vehicle, using deadly force in a manner not warranted for the type of disturbance that had transpired. Boston police say that the nightclub security agent arrested there, kicked, punched and stomped a man on a public street after a confrontation inside the bar and in all of the other non-related incidents law enforcement investigators stated in their reports that the private security personnel used deadly or excessive force when there was no imminent threat to them. While the dangers to private security officers continue to rise, so do the excessive force complaints, lawsuits and the arrests of men and women just trying to do their job. In a large number of the use of force incidents, a direct line can be drawn to the lack of training, poor supervision and the lack of licensing and certification of both contract and proprietary security companies and officers.
This type of training is imperative in an era when security officers are on the frontline assigned to various levels of threat, hostilities, diversity and challenging environments.
Private Officer Skill Based Training
The eight exercises encompass the most frequent areas where the unwarranted use of force has been used by private security during the past ten years.
For more information or to schedule a Skill Seminar please email-helpdesk@privateofficer.com.
SECURITY ALERT: THIEVES TARGET TRUCK BATTERIES www.privateofficer.com
“Skill Set Training Model” facilities for private security set to open www.privateofficer.com
PRESS RELEASE Charlotte NC March 15 2013 Private Officer International, a leader in the private security training arena announced today that four regional “Skill Set Training Model” facilities will be established in the United States during the next two years. The first facility, located in Atlanta Georgia will open in September.
The SSTM facilities will include a “Shoot House” and eight scenario based internal and external modules that will simulate the most frequent situations that private security and law enforcement officers are faced with while on duty.
The latest tools and weapons utilizing simunition, laser and defensive weapons and techniques will be taught as part of the SSTM curriculum. The SSTM programs will be available in one-two and five day blocks and Continuing Education Units will be awarded upon successful completion of the course. The facilities will also be wired with the latest audio and video technology to record and playback training activities for assessment and critique which will further enhance the learning experience.
In addition to the campus based programs, the entire eight blocks of training will be available to be brought to secondary locations and train personnel at their office, school, mall or training facility upon request.
The Skill Set Training Model has been used for many years by POI in seminars and classroom training and has been enhanced to accommodate live-hands on- real life training that engages the student to think, respond, confront and overcome the challenges and the dangers of being an officer on the front line in today’s world.
Strategic Partners will be needed to expand this skill based training and inquiries may be made to: helpdesk@privateofficercom
Further information on the new SSTM, locations, opening dates and available courses will be updated regularly at www.privateofficer.com.
PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICER DISTANT LEARNING PROGRAMS
PRIVATE SECURITY PREMIUM SERVICES
PRIVATE SECURITY PREMIUM SERVICES
MEMBER PREMIUM SERVICES
Starting March 1 2013, a number of changes to our forums, news services and training offerings will take effect.
Job Openings-our job postings-openings will increase with top notch positions and top rated companies in the high end markets. Colleges, hospitals, in-house departments, law enforcement, training and management positions.
We will not accept non-management job listings from contract services who are not POI members any longer.
This area will be restricted to POI members or premium members only
News Services-Our news blogs will remain free to all however premium content, area specific news and business news will be restricted to POI members or premium members only.
Training As with any business, we must balance free offerings with our paid services and we will continue to offer some free training content and on-line courses however certifications, diploma programs and premium training will be available to non members at a reasonable price and to members at a discounted fee.
Private Officer International will be announcing a new Premium Service which will allow for any user to subscribe to news, training, services and products about specific areas of security, public safety, loss prevention or private police which will be tailored to the specific needs of the user.
Private Officer International continues to be on the cutting edge of the security-public safety industry and is a leader in an array of related services, products and training.
For comments, questions or to inquire about the Premium Services please contact me at
stephaniek@privateofficer.com.
Thank you
Stephanie Kay
Operations Manager
Private Officer International
Private Security Fatalities Comparable to Police Fatalities www.privateofficer.com
By Carlton Purvis
Security Management Magazine
Virginia Jan 10 2013
Last year, 112 security officers were feloniously killed on duty, according to data compiled by a North Carolina-based security association. That’s almost as many police that died on duty from natural causes, accidents, and off-duty incidents combined. Injuries and assaults on security officers increased 17 percent.
“We started compiling these numbers [years ago] because there was no entity keeping statistics like these for the security industry,” Private Officer International (POI) CEO Rick McCann said by phone on Monday.
According to Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), a site that tracks law enforcement deaths, 126 police officers died last year from natural causes, accidents, and felonious deaths.
The FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report, released last November, says 72 police officers were feloniously killed in 2011.
POI works with government agencies, private companies, and the media to compile incidents involving security officers. The organization released preliminary statistics on private security officers killed or injured in 2012 last week and plans to release a more detailed report later this month.
The numbers come from incidents POI was able to confirm. The organization says the number of assaults could be 12 to 20 percent higher because incidents involving security workers are often misreported or not reported at all. An employee is less likely to report an altercation that they consider a routine hazard of the occupation.
McCann, 56, who started working in security when he was 17, says people often take for granted the amount of abuse thrown at security officers in settings like malls or shopping centers–places where assaults are on the rise.
Most deaths and assaults occurred at nightclubs, residential areas, and retail centers. There were also a number of assaults reported at hospitals.
“The average shopping mall has 50-110 reports a year of threats or physical assault, but many are not reported as such because of the management company not wanting that information to get out–or they don’t classify it that way,” he said.
Security officers are getting injured and killed because they’re increasingly taking on the role of first responders, McCann says. “They’re being put in harm’s way and often aren’t adequately trained or given the right equipment.”
POI lobbies lawmakers for better regulations concerning security officer training and harsher punishments for people who assault them.
Security officers outnumber police worldwide two to one.
2012 Death-Injury Report
Injuries and assaults saw a 17 percent increase over 2011.
There were 112 on-duty deaths.
103 killed were male; nine were female.
The media age of those killed was 46 years old; the youngest was 19.
The top three places officers were killed were: nightclubs, residential areas, and retail centers.
The top three places officers were assaulted were: retail centers, nightclubs, and hospitals.
Top three causes of death were gunshots (65), trauma (14), and stabbing (9).
There were four on-duty confirmed suicides.
POI will release a full report with detailed accounts of incidents later this month.
The Value of the POI Forums
BE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF OUR FORUMS!
Information is power. Ask any business professional, marketing rep or politician.
Add some free training, peer to peer networking, a few laughs and the power and might of an International organization recognized as a cutting edge industry leader and you have the
Private Officer Forums!
At the POI forums you can find:
Daily news posts specific to the security industry
National Help Wanted Section (High paying positions nationwide)
Private Officer Line of Duty Deaths Listings
Law Enforcement Line of Duty Death Listings
Training Videos
Loads of Pictures
40 Individual Groups (You can start your won)
Free Training
Chat Rooms
And so much more!
Be a member today! It’s free, fun, informative and it’s here for you!
You can also find us on Facebook-Twitter-Linkedin
Listen to our weekly radio shows!
US Demand for Private Security Services to Reach $63.8 Billion in 2016 www.privateofficer.com
Suicides-Workplace Violence Increase During Holidays www.privateofficer.com
Cumberland University security director wins national award www.privateofficer.com
Michael Thornhill named 2012 Founder’s Award recipient
PRESS RELEASE- Security Assistance Program
Private Officer International is pleased to announce today that we have received approval from our Board of Directors to immediately establish an aggressive Financial Assistance Program for security officers injured or killed while on duty.
We understand and know first hand that less than 15% of all security officers are covered by adequate medical insurance and that some employers do not carry Workers Compensation insurance that would otherwise assist their employees with medical expenses and compensate them for any wage loss due to being out of work during a recovery period.
Therefore, starting today, we are instituting a three tier assistance program and a special financial assistance committee overseen by a manager that will work to assist these security officers in this manner:
1.-POI will, when we can identify an employer, work with the employer to insure that medical insurance or other company financial assistance is available to the injured employee.
2.-POI and our assistance committee will also work with several Internet based platforms to raise money for the injured security officer. All funds, minus any fees charged by the fundraising platform will be directed to the injured person. POI will not retain nor charge any fees for services rendered.
3. In the event that the employer or any fundraising efforts fall short of the funds needed for payment of medical and living expenses, POI will further assist the injured security officer with funds available in the POI benevolent services account. We will also assist with local fundraising events and public awareness projects.
All assistance, aid and benefits will be made available to our membership as well as to non-members alike once we have confirmed the needs and circumstances of the injured or killed security officer.
FIRST OFFICER
The first security officer that will be assisted with this new program will be security officer Earl D. Brown, 79 who was shot by police in Lauderhill Florida after responding to a suspicious person call. S/O Brown was on duty and was mistaken for a burglar because he was holding a gun.
Mr. Brown was shot several times and is recovering in a Florida hospital.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS NEEDED
We need three more members of POI for this committee. If interested or if you would like more information about this assistance program please contact:
helpdesk@privateofficer.com
Private Officer International is committed to providing the resources, training and assistance to the security community and we are dedicated to continuing to be a leader on the cutting edge of the evolving security industry.
TAKE A STAND AGAINST NEGATIVE MEDIA
COMMENTARY
The private security industry and those who work in this profession have long lived in the shadow of negative and degrading stigma, half truths and a host of misconceptions that are neither factual nor correct in the least.
Hollywood continues to fuel this with what they call comedies and reality shows that continue to depict the security industry in a negative light while casting off the value and the dedication of more than 3 million US security officers.
Movies such as Armed and Dangerous and Paul Blart Mall Cop and numerous others show security officers as cop wannabes and bungling uneducated people who haphazardly watch over old dirty factories or warehouses, sleeping on duty while burglars carry the business away and old men in crusty uniforms with flashlights who can barely walk.
Now, two more reality shows, one already airing on AMC called Small Town Security and another in production on TLC called Armed Patrol once again have set out to show the private security industry in a degrading and unflattering light and no one has stepped up to protest or take a stand against these attacks on our profession.
Small Town Security follows JJK Security, an actual security company in Ringold Georgia which has been full of negative information, sexual innuendos and an inaccurate portrayal of the security profession.
Armed Patrol will follow an unnamed security patrol company providing neighborhood watch services and community patrols with heavily armed personnel dressed in police SWAT gear and Humvee’s.
The private security industry is in an evolution and learning to become more professional, better trained and is a respectful, honorable and needed profession.
While not perfect, it certainly is not what these shows have long tried to depict and we, the security profession must take a stand against the constant onslaught of such advertising, TV shows and movies and any media that will not show the industry in a true light.
Each year more than 1.7 million criminals are arrested, detained and apprehended by private security. More than 500 million dollars worth of stolen merchandise recovered by loss prevention and uniform security personnel.
40,000 Security officers are assaulted, 9000 are seriously injured and 100 are killed in the line of duty.
Private security is used in every area of protection and frequently is the line between good and bad, criminal and victim, peace and disorder.
Make no mistake, as with any profession or industry there will always be those who will not take their job serious and be that rotten apple in the barrel. There will always be room for improvement and there will always be a learning curve.
But in my thirty eight years in private security and law enforcement I have seen the changes from night watchman to the trained and skilled professional security officer, the continual rapid growth of our industry that has caused changes in training and hiring practices and I know the levels of danger that every security officer on duty now faces.
As a security professional, I am asking that each of you stand with us and demand that these negative reality shows cease the slanderous and demeaning portrayal of our profession.
If we don’t take action against the tide of negativity it will soon drown us and cover the good, the many accomplishments and strides that the security profession has made in the past thirty years.
These negative shows and depictions hurt the individual private security business, the individual security professional and the industry as a whole.
It’s time to demand the respect that we have earned!
It’s Time To Take A Stand!
Write or call the producers today:
Left/Right, Inc.
39 West 19th St., 9th Floor
New York, NY 10011
Tel(212) 695-2092
Fax(212) 695-1625
info@leftright.tv
Rick McCann
rickm@privateofficer.com
Founder-CEO
Private Officer International
Private security industry continues to grow www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA March 16 2012The private security industry is one sector of the economy that is projected to benefit from both perception and reality, even though the two are at odds with one another.
The overall mood in the United States is still sour due to the perceived state of the economy, at least according to 55 percent of responders to a recent Pew Research Center study. However, another source shows that businesses are actually beginning to rebound from the 2007-2009 recession. So, how are industries that serve both publics to know what is real and what is simply in the mind of the beholder?
The answer is that both scenarios are true ─ at least for the private security industry. Private security is projected to grow more than 6 percent in 2012 – the largest increase in nine years, according to a 2010 IBISWorld Industry Report on Security Services in the U.S. The same report shows that businesses are reevaluating where their recovered dollars should be spent and investing in better security.
According to the IBIS research, between the years 2010 and 2015, companies will increase their security budgets as business sentiment improves and more funds become available. Many businesses will increase the number of contracted security staff, as well as the number of hours that guards are on duty. The rise in demand is projected to cause industry revenue to increase by 4.9 percent per year to $32.85 billion at the end of 2015.
On the contrary, the Pew study shows that Americans consider the economy in an even worse position than in 2008, when the nation was in the middle of the recession. At that time, only 34 percent of Americans saw the country’s economic future as bleak. Today, that number is up to 55 percent.
This negative perception also drives the security business, causing Americans to take extra precautions against crimes of opportunity – those that are committed when people grow desperate as a result of their jobless, financial situation.
When our economic outlook is bleak, individuals tend to think that their personal safety is in jeopardy, said one security business owner.
“As unemployment rates remain high and homes continue to go into foreclosure, concerns for public safety heighten – and so does the need for private security.”
Another factor driving the security industry’s projected growth is the reduction of government jobs. According to the February jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one-fifth of the industries with the largest projected wage and salary employment declines are government agencies or municipalities. Existing public safety personnel, including local law enforcement, will go on the chopping block – leading to outsourcing.
In late February 2012, a government-owned and operated electricity company in Tennessee laid off61 percent of its uniformed police officers and replaced them with enhanced security technology and more contract security guards at its critical non-nuclear energy sites.
This is just one example of public budgets feeling the squeeze and opening the door for private security, which generally provides more affordable protection than traditional law enforcement – with the added benefit of keeping the reduced number of traditional law enforcement officers on the streets, patrolling areas that are more impacted by serious crime.
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2011 PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICER DEATHS
PRESS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE WIDE RELEASE
ATLANTA GA JANUARY 4 2012
2011 PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICER DEATHS
In 2011, Private Officer International, a security-police organization worked with numerous state and federal reporting agencies, private companies and media entities to track, record and calculate the injuries and assaults on and the deaths of, private security officers in the U.S.
In 2011, more than 37,000 assaults against contract and proprietary security officers, loss prevention agents and private police were reported.
Those assaults resulted in more than 13,700 injuries.
There were also 114 “confirmed” security officer “on-duty” deaths as a result of a combiniiton of homicide, accidential, industrial and “unclassified” incidents. But actual death totals are believed to be 12%-20% higher and misreported in other worker classifications.
11 Security officers also committed suicide while on-duty.
The breakdown of the deaths were:
54 Gunshots
11 Stabbing
19 Trauma/Assault
10 Car Accidents
6 Industrial Accidents
14 Unclassified
The average age of the security officer killed in the line of duty was 38.
The states with the most incidents of security officer injuries, assaults and deaths included New York, California, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsyvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia, Indiana, and Nevada.
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2011 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 790,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it would take about 10 sold-out events for that many people to see it.
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SECURITY OFFICER ASSOCIATION
2011 FOUNDER’S AWARD RECIPIENT NAMED
PRESS RELEASE
DECEMBER 8 2011
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are proud today to announce the recipient of the first annual, Private Officer International, Founder’s Award.
Mr. Ken Kingman has been selected for his continual support of the association, personal efforts and dedication to the growth and overall mission of the Private Officer organization.
The 2011 award winner is married and the owner of a security company in Billings Montana, a prior law enforcement officer and fire chief.
Mr. Kingman is a Lifetime Member of POI and has recently been appointed the Montana State Director for the association.
Congratulations Ken and thank you for your positive attitude, forward thinking and all of the can do attitude that you have brought to Private Officer International!
ABOUT PRIVATE OFFICER: A membership based private security-law enforcement association headquartered in Atlanta Georgia USA. POI provides membership, networking, news services and products and services for the private security and public safety industry.
CONTACT INFO: Kyle T Greene- kyletgreene@privateofficer.com
