Why Hospitals and Schools Must Supplement Security by Hiring Police Officers

Society’s most vulnerable can be found in hospitals and Schools. Most hospitals and schools hire private security guards to keep our most vulnerable people safe. Is hiring private security enough, or is there reason to hire off-duty police officers? Sure, there are plenty of great security officers out there that do an excellent job, but you may be shocked to learn some basic facts about the private security industry.

Warning: you may find this article disturbing.

Most security guards are minimum / low wage employees. Some earning as little as $7.25 per hour – and yes I am writing this in 2019.

As most of us would expect, there are all kinds of management challenges associated with leading a minimum wage workforce, much less one that is supposed to keep people safe. Just ask any guard company manager (ever), and they will tell you the industry is wrought with guard accountability problems to the extreme. The same is simply not true with an off-duty police officer.

As mentioned above, there are lots of good security guards out there that do a great job – and they deserve credit. However, the scary thing is; there are also many guards out there that have arrest records. That’s right – an arrest record doesn’t necessarily disqualify someone from becoming a security guard. Think about that…

The really scary thing is, there are also many examples of situations where the security guard on duty turns out to actually be a predator himself.

Take, for example, just a few weeks ago in Lancaster, SC – a sexual assault at a hospital occurred. The victim: a patient. The assailant: the guard on duty.

https://www.ajc.com/news/national/security-guard-accused-sexually-assaulting-patient-while-she-slept/xsgVgeVwAaVgxHrqmdp8xJ/

Had this hospital hired off duty police (or more of them) to augment their guard force, perhaps this sexual predator guard would have thought twice before assaulting his victim.

Another heinous example of a predator guard: the case of Mario McIlwain, 26, of Rock Hill NC. He was the security guard at Alexander Graham Middle School in Charlotte. Arrested in July for allegedly sexually assaulting a thirteen (13) year old female student on multiple occasions – and yes, while on duty at the School. It makes you wonder if Mario would have made the same decision if the School had hired police officers for their campus, or hide a larger law enforcement presence.

https://nypost.com/2018/07/12/school-security-guard-sexually-assaulted-13-year-old-girl-cops/

Also, the case of Zachary Jon Taylor, 30, who entered a no-contest plea to indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old and corruption of minors, both misdemeanor counts, in September. This case too involved a 13 year old girl that was sexually assaulted while at school – by the security guard paid minimum wage (or very low wage) to keep her safe.

https://www.tribdem.com/news/former-school-security-guard-sentenced-on-sexual-assault-allegations/article_9cac8c16-f994-11e8-be6e-2fbf885e6365.html

Even scarier than what this article has already covered, is the fact that there are scores and scores of similar stories about predator guards who assaulted patients and students at hospitals and schools while on duty. Here’s three more recent news article to prove why you should hire off-duty police officers:

Police: Anacostia HS security guard accused of sexual abuse of student on school ground

https://wjla.com/news/crime/anacostia-hs-security-guard-accused-of-sexual-abuse-of-teen-student

Cleveland School Security Guard charged with rape:

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/disturbing-new-details-released-about-cleveland-school-security-guard-charged-with-rape

New Brunswick, NJ: Security Guard Accused of Sex Assault of Youths

https://www.tapinto.net/articles/former-school-security-guard-accused-of-sex-assault-of-youths-2

These news accounts of actual events should disturb everyone, because everyone has a family member within a school, or that will be at a hospital at some point in the future, or both. Therefore, it is indeed everyone’s safety and security that is put at risk by not hiring police officers at hospitals and schools..

Every School and Hospital in the country should hire off-duty police officers to augment their guard staff. The reality is, many public safety budgets continue to be flat year over year, barely accounting for inflation, yet the special law enforcement needs of society’s most vulnerable is an ever growing concern.

According to the US Bureau of Census, Survey of State and Local Government Finance, 1977 – 2015, the percentage of tax dollars allocated to public safety has actually fallen every year since 1998.

State and Local Direct General Spending Graph

Over the past two decades, the private sector has been forced to carry more of the financial burden associated with supplementing the security needs of stakeholders and many private organizations have stepped up, and should be commended for doing so. However, the need is great for the private sector as a whole to invest more in keeping those relying on them safe by hiring actual police officers, especially our most vulnerable people at Schools and Hospitals.

Private organizations nationwide can easily afford to hire off-duty police to augment their guard force, and they should. However, many people aren’t sure how to hire off-duty police officers, and many departments and agency’s don’t provide off-duty police coordination services themselves. So, if you happen to live in one of those jurisdictions, you may have felt like you hit a dead end if you have looked into hiring police in the past.

FirstGuard provides an easy way for any organization to hire off-duty police for their private security needs. The process is simple. You contact FirstGuard, receive a quote, and a uniformed police officer arrives at your property, or business. All officers are sworn law enforcement personnel with full police arrest powers, and they will use them to keep you, and everyone who relies on you, safe. Hire off-duty police.

Contact

Andy R. Hughes

Business Development Manager

FirstGuard LLC

andy@firstguardofficers.com

firstguardofficers.com

About FirstGuard – FirstGuard is a Private Law Enforcement Agency specializing in helping customers hire off duty police officers nationwide. FirstGuard is capable of deploying over three-thousand off duty police officers, marked vehicles, and investigators throughout the United States. The company also specializes in private law enforcement deployments during natural disaster events. For more information about FirstGuard, please visit us on the web at firstguardofficers.com or call us at 1-888-888-8888

The post Why Hospitals and Schools Must Supplement Security by Hiring Police Officers appeared first on FirstGuard LLC.