"Guards Can't do Anything!"

"Guards can't do anything, you are a waste of time and money, just standing around doing nothing. God, I hate you guys"  Said by a client's employee.

Well you are right in some respects. We can't give you happiness or a raise. We can't end crime in our time, we can't prevent the theft of your lunch from the company refrigerator or find you a boyfriend.

One said "Ha, what will you do if 10 guys run in here firing automatic weapons? Huh? Ha!" (Well friend I will die stoically, valiantly or screaming in pain but I expect to die,)  What I did say was "I will run , across the parking lot, screaming like a little girl!"

"You aren't a cop!" Well yeah, I know that: each time I meet my boss, see my paycheck, speak to a cop, speak to my co-workers, speak to any child or look forward to retirement. (Opps, no retirement; just going to die in the lobby of a heart attack at 76 years old. Which will be treated as a major inconvenience to the staff and management.) On the bright side, I can't arrest you for DWI after your 4 Margarita lunch or for your "Conspicuous Stupidity in a Public Place." I can kick the 5150 dude out of the building when he exercises his problems and I might just prevent some miscreant from acting out here and I'll grab a fire extinguisher when you set your trash basket on fire, rather than screaming and staring as the fire spreads.

What we do is deter some bad guys, but to a greater extent we make visitors and other staff members feel that management cares about them and that they can count on someone to do something! Some guards can do more than you might think. Much more, some guards will take a bullet for you in trying to protect you. It is not personal however, it is just our job.


Guards often detect and deter bad guys at the perimeter; in incidents that you, as an average employee, never hear about.

'Courage is moving into danger when you have the means to escape.' Jonas Blane The Unit: Season 1 , Episode 5.

An employee came up to me on her last day on the job and said, "I will remember you as the one who always ran into the building when we were all running out." This too is what guards do.

I regularly observe the lack of tactical and situational awareness routinely manifested by employees, customers and clients. I have watch these folks walk to their car for instance and be oblivious to the "menacing guy" watching them walk alone through the parking lot....until said guy notices the guard watching him, at which point the potential menacer finds a different direction to amble. The entire vignette unnoticed by the employee who thinks guards can't do anything.