Depends What “Security” Means…

Glenn notes the murder of an unarmed security guard and how odd the “unarmed” part is.  Indeed.  If it’s for security, anyway…

When I did “security guard” work, it paid $5 an hour - about the same as $8 or so now - and from what I understood saved the companies more in insurance premiums than it cost them to hire the security company.  It meant there was someone walking through even the most unused recesses of the factories at regular intervals, looking for everything to be normal.  The point was if a fire started to smoulder, a pipe started to leak, the explosive smell of a leaking propane tank started to fill the air (to include an actual save I made), the sprinkler system lost pressure, someone might see it sooner rather than later.

There was never any expectation that we would keep employees or intruders in line or do more than report what we saw to someone who could do something about it.  We could even get in trouble if we noted or complained about the wrong thing.

If one of us just happened to be shot while on duty, it would have been sad and all, but we weren’t there for that kind of thing.  However, a school security guard?  I could see that being different, if he’s there in part specifically to protect people, and not just to see and report if, say, the building stands up and walks away.

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