Top Flight Security
Hey everyone,
My newsletter has become a hodge-podge of all sorts of things, but I’m most comfortable writing about things that irk me. The topic of today’s discussion is very near and dear to me, because of how often I interact with this group of individuals. Regardless, I feel the need to speak my piece on something that we’ve allowed to go on for far too long.
We need to stop calling security guards “officers”
Let me start this by saying that security guards are super important for physical locations. In some instances, your employer may offer the opportunity for you to work in some type of hybrid or remote capacity, but if you have an office, warehouse, or any other headquarters there will always be a need to have security guards. They have eyes and ears on the ground, they know the building layouts better than all other employees, and they’re critical whenever planning on-site events. Having said that though, are they really officers?
When I hear the word officer, I think of three scenarios. I think of the C-level executives at an organization, police officers, and the military. All three have real influence, autonomy to a certain extent, and authority to take measures into their own hands if need be. I could argue whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s for another newsletter, but the point remains that they are people who can get stuff done in the face of crisis. Why do we include security guards in that same bracket?
Security guards don’t have the authority to do anything except call 911. In some instances, they will be armed with some form of a blunt object, usually a flashlight. Sometimes they will have walkie-talkies or other communication devices, but for the most part, they have no real power to do anything if an emergency is taking place. They seem to be more preventative in nature, similar to Wal-Mart greeters. But unlike Wal-Mart greeters, security guards have to wear uniforms that let them masquerade as other types of officers. And I hate uniforms.
Side note: My first job after graduating from Notre Dame was as a management consultant for a consulting firm in Norcross, GA. I was one of a few billable employees, and all of the billable employees consulted as contractors for a Fortune 500 beverage company based out of Atlanta. Our CEO was retired from the Army, so he wanted us to have uniforms and branding similar to the military. During the 2008 energy crisis, when the average gas price rose above $4 a gallon, our CEO purchased a bright yellow Hummer H2. He made all employees wear yellow long-sleeve button-up 100% cotton shirts that were the same color as his brand new Hummer. The yellow shirts, along with black dress pants, became our brand and our year-round uniform. As a result of this, I have a very special disdain for work uniforms and I feel for all of the security guards forced to wear them. This was also when I would eat two slices of Little Caesar’s Hot-N-Ready pizza at night, or as they call it now, Girl Dinner. But I digress.
This past weekend I went to the warzone known as Lenox Square Mall and the building was flooded with real officers. They had assault weapons, drug dogs, and Segways for some reason, but there was a multitude of them in there making sure no one stole anything from the David Yurman store. And in that particular moment, I realized that security guards need a rebrand.
There needs to be a new term for security guards instead of “officers”. Calling them officers, and wearing stripes on the shoulder, feels like an insult to our actual Armed Forces. I’ll leave it open to you as to what the new name should be, but I feel like we need a change sooner rather than later.
As the NFL says, it takes all of us.