A Few Good Reasons to Keep Security Happy

Security people worry. It’s generally what we do, and what we’re paid to do, as well. We worry about a lot of things, from floods to fire and cameras not working, alarms that go off in the night without a reason in the world to do so – sometimes, I think alarm systems just crave the attention they get when someone has to come out and see why there’s braying sirens and flashing lights everywhere. That said, there’s one thing that worries us more than anything else – dangerous people.

People, after all, are generally dangerous. That’s worrying on its very own, but then there’s that small percentage of people who are just that much more dangerous than the rest. Those’re the ones who will climb your fences, break your windows, attack you in a dark street, rob you or rape you or whatever else they might think is a good idea at the time. All those things are always lurking at the back of our minds, but there’s still one group of people who might wreak more havoc than any of those we’ve already mentioned, and we’ve seen that time and time again. Who are they? I’ll tell you in a minute, don’t you worry. Yet.

We spend a lot of time preparing for things. We write manuals, guard orders, training courses, and we go through all of that diligently, hoping that those things will help us when shit hits the fan. Because it will, you know, hit the fan, at some point or another. It might be just a little turd, and it might be a whole truckload of manure, but we still try to prepare for it as best we can. Training security people in all the little nooks and crannies of a high rise, the codes and routines of alarm systems and access schemes, along with camera control and manipulation and patterns is all part of the job. Thousands and thousands of security guards and security officers of various kinds have intimate and extensive knowledge of the inner workings of society, on a level that is scarcely believable to someone who has never worked in the security business.

So who makes up that most dangerous group of people? Well, security professionals, of course. We know everything. Well, we know everything there is to know about security, and in turn, we know everything there is to know about fooling, bamboozling and circumventing security measures, of every kind. As far as is publicly known, it has scarcely happened that security professionals have turned on their employers or on targets they have blinked out, but it is only a matter of time. Why, you ask?

Low pay, low respect levels, dangerous duties without much credit or reimbursement given (security guards have a mortality rate on the job of 8 in 100,000 – it’s extreme compared to most civilian professions), generally sadly uneducated supervisors and managers (at least when it comes to security experience and certifications), and poor working conditions.
But, they’re only lowly security guards, right? Right… Lowly security guards that have absolutely all the information they need to gain access and do basically whatever they want on your premises. Access to sensitive records? Sure. The master key is in the lockbox at the security station, right? They usually are, for use in emergencies such as fires or earthquakes or whatever else might be prone to happen in your area. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, landslides, riots… You name it.
But, you say, you have alarm systems and access logs in place! Surely that will be a hurdle, even for the security guards? No…not really. The guards most likely have access to either a master code or a password to cancel responses to false alarms… Right? I thought so.

Imagine, if you will, a group of people with unlimited access to your compound, building or office space, your records department and HR, payroll and lock boxes, passwords to your alarm systems and security measures, and you depend on them to keep your place safe. Know someone like that? Now imagine that those people suddenly weren’t happy anymore… That would be a bad thing, right? Yes….I thought you might see my point. The scariest part is, that there are security guards and officers everywhere, right now as you’re reading this, that are in that exact situation. So how do we avoid this problem? Can it, in fact, be avoided at all, or is it just one of those “calculated risks” that we all just have to accept?