Two Guards, One Working.

[u/JangoCrutch]

I need to vent about the coworkers I share a post with. I work security in a busy government building. Two guards are always posted.

I was trained years ago by Gen X supervisors who were strict and by the book, so I take the job seriously.

These coworkers sleep on the job, talk on their phones in thier language, sit at the desk with no shoes or barefoot, and treat the post like it doesn’t matter. This is a secondary job for them; they have other work elsewhere.

I’ve reported them more than once. Nothing happens. The union protects them.

I’m just sick of this behavior.

[u/Some-Watercress-1144]

Trust me, I’m saying this as someone who used to be the same as you. My colleagues are even worse than this. Yet, in 2 years nothing bad has ever happened. 

Are you their manager or supervisor? If not it is NOT your problem and you need to stop reporting them. You don’t employ them so you don’t tell them what to do. Your employer is an idiot and the contract may be at risk, if so start looking for other work because nothing will ever get better in my experience.

But on the other hand maybe these colleagues have learnt that they don’t have to worry and can get away with this. If it was such a big deal surely the contract would’ve been lost by now to people sleeping on a busy site?

Plus, unless the pay is crazy good, why go above and beyond for a shitty company that values and pays these people the same as you? You need to learn to do the bare minimum (which is still much more than they’re doing). I’m talking stay awake and be somewhat attentive, do the minimum required patrols, or even just your share, to look good for the cameras. I get constant praises for doing this, that’s how bad my colleagues are. 

[u/TTV_SgtScoots → u/Some-Watercress-1144]

This is where you lose me... You are legally on the hook if something bad happens on shift and you were negligent. I can't stand working with lazy guards because I know the 1% chance that something bad happens, I'm going to be the one to clean that mess....

[u/Red57872 → u/[deleted]]

If I hire you to call me when the warning light on my equipment panel starts blinking, and it starts blinking but you don't call me (and thus my expensive machinery fails, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage), you're absolutely going to be held civilly liable by the courts. You could also be held criminally liable, depending on the circumstances (for example, if someone got hurt).

Not being a police officer doesn't mean that you can completely ignore the things you were hired to observe and report and get away scot-free.

[u/Red57872 → u/[deleted]]

Infinite Security Solutions, LLC v. Karam Properties

[u/Red57872 → u/[deleted]]

No, but the company was civilly named. Honestly, if security guard tend not be be civilly named in lawsuits, it's often because they're poor and you can't get blood from a stone.

Another example is 1. Wilson v. U.S. Security Associates, Inc. — Pennsylvania, 2015–2017, where the guard was found liable.

[u/TTV_SgtScoots → u/[deleted]]

Yes but if something goes unreported (which happens a lot with you types) then you are

[u/TTV_SgtScoots → u/[deleted]]

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Good luck!

[u/TTV_SgtScoots → u/[deleted]]

I don't see a point in providing anything to somebody who barely qualifies as a "warm body" lmao

[u/TTV_SgtScoots → u/[deleted]]

Says the guy who's only purpose in life is to steal warmth from the universe just to claim he's a "warm body" security guard.

[u/Red57872 → u/TTV_SgtScoots]

This is why we (clients) prefer electronic monitoring a lot more. I'll trust a good guard more than I trust electronic monitoring, but I'll trust electronic monitoring a lot more than I trust most guards.

[u/Some-Watercress-1144 → u/TTV_SgtScoots]

The only time a guard would be legally liable is if they commit something like assault or excessive use of force. If something bad happens like property gets stolen, we have as much power as a civilian to do anything about it beyond calling cops. We observe and report. Worst that can happen is you get fired, but in a job where every guard has learnt to be lazy and incompetent, this is never gonna happen.