Strolling through the center of Brussels today my mind wandered off as my wife was shopping. I started an incognito surveillance of the security staff present in the mall, the different stores and the public areas. Of course, it was not all that hard to pick them out of the crowd, as they all wear clothing portraying the company they work for. This of course is done deliberately, if only to show the competition who is working where. More importantly, the clothing shows possible ‘threats’ that security is present and that somebody is keeping an eye out.
With the law on security being very strict in Belgium, everybody is aware of the fact that security officers can not do much in case of a crime… Nevertheless the men and women in the field do a good job. They show the public that somebody cares, that somebody is there to assist and in this they do succeed.
The security officers are also trained in basic firefighting skills, first aid and most of them have the ‘spirit’ to actively help the emergency services if this is required. So in fact, security officers in public places are present and ready to act in case something goes wrong. Whether this ‘something’ is in their job description or not, there are countless stories where officers helped in emergencies or in prevention of a crime. It belonged to their human duty and as well trained officers, they were able to react proportionally, adequately and efficiently.
What I also noticed was, that the different ‘companies’ were all wearing two-way communications gear. The agents were all in touch via some kind of communication method, be it radio or cell phone. Of course, a means of communication is a basic tool for the security officer. As the joke goes, “what is the difference between a cop and a security officer?” answer: “ The cop gets 1 year training, a radio and a gun… The security officer gets 1 week of training, a flashlight and a notebook… “
Communication is good, it is much needed and it helps coordinate the safety and the security of large public areas such as shopping malls, train stations, airports etc. In case of a fire, big medical emergencies or more recently a terrorist threat, the fact that security officers could communicate and coordinate through radio was a big advantage. But this advantage could have been even bigger if a lack of training, cooperation and use of the right equipment did not severely limit it. Let me explain why.
First of all, none of the security companies work together. This means that when radio traffic occurs, the only ones hearing it are the agents of the same company, using the same frequency and code, preprogrammed for the specific two-way radios. As I said, a large public area, with ‘different’ customers for different security companies all have their own men roaming the ‘same’ terrain. Basically they all provide security for the same area, but their job description limits them to ‘customer’ borders.
In case of a fire, greater medical emergency or terrorist threat, communication across the different ‘customer’ borders is not possible. This limits the efficiency of help that the security officers can provide. Even though the South wing of the mall is under terrorist attack, think of chemical gas, physical attack, siege or whatever terrorists can think of, security officers can not worn their ‘colleagues’ on the north side, because they don’t have the means to communicate.
Some companies have chosen for the mobile phone as the means of communication. Effective in some cases, because everybody knows how to use one and line of communication is not limited by range. However, in case of a major disaster, the GSM network is the first to go. The risk of loosing network due to heavy usage is pretty big. Even though these days the GSM networks are very robust, the risk still exists. Also, agents that use the two-way radio system might not have a cell phone, or the cell phone number for the agents working for a ‘competing’ company. Cell phones also have the limitation that only man to man communication is possible and so, with one call, you can’t reach everybody. (What about an all stations SMS?)
The problem that is caused by a lack of communication has been demonstrated during the 9/11 attacks in the US. Police departments, Fire Departments, Medical Emergency Providers and even departments between themselves found out in an extremely painful way that due to the lack of decent equipment, training and procedures, nobody could communicate, orders were not followed up as they were not received and lives were lost as a result.
In our case, security people and organizations have no common means of communication. If serious terrorist attacks were to hit, valuable personnel, people on the scene, our first responders, would be left without communication. Organization and planning would be out of the window. People might be doing unnecessary tasks, or tasks that cause a danger. Even while others might already have information that could prevent some of the problems.
Technically, it is very well possible to provide private security forces with equipment that is ready to provide all-round communication. It is the attitude that needs to change. Security should not be seen as a profit center, it should be seen as an effort to improve public safety, with all means possible. Cooperation should be promoted, the attitude of lawmakers needs to change.
On the other hand, providing tools is not enough, the proper training and exercise for security professionals needs to be enhanced. Security is not a job, it’s a calling and people should be trained accordingly. Certainly when it comes to communication. People already have a problem communicating, especially under stress scenarios, without visual contact and through equipment that we don’t use everyday.
In any case, it is something that needs to be evaluated and thought about. Unfortunately the risk of security threats will only increase. If we can react now, by improving basic needs like communication, we can already be a step ahead.
Remember: “There are two types of radios: Type 1: Radios that work, Type 2: radios that don’t work. When going out to the field, make sure you ALWAYS have radio Type 1!”