Every day, numerous cases of theft, robbery, attempted murders, vandalism, and sexual assault are reported by the news and police. With the passing of time, there is an increasing number of risks and threats in every aspect of life and at all kinds of places. Every asset is it material or non-material, needs to be protected as there are certain monetary and non-monetary values and costs associated to the things. It is generally the fear of getting caught that reduces the number of criminal activities on record.
The purpose of hiring a security guard is to protect places, property, and people. The job of the security officer is to mitigate threats that might harm the aforesaid priorities. This requires security guards to stay vigilant, visible, and proactive in all kinds of protocols. Having a visible presence of a security guard limits the opportunity to act for someone with malicious intent. Crime occurs when the perpetrator has three things at disposal- desire, ability, and opportunity. As desire and ability belong to the person willing to commit a crime hence cannot be controlled by the one who is vulnerable to the act, the only factor that can be controlled is “opportunity”. Taking away the opportunity lowers the probability of crime to the extent of fully preventing it. Having a professionally trained and collected security guard deputed works as an efficient defensive deterrent to limit the opportunity for crimes. Apart from limiting the opportunity, security officers also deal with a plethora of things ranging from a bad attitude, injury, and conflict to a full-on crisis.
Safety and security are the top priority for the corporate sector, government bodies, institutions, and individuals. Businesses hire security staff to ensure their area is not accessible by a potential perpetrator. Schools across the UK hire security guards to protect against criminals and shooting incidences. In short, whether it’s a retail business, a factory, a museum, or a hospital, security officers, there’s an ever-increasing need for security guards in these places. Following are some places where the presence of a security guard is a must.
1. Housing Complexes and Residential Buildings
Housing estates and residential buildings are vulnerable to burglaries, kidnappings, and trespassing as they are the most expensive neighborhoods considered to be inhabited by rich families. Guarding main gates in housing estates is important for controlling movement and preventing kidnapping and robbery attempts. Preventing such attempts is comparatively difficult in these places without adequate security measures as they generally comprise flats and duplexes. Deputing uniformed guards equipped with metal detectors, communication devices, and patrol vans is a solution for housing estates and residential buildings for deterring criminal activities in their area. Security guards keep looking around for suspicious activity and ensure that the residents are secure giving them peace of mind and a sense of protection.
2. Business and Corporations
Corporations are business hubs for trading, business operations, and commercial activities that take place on a daily basis. Their office buildings, factories and manufacturing sites, etc. are the center of business activities, meetings, and important transactions. Apart from material assets, the security of employees and workers, customers and vendors, and other pole visiting these places is highly important. Office buildings are most vulnerable as unwanted intruders may attempt to trespass to steal valuables and important company information. They are also at the risk of accidents and other attempts by rival companies to mar the image of the business. Therefore, security personnel must be employed at these business centers for safeguarding corporate assets and people working at or visiting those places.
3. Financial Institutions and Banks
Financial institutions and banks need special attention and safety. These places are highly vulnerable to robberies and violent attempts due to the nature of their business that involves assets of high monetary value such as funds in the form of cash and other valuables that people place in vaults at banks for security. Security guards are needed to protect assets, staff, and customers as they prevent bank robberies and attacks, and come in handy during instances when money is physically transferred between banks and to other places.
4. Parking Lots
Parking lots usually have more vehicles than people and are at greater risk of criminal activities. Burglars and thugs consider parking lots as easily escapable places due to the vehicle rush and less human activity at parking lots. Gunpoint snatching, kidnapping, and stealth of expensive car components are common incidents for parking lots where security staff is not deputed to prevent these serious losses and reduce such incidences.
5. Hospitals and Medical Centers
Hospitals are places for healing that provide comfort and care to the sick and injured. It is necessary to position a security guard at entry and exits points of hospitals as lots of people walk into the hospital on an everyday basis. Security staff should also be positioned at the parking lot and every floor of the hospital as these places are vulnerable to criminal activity.
6. Shopping Malls
Shopping malls are full of hundreds of shops containing millions of products and are visited by thousands of people every day. To ensure a positive shopping experience for shoppers, lots of security measures are taken to let people hang out in malls freely. Security guards at shopping malls protect and guard people and valuables by applying check discipline and monitoring CCTV cameras.
7. Events
Several occasions such as conferences, exhibitions, fashion shows, weddings, carnivals, and concerts, etc. of various sizes are held daily. Events are attended by large gatherings hence making it easy for criminals to camouflage themselves and indulge in robbery and assault. It is important to have security personnel at event centers to ensure there is no criminal activity at the site of the event. They also act to control crowds and chaos and provide emergency medical assistance when required.
8. Educational Institutions
Unfortunately, educational institutions like schools, colleges, and universities also need the deployment of security systems and personnel as lots of cases of armed trespassing and shootings have been reported. Also, there are cases when such incidences were prevented by professional security guards resulting in saving many lives.
All the above-cited places are always facing some level of risk of invasion attempts, theft and robbery, and trespassing by unwanted intruders. These places also face the risk of mishaps relating to natural occurrences and occurrences due to human negligence such as fire and electrocution etc. To avoid all kinds of such unpleasant situations, security guards are needed to secure your assets and people.
Syndicate Alpha provides highly-trained SIA-Licensed security staff to meet the varying needs of its diversified clientele. If you are on the lookout for well-trained professional security staff then do not hesitate to reach to our team at Syndicate Alpha. We aim to provide our clients with vigilant security services adhered to their requirements!