People often laugh at or disregard the Security Officer working their beat. They are often thought of as the “Barney Fife” in life. This perception is far from reality. These men and women are dedicated to providing a service to business owners and their patrons. In doing so, some have paid the ultimate price.
Every 63.2 hours a Security Officer is killed in the line of duty. 128 were killed in 2012 and to date, 57 have been killed in 2013.
Here are some of the real life situations that Security Officers can find themselves.
Sitting in her company patrol vehicle in the parking lot of a Jacksonville McDonald’s, on-duty security officer Brenda Williamson stops long enough to grab breakfast before heading back out on patrol. But before she can finish her meal, Williamson is attacked and shot during a possible robbery and dies before help arrives.
A Salinas California security officer working alone and unarmed confronts a suspicious man in a dollar store. The man, who had been roaming in and out of the store for several hours, pulls a knife and the security officer is stabbed multiple times in front of customers and employees. He bleeds out in the middle of the store despite efforts from a number of people who tried to save him.
Gunshots again ring out; this time in Ohio, less than forty eight hours after the California security officer has been killed. In the parking lot of a south Toledo nightclub, a man is shooting at patrons and security officers. The man is killed in the ensuing gun battle by club security .That evening in San Francisco and Las Vegas, two other security officers are shot at night clubs.
Less than a week into the new month, three security officers are dead, five others have been stabbed or shot, and there have been more than two dozen confrontations with armed persons including four close calls in West Virginia, Nevada, Illinois and Tennessee, where Security Officers were shot at and in some cases, returned gunfire.
One such confrontation occurred as security officers patrolling the Blackhawk Housing Development in Rockford, Illinois came under heavy gunfire and had to shoot it out with several persons. The private officers were not injured but say that they face the threat of death every day that they report for work. The weekend continues on with a security officer being stabbed in Waldorf, Maryland, armored car guards attacked during a robbery in Charlotte, N.C. and another security officer shot in Detroit.
These are just some of the incidents that happened over the first 10 days of the month of August. As you can see there are no particular types of businesses that are the issues, but in all cases the Security Officers were doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. Being a Security Officer is, most times, a thankless job; but the next time you see one, thank him. You never know when you may need him.
By: Brian Black of Madison Security Group
