Just 2 Seconds (94 page)
Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart
Each file should contain documented results of drug-screen urinalysis (they should have pre-employment and on-going random urinalysis results to show you).
| Does the file contain reports on drug-screen urinalysis? | |
| 0 | 10 |
| No | Yes |
Ask to see printed physical fitness requirements established by the firm. Ask to see documentation that they test their security employees to confirm they meet the physical fitness and readiness standards the firm claims.
| Does the firm have printed physical fitness and readiness standards, and can they show you documentation of tests confirming fitness and readiness of security employees? | |
| 0 | 10 |
| No | Yes |
Observe and assess the physical fitness of the managers and executives you meet and see during your meeting. The example of fitness and readiness they set for their employees is an important factor in any due diligence assessment.
| Score your impression of the physical fitness of the people you experienced at the firm (from very poor to superior/excellent). | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Ask to see their corporate Employee Handbook, and their Policy and Guidelines Manual for security personnel; ask to see their written training manual and
written tests that verify successful completion of each course.
| Score your impression of the corporate Employee Handbook and their Policy & Guidelines Manual. Are the books impressive, comprehensive? Do the books appear original, or merely cut and paste text from other organizations? | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Is the firm able to show you written tests documenting that each of the sample employees were tested on their familiarity with the Employee Handbook and the Policy & Guidelines? | |
| 0 | 10 |
| No | Yes |
Ask to see a Site Procedures Manual for a current client. (This would be a book unique to a particular client site, containing information about routine procedures and emergency procedures at that particular site.)
| Is the site procedures manual immediately available for your review? | |
| 0 | 4 |
| No | Yes |
| Score your impression of the Site Procedures Manual you review. Is it impressive, well-maintained? | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Determine if their security personnel are full-time, salaried employees with a clear career path (as opposed to part-timers, people while off-duty from another job, or in some other way not fully invested in a career with this organization).
| Score the firm on the issue of whether all personnel are fully invested in this firm, and fully invested in serving its clients (high score), or are some part-time employees (low score). | ||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Ask how they recruit and identify candidates for employment. Do they have an organized and presentable recruitment process? Can they show you an actual system, or do they mumble about some loose method of referral? A real organization will have a demonstrable recruitment system.
| Score your impression of their recruitment process. | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS & RETENTION
Ask if the firm provides its employees with fully-funded medical insurance, dental insurance, education assistance, 401k, paid vacation, paid paternity leave, and vision insurance. People can answer these questions any way they choose, but after they answer, ask to see the Insurance Enrollment Document.
| Score your impression of the benefits they offer their employees, knowing that the general satisfaction and happiness of their employees will directly affect the service those employees deliver for you. | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
While at their offices, meet executives and managers. Ask how long each person has been with the firm. Ask each person about his or her career plans and goals.
| Score your impression of how long the managers have been with the firm, and how well the firm retains and satisfies its managers: | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Ask to see the payroll records of the five sample employees, which will show duration of employment along accounting for some of the benefits.
Reviewing payroll records for a few employees will reveal the presence or absence of a 401k, demonstrate if they are full or part-time, and will offer valuable insight about the compensation of their employees.
| Score your impression of whether the payroll records confirmed the claims made by the firm -- or placed their claims in doubt. | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Do you come away impressed with how they manage their own business and personnel? The score of your impression on this question is perhaps the best indicator of how they would manage their services to clients, and an excellent indicator of whether working with them will bring you quality or liability? | ||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
LICENSING
Confirming that the firm is licensed to provide the service is seemingly most-obvious yet frequently overlooked. Step one is to be sure the prospective provider of security services has an up-to-date and valid license that looks like this (a California document is provided as an example):
| Does the firm possess a valid PPO license in their name as shown? | |
| 0 | 3 |
| No | Yes |
Next, ask to see the State licenses within those five random personnel files you are reviewing. These licenses are required by law. Each file should have a photocopy of the following two cards (a California document is provided as an example):
| Did all five random personnel files contain copies of these licenses for your review? | |
| 0 | 3 |
| No | Yes |
Ask if their security employees are trained in First Aid, CPR, and AED (Automated External Defibrillator). After they answer, ask to see the training documentation for the employees whose files you are reviewing. They should be able to show you these First Aid training documents, CPR cards, AED cards (a California document is provided as an example):
| Did all of the five random personnel files contain copies of these cards? | |
| 0 | 6 |
| No | Yes |
IF THE FIRM EMPLOYS OR IS OWNED BY OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICERS OR FORMER POLICE OFFICERS...
If the firm employs off-duty police officers there are some specific areas for extra scrutiny. If the firm indicates they employ off-duty police officers or former police officers, then ask to see a personnel file for one of those employees. (Some firms keep no personnel files for the police officers they employ, perhaps wrongly assuming the City will bear some liability for any actions of the officer.)
| Is the firm able to present (right here right now) the cards above for any employees who are current or former police officers, and the valid Department Work Permit for any employees who are current police officers? | |
| 0 | 3 |
| No | Yes |
Many firms tell customers that off-duty police officers and former police officers do not require the same State licenses as other security employees -- because they are already licensed to carry firearms as police officers. This common claim is false. Because of these claims, the State of California maintains a web site specifically to provide extensive and clear information related to police officers offering security services. They list 22 frequently asked questions, including:
Q10: May an active duty peace officer contract to provide armed bodyguard services?
A: No. Only a person with a private patrol operator's license (PPO) may contract to provide security services. A PPO license is required to provide security guard (bodyguard) services on contract to any person or business.
A security guard may not act as an independent contractor to provide security services. A security guard must be employed as an employee of either a PPO.
Q11: May an active duty peace officer contract with a licensed Private Investigator (PI) to perform PI duties?
A: No. Only a Licensed PI may contract to perform PI duties.
All police officers providing security services are required to have a guard card and a gun card, identical to those shown above. Being a police officer does not exempt the security person from this requirement. Being a former police officer does not exempt the security person from this requirement.
(Some departments, including LAPD also require their officers to have a Work Permit issued by the Department.)
| Is the firm able to present (right here right now) the cards above for any employees who are current or former police officers and the valid Department Work Permit for any employees who are current police officers? | |
| 0 | 3 |
| No | Yes |
Some people assume that when a security business is owned by a police officer or when police officers arrange for other officers to work in a security capacity, a State license is not required. In fact, police officers and former police officers providing or arranging security services do require this license, in their company name (a California document is provided as an example):