guards and no gun

[Oram Security Consultants]

I have been in the security industry now for almost 19 years. Ive been everything from an unarmed security officer, to armed security up to Branch Manager and Director Of Security for a hedge Fund. A couple of points, first about the liability. That is a two way street. Both the security company as well as the client worry about it. America is a sue happy country. Liability will always be an issue. Now for the pay rates. You get what you pay for. In the past, security companies would work at about 65% Direct Labor. For every dollar they got paid, 65 cents went in the guards pocket. Rest to the company to pay all that fun stuff like taxes, insurance, uniforms, overtime, training etc. Right now, many companies are running in the 70-78% DL.

The Hedge Fund security team I ran had over 60 Officers, pay rates in the $20's and armed. Great crew. As a Branch Manager we had accounts were officers were paid 9.00 an hour to sit in a booth at a beach and check window stickers and conduct patrols. Pay was not good, but my 4 officers were coming off unemployment to take the work. The town could not pay more due to their budget.

Most security positions are just there to be a visual deterrent and to be a live "911" call.

[GaPatriot]

Old saying;"An unarmed security guard,is like having a guard dog with no teeth".