SECURITY is a matter of great concern under any circumstances, and those hired to maintain it must surely fit a profile criterion that produces the desired performance of putting the safety of people and property first. One does not expect a security guard to point his weapon and kill a friendly party as in the recent shooting of a bank employee. Of course, the rogue guard was there as part of a criminal plot to rob the bank and the flaws were glaring, like the fake identity card. That such a tragedy can happen points to a lapse of vigilance by what is an institution most at risk of criminals resorting to such means to penetrate it. The only positive inference that can be made is that most security personnel are genuine. Otherwise, there would have been more similar tragedies.
However, in that incident, at least, it is inexcusable that the fake identity card reportedly not electronically compliant was not closely checked, thus, allowing the criminal to slip through. This demonstrates how flabby the recruitment system employed by the recruiting agent is, given that this should be, if not already is, a basic first-line procedure especially for this business. Security companies in the United Kingdom, for instance, will subject the applicant through a rigorous vetting. In some countries, this involves an interview with the police asking tough questions of the individual and care is taken to establish the veracity of information provided. Obviously, the same cannot be said for the recruiting agents here, a fact signifying a lack of sophistication at best and, at worst, a flagrantly lackadaisical attitude.
As some have suggested, security guards ought to be locals. But there is an admission that before this can happen, the occupation needs a thorough revamp in the way of remuneration and training because, thus far, employing imported workers has kept wages depressed. This is the ideal scenario. Nevertheless, given the country's labour shortage, augmenting the industry with foreign labour is the only option. What needs overhauling is the attitude one takes to security. The days of the benign and totally reliable bhai jaga resting on his charpoi on nightwatch armed with a standard issue rifle are over. Today's security guard is up against merciless, firearm-carrying criminals. It follows, therefore, that the guards should be well vetted for honesty and reliability and then properly trained. There should, too, be a professional body to create standard operations procedure and to oversee that industry players adhere to these guidelines.
Read more: Insecure about security - Editorial - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/editorial/insecure-about-security-1.399134#ixzz2kaJl9G1l
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