How to Limit Security Company Liability

How to Limit Security Company Liability

It’s the year 2008, and everyone is worried about law suits, for good reason; everybody sues. So you go and open a security business, which is a breeding ground for potential lawsuits. Here’s how you limit your liability and take the necessary steps to protect you, your business and assets.

You need certain policies in place, which coincide with your training, selection of security personnel, your standard contract, and your corporate general orders. Here’s how it works:

Security Guard Joe is working as an armed guard in a bank for Security Company X. It’s Halloween Day. There are “trick or treators” coming into the bank all day. Most of the trick or treators are children, ages 1 to 10. At 3pm, school lets out and there are now high school kids walking around in costumes. The guard is standing post in a busy bank, he’s alert, skilled and he’s a retired detective from a local police department. At 3:30pm four men run into the bank with Halloween masks and they run up to the teller, which is an 18 year old girl working part time after school. The masked men yell, “give me all of your money!” The guard reacts when one of the masked men runs directly toward him as he is standing near the doorway of the bank. The armed guard fires a shot into the masked man and the masked man falls. The other masked men are running out of the bank and it is later discovered that they were all teenagers playing a prank on one of their friends, the bank teller.

Some time passes and the guard is cleared in the shooting and no criminal charges are filed. A horrible accident and a stupid thing for teenagers to do.

A month later, Security Company X is served with a wrongful death lawsuit for millions of dollars. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TRY AND GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE WHEN THE COMPANY WAS FORMED.

Here’s how Security Company X could have limited their liability:

It starts with your hiring practice

How did you screen the guard? Did you conduct a criminal background check? Did you check with his past employers? Did you document who you spoke with? Was there a psychological test administered? a drug test?

It continues with your corporate general orders and standard operating procedures

Did you, as a matter of policy, train your guard, when to shoot, where to shoot, who etc... Is there a firearms policy signed, issued, explained. Did you document that the armed guard understood the orders. Is it dated, signed, notarized, and witnessed? This is very important.
What type of firearm was your guard carrying; does it match your general orders? Did the guard qualify with his firearm? Did you state anywhere what type of ammunition that your guard may possess, carry on duty?

Your Contract plays a vital role

Does your contract state who you are protecting and from what? Does it state who you are NOT protecting and WHAT you are NOT doing? Your contract has to be perfect when you are using it in the recipe stated above to save your business, your house etc... Your contract must state who the client is and that the client is the only person or entity that can benefit from the utilization of Security Company X service. In other words, you must state that the armed security guard will deter crime and not prevent it. That it should not be construed that he will prevent it, or that he will protect others not specifically listed in the contract.

Learn more about contracts, standard operating procedures and how to use these important documents, click here

startasecuritycompany.com

Starting a Security Company England, Wales & Scotland

Starting a Security Company England, Wales & Scotland

The security industry is regulated by the SIA (Security Industry Authority), in England, Wales and Scotland. Click here for a brochure created by the SIA pertaining to the application process, qualifications, starting and maintaining a security business within the guidelines of the Private Security industry Act 2001.

For a Business Plan, Standard Operating Procedures, Proposal Template, Contract Template, Costing Manual, Private Investigator Contract Template, How to Land Security Contracts E-book, How to Start a Security Company E-book, and Free membership to the International Executive Security Association, click here

startasecuritycompany.com

Trouble Hiring Security Guards?

Did you ever think hiring security guards would be so hard? Probably not. You probably thought "people wanna work, right?" Well, the answer is, yes people do want to work but a hell of a lot more don't. Have you ever ran an ad in a local paper and got 13 responses, set up an interview process and two guys show; or have you not gotten that far yet? Or have you gotten that far and had to hire the two "idiots" because the job starts tomorrow. Have you ever paid $419 for a Career Builder ad and got thirty responses only to come to the realization that not one person knows who you are when you call? That's because Career Builder is filled with resume' spammers. They send their resume' out to hundreds of companies, sometimes per night. So here you are calling back thinking they want to work for your company, and they don't even know who you are. These people are easy to identify because they ask a lot of questions and usually hang up when they here something they don't like. Best advice is to use Craig's List or Indeed. I now use them all the time and find most people that use Craig's List are looking for work. I pay around twenty five dollars and always fill the job. Now, I'm not saying I haven't had to hire some "idiots", I'm just saying there has been times I have been grateful for those "idiots". Many times they will give you a few weeks before they start screwing you over or go postal, usually just enough time to get some good workers permanently. I hope this helps those thinking of not taking a job because the fear of not being able to fill it.

For Companies in the US, we recommend posting your job openings on Craigs List & Indeed

Jamie Evans
startasecuritycompany.com

Be Your Own Boss

The are two types of people in the workforce these days. The first is the minimally paid and overworked employee who is rather content to be regulated than to take charge of their own career and indirectly their own lives. The second type of person is you. The fact that you’re even reading this and that you found this website, is tantamount to saying “I am going to put a stop to this business of working midnights, holidays, weekends or any other time that can be spent doing exactly what I want to do!”

For those of you who are contemplating a change, consider looking over your shoulder and telling me what you see. For want of a better term, let’s call it your own death. It’s never far away, and it certainly will not skip you when it’s your time. For some of us, that is a scary concept, and for others, it is what has been the driving force to live as much as we possibly can in this little speck of time we might have (80 or so years if you’re really lucky) The time for change is now, because later doesn’t exist. Not many men on their last day of life have pondered in remembrance of the great time they had working those midnight shifts every Christmas or Chanukah or whatever it is that you celebrate (or worked while others celebrated) while your child’s first birthday comes and goes, and you’re still working around the clock just to get by. I speak from experience when I say I have missed every holiday for the last 13 or so years, in order to make my boss or some appointed political hack, who was home with his family every holiday, a rich man.

A friend of mine told me that nobody is handed freedom. When I first heard that, I thought of military forces fighting and things of that nature, but now I understand what he meant. Since becoming my own boss, I have discovered something that an ancient philosopher once wrote; that, “no man is free who is not the master of himself.”

Take a moment and think about what it is that you really want out of life… is it to be alive, work, sleep then die? Or do you have other plans? Try to remember the last time you had an intimate moment with your loved one, or the time you vacationed in the Caribbean. Who was pulling the strings of your life while you were lying on the beach and watching your children play carelessly in the sand? Did the dread of returning to your drab life in the office or working in the security booth, or sector car thunder so loud in your head that you could not hear what was happening in your present moment? Sadly, many of my former colleagues are still experiencing that same depressing reality, while I am reliving that vacation every day. Being your own boss in a successful business gives you the freedom to relive those days, and the best part is that you can start right now! Don’t waste another minute of your life earning minimum wage. Give your family the life they deserve.

Take a hard look at yourself. Are you a slave to your job? Does your job (your boss) decide when you wake up, what days you can have to yourself, what you must wear, how you answer the telephone, the customer is always right etc..? Does your boss demand loyalty from you, and in the next breath, he threatens to fire you? The misuse of loyalty in our society is literally a killer. It will fill your life with stress, tension, anxiety, and worry, and it will put you in your grave long before your time. The things that really matter to you (such as that vacation I mentioned earlier) will always be pushed aside in favor of some task which “must” be accomplished yesterday, and all of the push-pull, wear and tear, endless trials and tribulation will be defended in the name of your duty to make another person rich. In the end, the very thing that you devoted your life to will be your murderer. Interestingly, you will have used the rationalization of all of the fools who have lived before you, who have claimed the glory of "such and such corporation" is more important than your’s and your family’s happiness. Go ahead and buy that non-sense if you must, but understand that you are the biggest victim of all when you misplace your loyalty in the name of "such and such corporation" or the tasks it demands.

Remember that life is a marathon, not a race. Live it as you choose, not as you are told. This pertains especially to my colleagues in the law enforcement and security professions. If you’re in a race to become rich or to achieve some sort of title (PhD, CEO, and the like), try to remember that you are going to create a wake of destruction that your loved ones will inevitably drown upon if you don't make a change today. A man that I have grown to envy puts it like this, “When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.”

Michael Evans
President, CEO
startasecuritycompany.com