How to Compare Security Companies
Do all police patrols or private security companies have the same qualifications?
There are many companies that offer security services and even police patrols, but their qualifications vary widely. Private security companies often employ non-police security guards. These security personnel do not have arrest powers and do not drive police vehicles or wear police uniforms. They have a wide variety of backgrounds and may have little experience in the event of an incident. Typically they will need to call 911 for police to assist them if a crime occurs.
Police patrols can also vary widely. Hiring police patrol services does not guarantee a particular level of training and may include officers who have not had specific training in urban community police issues. They may drive security vehicles instead of police vehicles, and therefore could not pull over suspects or give speeding tickets. Below are some questions to ask when selecting a company to provide security in your neighborhood.
Questions to ask a potential security company:
- Are you licensed to work in this state?
- When I pay for an hour of patrols am I getting the full hour on site? Does that hour include travel time?
- Do you use ILEA certified, full time off-duty police officers in good standing with the department? Are they officers who work in this district and can respond to 911 calls, make arrests and issue tickets if necessary? Are they driving police cars and in police uniform?
- Will I receive reports of the activities of the officers and times they were in my neighborhood?
- Will the officers address specific neighborhood concerns?
- Can I have the officers check my house while I am on vacation?
- Will you provide “Police Patrolled” signs for our neighborhood if requested?
About The Safe Indy Patrol Program:
The Safe Indy Public Safety Patrol Program hires officers through Omni Investigative Services, a licensed security company, and employs only full time police officers with permission from the police department to work in your neighborhood. The officers pro-actively work to solve problems of concern to residents. While on patrol, officers will have their radios on and hear any 911 calls that come in from your area.
Police officers working through the Safe Indy program will patrol your neighborhood for the full hour they are scheduled to be in your neighborhood, and will not charge for travel time. You will receive activity reports from your neighborhood officers detailing their activities, and residents are encouraged to submit incident reports to communicate with the officers about any specific concerns. Residents may also submit requests for extra patrols while on vacation.
Article courtesy of SafeIndy.com
In partnership with Omni Investigative Services – ReachOmni.com