The UK public’s perception of security officers seen as playing an ‘essential role’ in the country, during and during the Covid-19 pandemic, is ranked only ‘slightly ahead of traffic wardens’, according to a recent survey.
Perceptions of the security officer was carried out by polling firm YouGov in September on behalf of the trade body the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the Security Institute (SyI) and the umbrella body of associations, the Security Commonwealth (SyCom), as part of the ‘Hidden Workforce’ campaign. The aim; to understand the perception of security officers by the British public and to look into potential lack of respect, recognition and under-estimation of the security officer role.
While 31 per cent of those polled believed that security officers are fundamental to keeping the UK safe and secure, with 41pc indicating respect and a feeling of safety due to the work that security officers carry out, the role of the security officer ranked ninth out of ten essential services, behind postal workers and pharmacists, and just ahead of traffic wardens, who were ranked tenth. When asked about these roles during COVID-19, security officers were not mentioned at all as an essential service. The top three were NHS workers, nurses and care workers.
When asked about which characteristics describe the personality of a security officer, the highest scores were ‘honest’, ‘alert’, ‘trustworthy’, ‘brave’ and confident, but some respondents looked at officers as being ‘authoritative’, ‘rigid’, ‘burly’, ‘threatening’ and ‘unintelligent’. Respondents also felt that the crimes that security officers help prevent are shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and petty crime, and that officers should only work closely with the police if asked.
Mike Reddington, Chief Executive of the BSIA, pictured, said: “The results of the YouGov survey, Perceptions of the Security Officer, highlight that, whilst a good level of the general public feel safe and reassured in the presence of a security officer, they do not see their services as essential and even less so during the recent pandemic. Although security officers were recognised by the UK Government as key workers during this time, it seems that the perception of the role they play in our daily lives is still at a low level and this needs to be addressed urgently.”
Mike Reddington is among guests on a panel tomorrow afternoon, the latest webinar chaired by Prof Martin Gill of Perpetuity, discussing the term ‘security officer’ versus ‘security guard’ – what’s in a name? You can sign up free to listen in, at https://theospas.com/thought-leadership-webinars/.
Rick Mounfield, Chief Executive of the Institute, said: “The public seem unaware of the critical role security officers play in supporting the Police in deterring crime and terrorism, let alone their intervention when theft, robbery and attacks occur. The survey demonstrates that the average citizen in the UK pays little to no attention to what a security officer is doing.
“However, this is not all bad, because a good security posture should be low key until crisis hits. The important aspect is that the public should at least, recognise what security officers provide, ensuring their safety. These are the people they will look to in a crisis.”
That campaign by the BSIA, ‘the Hidden Workforce – resetting the perceptions of the security officer’, aims to change public perception of security officers in the long term and to re-set the perception of the security officer as a respected, valued, professional service provider, contributing to and creating a safe and secure environment that is critical to protecting people, places, and property – a key worker in short. The BSIA adds that it has introduced new terms across its communications platforms. The Association will be discontinuing the use of the terms ‘security guarding’, ‘manpower’, ‘manned guarding’, ‘security guard(s)’ and ‘security guarding section’, replacing them with ‘security officer services’ and ‘security officer’.
About the YouGov survey
Commissioned in September, it had over 2000 respondents aged between 18 and 55 from the ABC1 and C2DE backgrounds.
