Author: Ralph Brislin
ISBN No: 978-0-12-800003-8
Review date: 08/05/2024
No of pages: 335
Publisher: Butterworth Heinemann - Elsevier
Publisher URL:
http://store.elsevier.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780128000038&_requestid=712493
Year of publication: 19/05/2014
Brief:
The Effective Security Officer's Training Manual, third edition Ralph Brislin
price
£29.99
While this manual for security officers is American as shown by everything from the various laws to some musings on 9-11, it does point readers to ASIS documents which are as available to UK members as anyone else in the US-based security management body. The book, replacing a much earlier edition, covers the nuts and bolts of being a security officer or guard – take your pick of names – such as patrolling, taking notes and making a report. Besides, it goes into the ethics and professionalism of the job, and such workplace issues as sexual harassment and ‘cultural diversity’. Other chapters show how wide the officer’s responsibilities can be, taking in fire protection, workplace violence and ‘handling disruptive people’, substance abuse, and traffic control.
As a book out of America, the home of customer service, the book makes plain that security is a service: “All security officers should act as if they are speaking to the president or chief executive officer of the company every time they answer the phone.” However, the advice to the officer who has to deliver the mail amounts to liking it or lumping it; ‘consider yourself luckier than the officers who are also expected to mop floors and clean restrooms’.
The author rounds off with a chapter wondering what the medium term may bring, recalling the changes in his own working lifetime. He lists developments to CCTV cameras; tracking and drones; and robots. As for whether being in security is truly a career for most, Brislin notes that officer wages in the US have stagnated – though he might have added that it’s true for many other service sectors – and he adds: “I believe the security officer profession is a great way to begin or enhance one’s career in security, but it should be viewed as a “gateway” or entrance into overall security management. It is very difficult to improve one’s lot-in-life on the wages and benefits provided to the typical security officer.”
Why read such a book, then? Brislin adds: “This is not to suggest that the security or even law enforcement professions no longer offer good career choices. The point to be made, however, is that if a person who enters the profession cannot move up in an organization in order to receive greater compensation, the future is then limited. How then can a person continue to improve their skill sets in order to receive promotions and career advancement? The simple answer is the same as always — continued education!”
In other words, it’s up to each of us. Brislin sums up: “Security offers a bright future, but only if you continue to develop your skills, improve yourself with ongoing training and education, stay motivated, adapt to change, and maintain a positive attitude!”
