The Full Moon

Kia Ora,

Well a Full Moon last night & its effect on people was plain to see & hear. But the incident that really got me was about 0325.

This morning the news is of the taxi driver stabbed in Auckland. Well like taxi drivers no one really cares about the safety of security personnel.

First a correction on the previous blog. The guards from the company next to where I was working had once the more experienced guard came on being stationed outside.

Last night I could say I am probably lucky they were there.

Tomorrow I will be talking to an OSH inspector on how we can change things. If I put in a formal complaint then the people who get fined are not the clients who refuse to put extra guards on, but the security company I was contracted too, who do tell the clients there should be more guards.

Last night there were drunks, idiots & just general crime all over. We learnt that by someone having a scanner & by following the police sirens continously moving around the city.

What has really got me upset was what transpired at 0325.

Everytime we do these overnights we attempt to add another guard as one person on their own just doesn't cut it.

As luck would have it, one of the guards from the other company called over for a chat & it was as we were talking I noticed a group of 10 pers approaching.

He warned out his mates & we got in position to observe. Two of the group were out in front & we were expecting drunks, but got two young males who one then proceded to tip over a porta loo. They were challenged & made to stand it back up.

As that was happening we both suddenly heard a noise & noticed the other 8 had caught up. They were standing a bit back, one clearly had an iron bar in his hand & another could be heard tapping a bar against a light pole.

What happened next was only due to the luck of having the other guard being there at that time. He called his off siders on the radio & I called the police.

It was the fact that they could not tell how many of us there were was only reason they appeared to dispose of their bars in the small lake then come back through along the foot path & run in towards town.

About half an hour later four of these characters came back along another track & tried to break into cars.

Now if it hadn't being just luck of the other guard being there for a chat it could of ended very differently.

I had as a bit of a joke taken my Level 4 bodyarmour from Iraq along, as well as the riot helmet I keep in a bag for encounters with the boy racers. The Police communications wanted all the security to stay in close to each other, but we had different tasks so until first light I wore the level four & carried the riot helmet.

If clients can't be bothered doing the risk assessment then I don't care how silly it looks.

But not everyone has the equipment I have or even the soft armour as "we don't need it in NZ".

I want someone to tell that to the family of the next security person killed whilst working.

Luckily the client was late & I had talked to the company I was contracting too or else they were going to get a rocket so strong they would of being the first man on mars.