Attacks on Police!

Kia Ora,

The last week has shown a disturbing trend. Two, what amounted to gang attacks on police officers. Where is our society going too & yet again I say it. When will NZ wake up.

This is exactly the sort of thing I envisaged when we confronted those ten youths a few weeks back who were carrying iron bars.

Over this last week I have noticed a propensity when you challenge young people their first instinct is to want to fight where as in the past you would of being given your pedigree.

It is also frightening as too how many in the security industry just still have their head in the samd.

During a task over this week, I reported certain people camping up near by drinking & was told to ignore them.

Now if this person had being doing their OSH Assessment then they should of, as I did, looked at worst case scenario. They were there to look for an opportunity to cause trouble.

In fact that is what you could see they were looking for. Unfortunately for them they left before the opportunity arrived which it duly did. In fact several incidents did, one that had potentially another even more dangerous outcome.

So why is it the police & security industry still continue to breach OSH by operating alone instead of at least in pairs.

Personal Security

Kia Ora,

In the last few days I have had words with someone who shares some facilities leased by one of my security companies. The issue that kicked this off basically comes to our differeing views on security.

Their view is it is not that bad here in Christchurch. My view is I actually felt safer in Baghdad as we knew what to expect.

Like most people this person has stuck their head in the sand over security. Not only that in this case it involves the security of my offices which contain items that I have no wish to loose.

But it is time for a reality check. Recently talking to a mate he told me not once but twice about another mate of his who had set up a security company in another part of NZ. He started to have an impact & so the opposition companies started to try to bully him out of industry & police became involved.

In the days leading up to this differing of views, I had being working in office when someone began to slowly open the door. As I was expecting a mate I thought he was playing around so I coughed. The door slammed & someone took off.

The next night I see a vagrant walking past taking a keen interest in the office area.

In the past few months my vehicles have being interferred with & items stolen as well as people trying to & entering the office area before it was set up due to a fault in the doors locking mechanism.

That is just the light stuff.

There was someone working in the industry just after I began who had being investigated for two murders, but no evidence could be gained, was dismissed from a previous job due to a heinous crime (the police were aware but it was taken as an employment matter to cut publicity so no complaints laid). At the time I became aware of him, he was also known to be going around threatening people claiming to be a police officer (a crime he had being convicted of before).

Again though he was not able to be convicted because as soon as people heard he might be connected to a well known crime figure they dropped any complaints.

Under the current legislation the police could do nothing to have his licence revoked.

NZ is not the nice safe place we like to make it out to be.

In the last few days the amount of violent or aggravated crime has risen.

Even a female Maori Warden has being robbed  at knife point. Something I would of never thought would happen. People are becoming desperate & yet the attitude still remains that this is a nice safe place.

Like my friend, because they were in another part of the building they have the attitude that it is OK to leave the door unlocked or open.

Almost weekly if not daily people are burglared by being in the house or out back in the garden & they leave the front door unlocked or open to let the air flow through or their friends in when they arrive.

Basic personal security requires you these days to lock your doors.

My rule is if you are going to be out of visual view for more than 30 seconds then lock it. No good saying " I should of done it after the fact".

Security is a Profession

Kia Ora,

Well with internet issues & other bits & pieces being a while getting back & now there has being another sick murder in Christchurch. After my issue with youths with Iron bars the other week, someone said what most people in Christchurch say "but it is not that bad in Christchurch?". Yeah right. Crime here is so random that you felt safer in Baghdad.

Anyway back to the title. This is probably the crux of the issue here in NZ.

Security is a profession. It is an offshoot of the oldest profession, that is the profession of arms (soldiering).

But it is generally not regarded as that in NZ. It is either viewed as just a job or as unskilled labouring. Done properly it isn't either of these.

Carried out professionally first of all there is where required adequate training. But what training there is in NZ is generally totally inadequate & those with training of a high standard  such as ex military or those immigrants from somewhere like Britian do not have that high standard recognized. In fact the comments are generally "you don't know anything about security".

Next there needs to be SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures). These are virtually non existant in the industry & where they do occur people misunderstand them, using them as the bottom line. That only applies where the law comes into it. You can never write a SOP that covers every situation that a profession like security will cover.

But at least having some gets people thinking in the right direction.

Again the most important issue is the mindset required  & again it is badly missing in NZ.

To plug the hole I see from those issues it was planned to launch a new security service this week in a defined area of Christchurch, but it has being put back due to issues outside my control for the short term. It is designed to make the communities safer by using those skills that the military see as the basics of securty.

Are Associations any Use?

Kia Ora,

Well the saftey of Taxi drivers are still in the news. As I said in a previous blog I contacted their federation after the last death but they weren't interested.

It is no different with the security representative organizations either.

When one security company said it was supplying all its guards with stab vests, one of the organizations said it wasn't that dangerous out there, so they were not needed. Talk about out of touch. Then we find that most of their memebers are now Alarm installation or monitoring companies & they were not aware of issues with guarding side of the industry.

There was also the alleged comment by one of its board that they were only there for the employers not the industry. Short sighted, improve the industry & both sides benefit.

If they or the other association were really concerned with the industry & providing security they would be ensuring there was a standard with which clients had to comply with when hiring security.

But it won't happen until someone is killed or seriously injured as most of the regular injuries aren't even reported.

Only yesterday I was told of a major company whose trainer was, as part of his training regime, abusing members of the public, flouting company rules by smoking in a vehicle (with another person inside), speeding, dangerous driving & that was all in one night.

Today I was told of someone else in that same company of doing burn outs & speeding & when reported to the company, the company claimed that building did not have any of their clients (despite stickers to the contrary).

The industry is a laughing stock & needs to get itself in order as the politicians aren't going too.