The Role of Private Security Services at Public Gatherings

In the conclusion, I confirm the assertions set out at the beginning: that security guards, upon completing the NPK security guard qualification, are not sufficiently trained to begin carrying out duties at public gatherings; that those responsible for organisation could contribute more before the commencement of security operations at public gatherings; and that securing public gatherings can be a dangerous area of work for security guards. Let me begin with the first assertion that security guards, upon completing the NPK security guard qualification, are ** not sufficiently trained** to carry out security duties at public gatherings. Even upon arrival at a security assignment, I have never been given ** access to the security plan, which represents the ** fundamental document for security operations, in which all the data concerning the actual implementation of security operations in the protected area are described in detail.

Problem

In the conclusion, I confirm the assertions set out at the beginning: that security guards, upon completing the NPK security guard qualification, are not sufficiently trained to begin carrying out duties at public gatherings; that those responsible for organisation could contribute more before the commencement of security operations at public gatherings; and that securing public gatherings can be a dangerous area of work for security guards. Let me begin with the first assertion that security guards, upon completing the NPK security guard qualification, are ** not sufficiently trained** to carry out security duties at public gatherings. This assertion holds true primarily because, upon completing the NPK, security guards have no practical knowledge yet and are not yet skilled in how and when to take action.

First, they must acquire practical knowledge from calmer working environments, where they can begin to build upon their knowledge, work with clients, and practise communication. This could, in principle, be resolved by having them ** work together with more experienced security guards at public gatherings, from whom they could learn and thus be introduced to the work; however, this does not happen, as there is a ** shortage of personnel in the labour market and security services make use of all employees whenever possible. This can pose a major problem, particularly for younger personnel who have recently been employed, because when they are assigned to such a workplace right at the beginning, they quickly lose motivation for the work, as they may feel insufficiently trained to carry out such work and currently have many opportunities to find other, easier work with the same or even higher pay, which is why there is such a significant shortage of personnel.

If this problem were eliminated, security services would have a larger pool of workers and a greater choice of whom to send to secure public gatherings and whom not to send. As a second assertion, I posited that those responsible could contribute much more to the organisation before the commencement of security operations at a public gathering. This assertion was also confirmed, as I know from my own experience that it was only upon arrival at the security location that I learned in more detail what kind of security operation it actually was; I knew, for example, that I would be securing an outdoor event or a catering establishment or similar, and which one, but with some less well-known events I did not know what type of event it was, that is, I did not know what the ** structure of participants** would be, and so on.

Solution and Method

Even upon arrival at a security assignment, I have never been given access to the security plan, which represents the ** fundamental document for security operations, in which all the data concerning the actual implementation of security operations in the protected area are described in detail. What particularly bothers me is that at public gatherings, security guards who are, for instance, at this event for the first time, do not know the ** evacuation routes, the technical security systems, if they exist, the locations where fire extinguishers are installed, the ** visitor capacity limits**, and so on. Security services could resolve this problem by having the supervisor meet with the other security guards in the protected area, for example twenty or thirty minutes before the commencement of security operations, and inspect the facility and precisely determine tasks in accordance with the security plan, which in practice almost never happens.

For larger security operations, a more appropriate solution, in my opinion, would be to give security guards access to the security plan, which they would review and familiarise themselves with, as it describes in detail all the elements that encompass security operations in the area and facility. As a third assertion, I posited that carrying out security operations at public gatherings can be ** dangerous for security guards**.

Results

From the findings of my research, I obtained a unanimous response that in carrying out this type of work, their lives can even be endangered, with which I, of course, completely agree. Security guards, as the first responders, are constantly exposed to all factors that can threaten security in the protected area and facility. Security guards are the persons who are the first in this area who can intervene and take action, and therefore can also be the first to bear the consequences, and it is their task to detect these factors, eliminate them, or at least mitigate them until the arrival of the competent services.

Such problems cannot, of course, be completely eliminated, as new ones will always arise where large masses of people gather and various types of equipment are used; however, security guards can be additionally trained and motivated for the work so that they will be able, in some cases, to detect factors even before dangerous situations arise and eliminate them preventively. [deof_form download_text="Žan-Peklar-Diplomsko-delo.pdf" download_url="https://www.academia.si/novice/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Žan-Peklar-Diplomsko-delo.pdf"]