page_title: Security guard
section_title: Types of personnel and companies
hierarchical_section_title: Security guard / Personnel / Types of personnel and companies
caption_attribution_description: English: Cash transport van with guards in Guangzhou, China Русский: Машина инкассаторов с охраной в Гуанчжоу
context_page_description: A security guard is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets from a variety of hazards by enforcing preventative measures. Security guards do this by maintaining a high-visibility presence to deter illegal and inappropriate actions, looking for signs of crime or other hazards, taking action to minimize damage, and reporting any incidents to their clients and emergency services, as appropriate.
  Security officers are generally uniformed to represent their lawful authority to protect private property. Security guards are generally governed by legal regulations, which set out the requirements for eligibility and the permitted authorities of a security guard in a given jurisdiction. The authorities permitted to security guards vary by country and subnational jurisdiction. Security officers are hired by a range of organizations, including businesses, government departments and agencies and not-for-profit organizations.
  Until the 1980s, the term watchman was more commonly applied to this function, a usage dating back to at least the Middle Ages in Europe where there was no form of law enforcement.
context_section_description: Security personnel are classified as one of the following:
  "In-house" or "proprietary" (i.e. employed by the same company or organization they protect, such as a mall, theme park, or casino); formerly often called works police or security police in the United Kingdom.
  "Security supervisor", meets with clients and employees as necessary to ensure client and employee satisfaction.
  "Scheduler", Security Officer assignment and strategic scheduling resulting in client satisfaction, employee retention and cost maintained within District financial plans.
  "Human Resources Manager", effective delivery of human resources services such as employment, employee/labor relations, compensation, benefits administration, training and development, workers’ compensation, and audit compliance. Maintains and implements corporate policies and programs related to employment.
  "Client Service Manager", promotes financial growth for the District by ensuring client retention, Security Officer retention, and support for the development of new business.
  "Client Service Supervisor", provides security services for designated clients resulting in customer satisfaction, Security Officer retention, and financial growth for the District. Provides service in a large and complex area.
  "Contract", working for a private security company which protects many locations.
  "Public Security", a person employed or appointed as an (usually armed) security officer by a government or government agency.
  "Private Police Officers", or "Special Police".
  "Private Patrol Officers", vehicle patrol officers that protect multiple client premises.
  "Parapolice", aggressive firms that routinely engage in criminal investigation and arrest.
  Industry terms for security personnel include: security guard, security officer, security agent, safety patrol, private police, company police, security enforcement officer, and public safety. Terms for specialized jobs include Usher, bouncer, bodyguards, executive protection agent, loss prevention, alarm responder, hospital security officer, mall security officer, crime prevention officer, patrolman, private patrol officer, and private patrol operator.
  State and local governments sometimes regulate the use of these terms by law—for example, certain words and phrases that "give an impression that he or she is connected in any way with the federal government, a state government, or any political subdivision of a state government" are forbidden for use by California security licensees by Business and Professions Code Section 7582.26. So the terms "private homicide police" or "special agent" would be unlawful for a security licensee to use in California. Similarly, in Canada, various acts specifically prohibits private security personnel from using the terms Probation Officer, law enforcement, police, or police officer.
  Alberta and Ontario prohibit the use of the term Security Officer, which has been in widespread use in the United States for many decades. Recent changes to the act have also introduced restrictions on uniform and vehicle colours and markings to make private security personnel clearly distinctive from police personnel. Some sources feel that some of these restrictions are put in place to satisfy the Canadian Police Association. Specialized VIP security guard services and companies are in high demand and are defined by their ability to protect celebrities and executives during times of unrest. There is a marked difference between persons performing the duties historically associated with watchmen and persons who take a more active role in protecting persons and property. The former, often called "guards", are taught the mantra "observe and report", are minimally trained, and not expected to deal with the public or confront criminals.
  The latter are often highly trained, sometimes armed depending on contracts agreed upon with clientele, and are more likely to interact with the general public and to confront the criminal element. These employees tend to take pride in the title "Security Officer" or "Protection Officer" and disdain the lab
caption: Cash in transit van with a crew of security guards in Guangzhou, China
exif: {"Image Make": "CASIO COMPUTER CO.,LTD", "Image Model": "EX-Z50", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "0.90", "Image DateTime": "2008:09:17 11:12:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "282", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, 22, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 16, 129, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "32980", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8216", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "31/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:09:17 11:12:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:09:17 11:12:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "205/48", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "14/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Daylight", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "41/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "32856", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "49", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard"}