7 Secrets to Selecting a Contract Security Provider
When a campus law enforcement department doesn’t have enough staff or the right type of officers, technological solutions can only help so much. Contract security companies just might be able to provide your institution with the personnel it needs to make its public safety functions complete.
4. The type of training contract security officers receive must be appropriate for your institution.
Some campus security officer responsibilities are relatively straightforward. Other duties, however, are complex and require a significant amount of specialized training.
If the prospective provider gives the type of specialized training to its officers that will meet your campus’ requirements (e.g. JHACO, Clery Act, HIPAA, residential life, patient restraints, workplace violence, CPR, AED, domestic violence), the chances of it being a successful partner will be increased. If that training is not provided, having in-house officers might be the better solution.
5. Consider hiring contract security for special events and construction.
Even if contract security isn’t appropriate for your campus’ daily activities, it might be the best choice for handling construction and special events (e.g. graduations, parking, parties, concerts, sporting events).
Novant Health’s Director of Public Safety Tony Potter deploys contract security to newly constructed facilities just before they are opened. “In hospitals, all valuable, pilferable equipment must be installed two weeks before they put locks on the doors,” he says.
Contract security is deployed by Potter in these situations to guard the doors on each floor of a facility. Often, when there is this type of arrangement, the services are charged to the construction budget rather than the public safety operating budget.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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