How to Manage Contract Security Officers on College Campuses
Millikin University officials collaborate with their service provider to hire, train and retain effective security personnel.
With Contract Security, You Get What You Pay For
CPOs do cost more, but according to Mickler, the additional expense has been worth it. “There is more acceptance by the student body of these CPO officers than we’ve had in the past,” he says. Additionally, they deter more incidents.
The new officers’ experience in law enforcement or the military, or their advanced education, results in them being more effective in responding to crises and events on campus. Whether it’s a fight or a fire, Millikin’s security officers are now much calmer and knowledgeable, even when surrounded by incident survivors and friends of victims telling them how to do their jobs.
Mickler claims that officers with more maturity are also better at deflecting the emotions from distressed individuals instead of engaging in banter that isn’t going to be productive. “When you have to take enforcement action against faculty or students and you’re writing a ticket and someone walks up, you need to have the ability to professionally respond or practice verbal Judo and not argue,” says Mickler.
In addition to the improved performance, student and faculty complaints against officers are down, claims Mickler. “I just don’t hear the grumbling and complaining that I did before.”
It should be noted that Mickler and his department collaborate with G4S on officer skill development. CPOs receive basic training, but Mickler and his staff supplement it with various types of their own training. One of the most important supplemental training sessions is on the Jeanne Clery Act.
Mickler’s department also provides scenario training, which includes role playing. The CPO on-site supervisor also receives instruction from the department, which is then taught to the group.
Know What You Need and Put It in Your RFP
Campuses must make sure that they understand what type of security officers they need to be successful and efficient on their campus, Mickler advises. Whether the campus is residential or nonresidential, a comprehensive university or a community college, the type of security required must be researched and made clear in the RFP.
On top of being specific, asking a contract security firm for proof of work experience and references from other college campuses is also important. After sending out the first RFP, Mickler says all of the responders claimed to work with college campuses. “None of them had any [experience] around here, and I should have been a little more proactive to see that they could hire the people that I felt were needed to be successful here,” he adds.
Even though the Millikin’s Safety and Security Department ran into some problems with its first contract security company, Mickler still recommends looking into contract security because they bring a lot of resources with them. “I spent an awful lot of my time handling personnel problems when we were proprietary and frankly, it’s nice to kind of let someone else handle that.”
The company that currently works with Millikin, G4S, can also provide armed officers (if necessary), performs background checks on the officers and handles the hiring. “When you’re a small private school and you’re looking to do the best for your campus community, I wouldn’t shy away from giving a good look at
a professional firm,” adds Mickler.
Millikin’s Supplemental Training
1. Officers must know the Clery Act’s legal requirements, why it’s in place, and compliance policies and procedures. Officers must also be able to classify and define each of the Clery offenses and various accompanying scenarios
2. Officers are made aware of the help that’s available on campus and in the local community
3. Officers are reminded that many students have never been victimized before and they may not know how to respond to traumatic situations
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