By Ainsley Walters, Staff Reporter
WHEN NEXT you happen to see a security officer, don't flash that 'pesky guard boy' scowl which might follow a request for identification and destination.
Major Richard Reese, human resource development manager at Securicor Jamaica Limited, said the perception of security guards is changing.
Reese said officers at his company, the island's second biggest security entity, are highly trained specialists.
"The industry is becoming highly specialised, placing tremendous demands on training," he said.
Using an 'Intime Officer Scheduling' system, the HRD manager can at the click of a mouse tell how many of Securicor's ongoing training courses its approximately 1200 officers have completed in addition to their locations and duty tenure.
Securicor Jamaica Limited, located along Kingston's industrial belt at its heavily fortified 455 Spanish Town Road base, is headed by general manager Major Winston Dwyer.
With a branch in Montego Bay, the company is in its seventh year, being part of a British-based operation under the Americas Region, which also covers the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Costa Rica and Barbados.
Reese listed cash-in-transit (armoured car services), wage packaging, aviation security, bank support, replenishing automated teller machines, 24-hour response and electronic security along with providing armed and static guards as Securicor Jamaica's core businesses.
After a series of mergers and acquisition of other security companies such as Dirk, Zycon and Securicom, Securicor is second to Guardsman locally. The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica recently awarded the company with its Job Creation Award.
Reese said constant training is extremely important especially for officers posted at the island's airports.
"They have to receive annual certification," he said, pointing to a number of training courses. "The Federal Aviation Authority does inspections of the carriers which fly into the United States along with their facilities, airports, so it's important to ensure compliance.
"During an inspection an FAA officer can request a guard's background. If it's not up to scratch, an airline can be grounded," explained Reese, whose company is contracted locally by Air Jamaica, British Airways, British West Indian Airlines, Delta Airlines and Jamaica Dispatch Services.
"Our security officers at the airport undergo courses dealing with dangerous goods, that's knowing which items are restricted from an aircraft, baggage and passenger screening in addition to customer service, that's pre-screening passengers checking in.
"They have to know how to read airline tickets, know the different baggage tags and so on, hence our rigourous training and certification procedures," Reese explained in detail.
Reese described Securicor's 'Intime Officer Scheduling' system as an excellent human resource management tool.
"It helps to evaluate each officer's performance at the end of each quarter," he said. "It cuts out a lot of paper work and never lies. An officer reports when he arrives at a location and he's automatically logged in at their control centre ."
Interestingly, of Securicor's approximate 1200 employees, almost half are women, Reese said.
"We were actually pioneers in having women as aviation officers as well as in the armoured services," the HRD manager said. "We find that the women have excelled in every
department."
