The advantage of having a security guard is that he is the first person on the scene. This is great when you are dealing with minor problems. A security guard’s responsibility varies from job to job, but on the whole, it remains the same. His job is not to just protect your establishment from criminals, but to keep vandals out, help any person at the establishment and tackle any problem that arises.
The type of problems varies from place to place. For example:
– A residential building
Robbers snuck in and attempted a break in.
– A restaurant
A rude customer turns violent which leads to an altercation with the waiter.
– A Mall
A pickpocketer is caught.
– A Camp
A few employees are caught by the security guard indulging in illegal activities.
Each of these issues is a cause of a concern and you want to be on the right side of the law when it comes to dealing with them. What you need when you encounter such a situation is an incident report. An incident report is a formal report written by the security guard detailing any incident that occurred.
Why is an Incident Report Important?
In cases where the incident escalated to a point where the proper authorities have to be called or worse, it goes to court, it will be helpful to have an incident report. The report is essentially observations noted by the security guard. This is vital information in sifting through the chaos and discovering what really happened.
However, don’t expect an incident report to stand up in court because it is written by a security guard and not a police office. But, it does lend important information which will be taken into consideration. In other situations, it will help the police decide what action is to be taken.
What does an Incident Report Contain?
If it was simple to write an incident report, every person who took part or observed the incident would write one. However, security guards are trained to write one in the correct format that will give it more weight.
– The Security Guards Observations
The security guard will detail his own observations of what he saw occurring.
– Talk to both involved parties
He will further take down the comments from any party that was involved to get their view of what occurred and who started what, if it was a fight.
– Anyone else who observed the incident
If the security guard was not there at the start of the incident, it is important to get the details from the people who were.
– Timing
In addition to detailing all that occurred, the security guard, to the best of his ability, should note down timings for every event that he can remember. This lends accuracy to his report.
At GPS Security, we ensure that security guards file in the report the very next day. An immediate report is more accurate as the incident will be fresh on the security guard’s memory.
