Having heard a fair amount of criticism from governing bodies over the way some private security companies are run you would think more would be done to instil and maintain a level of quality assurance for those wishing to enter an already crowded market.
Let’s face it the industry could easily afford to be more selective over who passes and fails the courses it runs.
I have done a Close Protection course with a training provider myself and one who openly admits and even markets itself on having pride in failing those who do not make the grade.
For me I can definitely say that, after scrimping and saving the funds required to undertake the Close Protection training, the fear of failure definitely had a positive effect on me and of course I made sure I passed.
But would I have given my all, endured the sleep deprivation, adhered to strict timings, taken pride in my appearance – all things any close protection operator worth their salt would apply to every task, if I was on a course that passed me whatever?
During a recent BBC Scotland documentary ‘Britain’s Private War’ it was highlighted that there were serious concerns over the level of competency and professionalism throughout the private security industry.
This is something I strongly feel could be dealt with at the training stage of an operatives’ career, particularly when so many are coming from a police or military background and will be more than used to training in a pass/fail environment.
Unfortunately the glamorous perception people seem to have of the close protection and celebrity security areas does tend to attract ‘Walter Mitty’ type characters who are in it for the wrong reasons.
Again these people should be fairly easy to recognise in a training environment.
When close protection operatives are deployed on hostile environment tasks and face real life or death decisions it highlights the importance of training even further.
To me the SIA should be monitoring and regulating training providers to ensure a level of competency.
Here at Prime the recruitment of our close protection operatives is based on credentials including a proven track record based on experience or a personal recommendation from a credible source.
For us we ensure we are beyond doubt that our clients will receive the service they have paid for and expect and if that means a compromise in budget and profit then so be it.
James Spensley
Prime Media Safety
