The best defense - hiring a security firm

Nation's Business, March, 1993 by Janine S. Pouliot

With careful planning and screening, you can hire a security firm to safeguard your firm's assets.

There was a time when banks and other operations involving large sums of cash were the primary employers of private security guards. But the rapid growth of crime since the 1960s has prompted many other types of businesses to employ guards as a fense against holdups, shoplifting, and assaults on employees.

By 1981, the earliest year for which the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has figures, there were about 300,000 private security guards on the job, and that number grew to roughly 500,000 by 1990. It is expected to exceed 750,000 by the year 2000, according to Robert McCrie, editor of the Security Letter, a bimonthly newsletter aimed at individuals in government, private industry, and the security business. McCrie is also an associate professor who teaches security management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

McCrie says that many factors contribute to the rising demand for security. High among them is the corporate concern about litigation over inadequate security. Expanding the use of security guards offers some measure of legal protection.

In addition, McCrie says, employees are becoming more fearful for their personal safety, and he cites walking through a company parking lot at night as an example. "There is a perception that public violence is increasing," says McCrie, and security personnel help people feel safer.

The sharp increase in the use of private security guards also reflects in part the extent to which smaller businesses are becoming customers for such services.

But finding the right security service can be a highly complex task. The small-business manager engaging an outside company to provide guard services must rely on the managers of that firm to impose the hiring standards, training, and supervision needed to ensure high-quality performance.

There are many steps small businesses can take to evaluate security companies and decide which one to hire. Here's a checklist that can be used in making such a selection:

1. Identify your security problem. "You need someone knowledgeable in the area in which you want security," says Timothy Walsh, a past president of the American Society for Industrial Security and founder of Harris & Walsh, a security consulting firm in New Rochelle, N.Y. If that someone isn't on your staff, a consultant can help. The independent consultant can identify areas of vulnerability in building access, theft, counterfeiting, or "anything that interferes with profit," Walsh notes.

Once your needs are defined, it will be easier to find the type of security service that meets them. For help in locating a consultant, call the American Society for Industrial Security at (703) 522-5800 or the International Association of Professional Security Consultants at (813) 596-6696.

2. Send a prebid questionnaire to firms in your geographical area. This preliminary screening should give you an overview of their operations and help you narrow-your choices to two or three. Ask for a financial statement, the background of the management team, how long they've been in business, the number of employees, and the type of clients the company now services.

When you query large national firms, remember that the critical factor is the quality of the local management. And while sales presentation by security firms can be helpful, don't limit your evaluation to them.

"One of the biggest mistakes small to midsized companies make in choosing a security firm is only dealing with the marketing people," says Bob Johnson, president and chairman of First Security Services Corp., a Northeastern regional concern headquartered in Boston. He says that business owners should also question the individuals directly responsible for delivering the security service.

3. Probe the security company's own hiring procedures. Ask the firms you consider finalists specific questions about their employee-selection process. For example, find out how the company screens job applicants for criminal records. Many security firms submit applicants' fingerprints to state police, but assessments of the prints are often delayed.

In New Jersey, "it takes anywhere from a month to three months to get a response," says Louis Dell'Ermo, president of Gateway Security, a firm in northern New Jersey. Some states actually restrict security-company access to official criminal records.

Consequently, it's essential for you to know that a security firm you are considering hiring does its own investigations of prospective employees, Dell'Ermo notes. At the very least, a good background check by the security firm should include interviews with former employers as well as neighborhood and personal references, and a look at motor-vehicle, military, financial, and school records.

Ira Lipman, president and founder of Guardsmark, a nationwide security firm headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., requires that candidates take a polygraph test, unless it is prohibited by state law. Private security personnel are exempted from the federal restrictions against job applicants taking polygraph tests, as contained in the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988.