TexasCHLforum.com

...most New Yorkers prolly didn't even NOTICE...

...remember the old bumper sticker "We don't give a ..." well you remember...Duncanville, Texas ain't New York...and we're not used to such shenanigans...here it's read as cowardly or John Wayne syndrome...a great way for a ND...if I catch one carrying his gun out of the holster here...you'll think it's an air raid alert, I'll be screaming so loud...

k6gixx wrote:It may seem crazy, but you gotta understand the reasoning. We were taught the same thing, but I never listened. I can see how you want to have every possible advantage should a problem arises, but I tend to think that is overkill. It is dangerous work though. Most companies don't have any perks/programs to help guards get body armor. It's up to the officer themselves to provide their own protection and lets face it, makin $12-15/hr isn't going to leave you with much extra money to buy a $4-800 vest. Also you have to look at the fact that in that small bag is tens of thousands of dollars in some cases....which most times you are liable for. Bad situation all around. All it takes is a few seconds of inattention and you could end up dead. It happened a few years ago, a guard stepped out of the truck, bent down to tie his loose bootstrings and was shot and killed.

...I completely understand the danger...every uniform is a target, even walking into a store to get a pack of gum, if someone gets spooked while they're committing a crime there...you DO have to be awake, alert, and aware...and I bought my first $125 Second Chance vest when my monthly salary was $500...gross...I'm not ignorant of the problems nor insensitive to them...

...BUT...there is no justification for anyone in a public place walking around with his holstered weapon firmly clenched in his fist...unless he's in a confrontation situation, dealing with something that has been identified as an immediate threat...this looks stupid, is provoking, and offers only less than a half-second advantage over the way cops and guards have done it for over a hundred years...keeping their hands off their weapons in public unless there was an immediate threat...

...the guard has no liability for the money...the company's insurance company does...


...I've walked into a Black Panther nest alone, dealt with the problem there, and walked out...11 people in the room...and never grabbed my gun butt...I've arrested murderers with the gun they used still warm from the shot...without grabbing my gun...I could certainly carry a bank bag in public without grabbing my blankie...unless, of course, I worked for the above-mentioned company...it's ridiculous...

...personally speakin'...I wanna be on their good side...it might be free sample day!!!
...seriously...was out one day and saw a truck pull up...a guard stepped out with his hand firmly on his gun...and a bag in the other hand...walked briskly into the store...I hadda watch and wait...came out with another bag...hand firmly clenched on his holstered gun...all the way to the truck...how stupid can you get???? well, I called his office...the trainer said that's the way they require them to be...when they have money...they have their hand on their gun every second they're outa the truck...

...imagine the outcry if a cop's seen with his hand even resting on his gun...this "policy" seems stupid to me...and totally unprofessional...they don't care...major company with many guards...

...one of the old Burns Intl. (later Wells Fargo) guards when I was on the force was a better backup than most of my police officers...did what you told him to , stayed where you put him...saved several officers' bacon through the years...fine man, he was...no police experience, just a lotta gusto and common sense...

..that's the way it oughta be...a uniform without a gun is nothing but a target...unarmed security is not only dangerous, it's stupid...

k6gixx wrote:I spoke with an investigator that works for DPS, and he said ANY reasonable stop going to, coming from or during the commission of your duties is perfectly legal. I too am a commissioned security officer and I happen to live in Ft. Worth. I spoke with several officers about this very issue and most are of the same mind. One uniform, one team. They don't want to see us unnecessarily disarmed and put at risk any more than they want to be. There are a few bad apples everywhere but we can't let them poison our minds or opinions on the rest. And Vice-Versa. I go to Wal-Mart all the time after work to pick up items that I need for the house and I always stop to talk to the off duty officer working that night. Never had any problems. I used to take my lunch break and go shopping at the Wal-Mart next to my house without any problems. Don't sweat it, but if you find yourself in that position again, all you can do is explain the law. I would call the DPS PSB and ask to speak to an investigator so you can hear it from yourself. Get his/her name and write it down. That way you have proof that this was approved by the proper authorities.

...the "one team" needs some work on both sides, sadly enough...always has...in the 70s, we had the same attitude problems...and some great guards...one was a friend like no other...would be there for us in a flash if backup was far off...but then there was the one who looked familiar to a graveyard shift officer...who had called them to secure a business found unlocked...the guard had 3 large rings of keys...was armed...the officer kept being bugged...went home and looked up the guard's name in his old records...and found that he had arrested him in another city 5 years prior for--------business burglary...screening has gotten a bit better...some security folks are police wannabees...some are highly trained professionals...who have to live down the first ones' reputation...

...Wackenhut..in 96...taught us not to go shopping in uniform...to drive straight to work and home, if in uniform,and surely if armed in uniform...worried about the liability to the Corp. if something happened as much as the restrictions in the law...imagine the nightmare if you walked into the donut shoppe uniformed and armed while a robbery was going down...why, you might be accused of being a wannabe Batman...

...this man wasn't baggin' a donut on the way to work...he was AT work...in uniform...in a marked patrol vehicle...on duty...buying gas so he could continue working...the cop was outa line...a roving patrol security HAS to travel between posts/properties...and he has to take bathroom breaks...and drink coffee...and eat...that was true in the 70s and it's true now...the guard wasn't stickin' his nose in where it didn't belong...the cop was...the law covering to and from work doesn't apply here...the man was clearly "in the performance of his duties"...I'd be bending the Chief's ear about this one...it's not the citizens, but the offending officer, who doesn't understand it...

...Good...then I wouldn't put my men in danger by having one more unarmed uniform out there...the thugs shoot at the uniform before they notice if there's a gun or not...I would never be in uniform without one again...

...I worked for Wackenhut in 96...we were clearly taught that the law permitted us to be armed only in full uniform and only directly to and from work...NO stops for donuts or a haircut...like the law says...but this man was working and not just going to work...he was performing his duties...and the officer was being........well, we'll go with Keith B's post...he's a nice guy...and I'm ...not so much...