"SECURE" Part 2 - On the Job Training

Now I know what you're probably thinking when I say 'protector.'
"Remember, Derek, you're a security officer, not a cop." Well, duh. It had way less responsibilities than police here, but that didn't make doing the job less important. At least not in my eyes. We still had quite a bit to do. We had

- Radios
- Report Writing
- Scanning people in
- Making sure no one was in trouble
- Keeping our eyes open for trespassers

People's reasons for coming always varied so there were a bunch of different procedures to follow depending on what they were for. So yeah. It's not like we just sat in front of a monitor and pushed a few buttons (though we DID have that). This former army ranger, real puzzle-piece-at-a-time kind of guy, led me on my first lockup of one of the two buildings we called the Clubhouses. I felt I could take his word for it.

On the job training was three days. The gatehouse had plenty of resources and duties; online learning, driving, patrol, working with our radios, plus in the gatehouse one of our (I think it was three) landlines solely to let people in. Each of those landlines had its own function and sometimes a couple of them would go off really close together. To this day, having all those landlines plus the report writing about what the officers outside are doing (via radio communication) makes me wish there was a rule about there being at least two officers in that gatehouse.

And OF COURSE I'm sure everyone's favorite part of OJT (on the job training) is the "get lost" tour. For that I had a clipboard and list of buildings and what to find; ex. Highland House 6th Floor, So when I found the right spot I'd unclip the radio from my belt and say "Security to gate, Highland, 6th floor," then one of the guys would respond by stating the time I did it, like "2247" and I'd write that down. "10-4" I'd say back. 10-4 was our version of "ok" or "copy" though you probably know that already.

Anyway, the name of that tour is no joke. It was all on foot and I did get lost about a billion times, especially at the end where I had to look for something in one of the two huge Clubhouses (Ashcroft and Bradford). They were pretty much twins and easy to mix up even when using a map.

I even lost my radio! Somehow it fell off my belt, I had to walk all the way back to the gate for a new one, but later I found the other radio laying in the snow. I did this by "keying in" which is where you push the call button to get a noise from the other one. But once I found it, "Security to gate; I found the other radio," But yeah. Get lost tour? Not a title to take lightly, man.