Executive Order, LA ST Board of Private Security Examiners

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  • Kraut

    LEO
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Oct 3, 2007
    1,799
    83
    Slidell, LA
    Many years ago, I worked about five months for a local security company, and attended their firearms training. Atrocious is the best word I can use to describe the whole situation.

    To attend the training, my local supervisor issued me a pass-around S&W Model 10, four inch bull barrel, with an Uncle Mike's nylon holster. The weapon looked like it had been stuffed inside an old tube sock after being passed around a Popeye's kitchen. I cleaned it up and showed up for training. One guy brought his personal weapon to qualify, a nickel-plated .38 in an old, dried out, cracking brown leather holster. When he withdrew it, everything that had been within the holster was orange with rust. Some of the officers had company guns they had already been issued for use on posts, without bullets because they had not yet been to the training, but had been told to draw and point if they really needed to because that would likely scare off whoever was giving them problems!

    The guy conducting the training basically taught some **** from a 1950s police training film that demonstrated a crouching isosceles stance, just point at their middle and shoot, don't worry about the sights. The qualifying session was on a standard B-silhouette target, 50 rounds. About half in attendance qualified first round, most of the rest on a second try, the rest on the third except one girl (one who had already been carrying empty) who failed her fourth try as well. After her fifth box of ammo, everyone else was looking over the shoulder of the trainer as he was tallying her score. Counting ahead, I could see she was going to need another box, but before he could finish marking up the target, he just scribbled his pen across it, crumpled it quickly and swept it off of the table while saying "You made it! Good job!"

    I cleaned up the pass-around and returned it, and the supervisor accused me of having swapped weapons with someone else at the class, insisting it was not the weapon he had given to me. I showed him it was indeed the same weapon, by serial number, just cleaned properly, and he said "Oh" and signed it back in. When he later issued me a weapon for a temporary armed posting, he handed me six bullets out of a desk drawer, no two alike. I bought a box of my own factory loads.

    What I've seen over the years since indicates no great efforts have been made at improvement across the industry. Most recently I saw an armed security guard at a local hospital with a Glock in a basic Fobus paddle clipped onto his belt, but not within the trousers as designed. These guys deal with PEC patients on the regular while carrying like this. Even most of the better paid guards working directly for the hospital, many of whom are retired police officers, just go for the ease and comfort of a belt slide or paddle with minimal retention.

    The recommendations in the linked article have long been needed.
     

    Gravelface

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    5   0   0
    Jan 6, 2015
    391
    28
    I-55@I-12
    A decent background check on security guards would also be a nice requirement. I arrested a security guard while he was on duty for about 17 warrants ranging from St Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Livingston.
     

    LouisianaJoe

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 6, 2008
    54
    8
    Luling, Louisiana
    My brother retired after 44 years as a LEO. His wife was the first female LEO in Hattiesburg MS. She was also the first female detective. On new years eve 1984 she was killed by a man that was being arrested for incest. He managed to take a revolver from an officer's holster that had a thumb break release. My brother was the shift Captain and was the first officer on the scene after the murder of his wife.
     

    RaleighReloader

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    33   0   0
    Jan 30, 2015
    1,177
    48
    Baton Rouge, LA
    I agree that this is much-needed guidance. I'm always astonished when I see security guards carrying questionable guns in even more questionable holsters.

    LouisianaJoe, I'm sorry about your sister-in-law.

    Mike
     

    323MAR

    Well-Known Member
    Silver Member
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Jan 15, 2014
    2,484
    83
    New Oeleans LA
    When I worked as a security guard during college, I carried a S&W Mod 66(125gr .357 loaded in the cylinder with 125gr .38+P in the speed loaders!) in a Don Hume level 1 thumb snap holster on a duty belt using the same belt keepers as LE with two handcuff carriers.
    I learned and practiced weapon retention techniques that served me well. For example, whenever drinking from a fountain I would move my elbow over the grip of the weapon. Using your legs and hip, you can rotate the weapon away from people you are confronting or anyone you feel may try to take it.
    I later switched to an H&K USP 9mm with a level 2 holster and made sure to practice drawing from that holster on a daily basis. That holster took more practice to master.
    Qualification was also an entertaining event. It was always fun to quietly observe *The Fiasco* from the back of the room. The variety of handguns, holsters, and attitudes was almost as much fun as a gun show. It was hilarious to see young men in their early 20’s talk trash and then barely make it. The same guys would then tell me things like *You should be the one to go after Sadam!* after they would see my target with a fist sized hole in the middle. I would modestly say *thank you* and try to to roll my eyes about how much they had to learn.
     
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