Protecting the Property: Know When to Step In

For all patrol guards, standing guards, guardhouse guards, and dispatchers.

This training covers urgent situations. It explains what the guard does and what dispatch does.

Part 1: Why We Get Involved

More than one team

Some problems need more than one type of vendor.

• Painters and security
• Gardeners and security
• Plumbers and security
• Construction and security

We are often one of the teams involved, even when the problem looks like it belongs to someone else.

Never just "not us"

It is not our place to simply say "not us."

For every call or situation, we ask: do we have a place getting involved?

We make that decision every time. It is never a reason to walk away.

Example: feces in the pool

At first, this looks like a maintenance issue. But someone could get sick. So we act to keep residents safe.

• At the very least, we write a report.
• Security locks the pool and escorts people out of the pool area. Maintenance does not do this.
• Maintenance fixes the pool. Security protects the people.

Part 2: Our Job and the Rule

Our job

Our job is not just parking. Our job is not just crime.

The rule

Ask yourself two questions:

• Could someone get hurt?
• Could property be damaged if this keeps going?

Escalate means tell dispatch, and dispatch calls management. We do not fix it ourselves.

Part 3: What Goes Where

Report only

These do not need a call to management, but they still get a report:

• Ducks in the pool
• Sprinkler spraying the wrong way
• Light not turning on

There is nothing for us to fix. Write the report.

High priority

These need action right away:

• Water main break
• Feces in the pool
• Flooded bathroom
• Fire
• Police or crime
• Wall or building falling down
• Dead rats, birds, or animals

Part 4: What to Do

If you are a guard

Your duty is to report.

1. Found it first? Tell dispatch right away.
2. In an emergency, go through dispatch. This keeps the line recorded.
3. Stay on site until dispatch tells you what to do. Dispatch will pass along instructions from upper management.
4. Document the situation while you wait.
5. Do not fix it. Take action only when you are told to.

If you are a dispatcher

Your responsibility is to call management.

1. Not sure? Call middle management: Wendy, Nick F., or Joe O.
2. Sure it is high priority? Call upper management: Colin or Jared.
3. No answer? Do not stop. Call everyone again and send WhatsApp messages.
4. Call comes in about a place where a guard already is? Tell that guard to respond to the call. The guard then writes a Responded-to-Call report.
5. Pass upper management's instructions to the guard.

Who talks to the property manager