The Role of National Guards in Protests Security

 

As Arizona continues to protest the war in Palestine and it signifies the killings of human life. So far, we have seen national guards presence in this protests. Things you need to know about their role in Phoenix, AZ.

Who They are:

 

The national guard is an entity of US Military. In Arizona, it consists of 5100 Soldiers, to enlist without previously serving, applicants must be in the age of 17 to 35, have to be a US citizen or permanent resident and pass a skill test. Unlike in the Army, national guards can take other private jobs or be a student. In Addition, guards include people of all backgrounds such as teachers, lawyers, doctors, postal workers. Finally, members are required to attend paid drills every once a month and 2 weeks annual paid training.

Why Security Guards are needed:

 

For businesses during this times of many protests and insecurities, it is imperative to have a security officer privately guarding your business institution.  We have seen many protests that have turned into riots and looting in the blink of an eye. Furthermore, guarding the private estate in the events of this nature can give a peace of mind to the owner of the business.

 

It has been witnessed in the past where there was no protection for the stores, gas stations, hotels, malls and small businesses. The looting and vandalism took place. Furthermore, it brought too many losses to the businesses, damaged buildings and stores.

 

 

Security officers perspective on Protests:

 

We live in a democracy where people have the freedom to protest rightfully and peacefully. The majority of the protests are indeed peaceful. However, we all know that there are those that are not in line when protesting on city roads and alleys.

As a security officer with 30 plus years of experience in the industry, I have been on duty during numerous protests, both planned and unplanned with no prior warning. Furthermore, Generally things go off quite well with few problems.

I remember saying good morning to a small group of people who walked into the lobby of the building, I was working in and being greeted politely in return. It was only to discover few seconds later that they were protesters, who then invaded the buildings by swarming into the lifts. Needless to say, it was an interesting morning.

The police were called to remove them, It took a while as they had handcuffed themselves to the desks. However,  The question is “what could security have done to prevent this?”  the answer was ‘nothing’.  The lobby was huge and only one security officer was on duty there at a time, it may have been an help to have multiple guards on site that night. The job was checking ID cards as people entered the building and directing guests to the reception team. Even if I’d managed to stop one protester, the others were already in the lobby.

I have also experienced protesters come into buildings, smartly dressed, carrying brief cases and book in at reception before taking a seat. They told the reception team that they were waiting for a colleague who had their hosts details. However, They then waited for opportunities to tailgate or scope out the building’s security arrangements. Dealing with situations like this in-tales awareness.

The first time I experienced a planned protest, I was relatively new to the industry, having left the military a few months previously, it was something new. I arrived to bolster the team at the building where the planned protest was to take place. There were several security staff on duty, with police officers and stewards outside with the protesters to ensure that everything went off peacefully. The protesters handed out leaflets, made a few speeches, took pictures and spoke to passers-by. After handing in a letter to the target companies media rep the protesters went on their way. All in all, a very positive experience from the security teams point of view.