Industry body takes steps to support security officers

The Security Industry Council (SIC) is taking steps to support private security officers who suffer abuse while doing their jobs, in the wake of a high-profile incident between a condominium resident and a security officer over parking charges.

Security officers have been told to report any cases of abuse to an e-mail helpline, stopabuse@hormatsecurity.com

SIC said cases will be routed to the existing mediation service of the Union of Security Employees (USE) for further assessment and follow-up.

"Depending on the cases, assistance will be rendered to the affected officers - this could be in terms of mediation, providing legal advice or supporting officers to apply for medical leave, medical claims or even change of site or roles," said SIC, an umbrella body of security players.

If necessary, the officers could be helped to lodge police reports.

Last week, a video showing a resident at Eight Riversuites condominium in Whampoa verbally abusing a security officer over the Deepavali weekend went viral.

The resident, Mr Erramalli Ramesh, was shown swearing at Mr Steven Heng, after being told by the security officer that he needed to pay a $10 fee for guests parking at the condo after 11pm.

Mr Raj Joshua Thomas, president of the Security Association of Singapore, said the e-mail helpline provides an avenue for officers to send complaints and videos of abuse without having to get into trouble over doxxing and harassment.

SIC also brought up a poll involving 52 security officers which was conducted earlier this year by USE. About 73 per cent of the respondents reported some form of abuse - verbal or physical - in their work.

SIC added that most duties performed by security officers require them to advise the public of the conditions and rules put in place by the managing agent or site representatives.

"Should the officers fail to execute the rules, they or their employer are often faced with financial penalties," said SIC. But when they implement the rules, the officers risk getting abused.

To improve matters, SIC suggested that buyers of security services use a model that involves seeking expected performance levels from security agencies, instead of specifying manpower levels.

SIC also suggested proper threat, vulnerability and risk assessment (TVRA) to identify and analyse risks to the critical assets of a site.

It also suggested installing the right security technology at sites, based on the TVRA analysis and to deploy manpower that has been trained to use the technology.

Mr Albert Britto, 57, who has been a security officer for 26 years, welcomed the initiative, adding: "It has to be very responsive because there are a lot these incidents. Security officers must also remember not to be rude and approach (members of the public) in a correct away to avoid any incident completely."