Just completed 3 days of training with a company to get my SIA badge. Personally I didnt want to do it but as I am now moving into Security management I needed it to stay legal. Now dont get me wrong I thought that licencing security guards was a good thing. After all if you give some one training it improves the quality right? Well thats what I thought. So day one begins and we are introduced to the course by spending about 2 hours with the trainer explaining further products you can buy from the company i.e CCTV licence, Close protection, PTTLs, etc etc. He then explains various modules on door security and during this time he makes (IMO) several mistakes. For example he states that after arrest a person must NOT be cautioned. Hmm last time I looked part of the legislation was that a person MUST be cautioned and thats what we did when I worked for Tescos and latter as a police officer. On the second day he picked out the most timid guy in the class and faced him up (I.e stood toe to toe with him whilst becoming aggresive). Naturally the guy felt a little afraid and was backing away. The reason for this given was, wait for this "Body Waves", Yep your body emits energy waves and when you stand in front of someone you are interfering with their waves. We also covered searches (But never did any searches) and how to arrest (But never practiced any arrests) and on the last day we did first aid. The instructor passed around his emergency first aid card and then spent 3 hours lecturing us on first aid. One guy who was army personel and a trained first aider (NVQ level 3 as taught by the army) refused to take part and told the instructor that to teach first aid you need to be a first aid instructor which he wasnt. He then said that if you want the first aid certificate afyet this course it will cost us 60 pounds. I'm wondering if any other people have experienced similar training, because to be truthful if this is the quality of training that is delivered then I am very dubious whether these courses that are delivered on behalf of the SIA will, or have actually improved the quality of security in this country. Or maybe I was just unlucky. Garth
I think you're right there Gary, that seemed more like a money making course than anything else, sorry you had to go through that
I got a couple of lads who are SIA trained and work the doors (TSS etc). I'll ask around for you. Its all London based though.
It's exactly the attitude of the instructor that gets security guards labeled as rent-a-cops or worse. He's reinforcing the stereotype that security guards are not very bright, not very able and all wish badly to actually be cops yet due to their limited mental capacities they're not. Go figure.
Sounds like a lot of experiences my friends (ex-forces entering security) have had. The courses they have attended, many of them funded by the little resettlement funding they get, vary from being sat in a classroom for a week with no practical assesment, or some dumb ape telling them to "give the fellow a solid kicking after you've nicked him." The guys over at Close Protection World should be able to refer you to the better companies.
I've also heard horror stories about the SIA process and I am on the other side of the world.. It seems that this organization was set up in the beginning to get people certified as a security specialist and had good reports at the onset.. It has turned it's ugly head into a money making endeavor by some and even at that, a lot of people who have prior certs are having to recertify with the standards established by the SIA.. If the SIA wanted to get more qualified people, they should look to establish protocols to take into consideration of the classes and real world experience that the military and prior security personnel have had..
jwt posted Get Licenced I had this exact conversation with the SIA. It seems that even if you were a police officer with 20 years experience you would still have to do the course. Its bizarre. After all are they really trying to say that 3 days training on an SIA course is better than 15 weeks at a police training centre, 12 weeks training at police headquarters, 10 weeks with a police tutor and god knows how many years experience of actually doing the job. One would have thought that there would be some exemptions. But it seems not. Garth
