Personally, I find all too often, films and TV programmes portray security guards in an unflattering light. The latest example is the BBC’s comedy series The Royal Bodyguard. The series follows Captain Guy Hubble who is promoted from head of Buckingham Palace car park security and put in charge of Royal security. I believe it depicts the role of a security guard negatively as the lead role is shown to be totally out of his depth.
The programme has been described as a ‘safe’ comedy. But security is not a comedy. The job of a security guard is to make people feel safe. To feel safe, the general public need to have confidence in the profession. And films and TV programmes which portray security guards unfavourably don’t promote the security industry and the good work security staff do.
There will always be a minority of cowboy security guards who are untrained and disreputable. But on the whole the security industry offers first class services provided by good security guards who have a strong commitment to care for people and can be relied upon to keep people safe.
At Magenta Security we have done all a lot of work to promote the professionalism of the security industry. Our staff undergo continual training, have 10 year criminal record checks and are Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensed. We pride ourselves on leading improvements within the industry, being one of the first Security Firms to gain a 3+ SIA rating. We will continue to promote the industry positively by offering first class services.
Being professional in everything we do can only go so far in changing people’s misconceptions about the security industry. While there are many TV documentaries which promote the good work of the Police, perhaps it is time for a fly-on-the-wall programme which does the same for the security industry.
Abbey Petkar
