One of the most vital skills we have as a security professional is that of observation. The ability to see things and have a 6th sense of potential danger. The average person sees a strange subject walking by a random car and admiring how shiny it is. The security professional sees a potential auto burglary. The receptionist sees a homeless man passing through, but the copper wire in his shopping cart and the pliers and gloves hanging out of his pockets may tell a different story.
By our very nature, we must be suspicious of things that seem out of place or strange. We don’t have the luxury of taking things at face value. We see potential danger and threats long before our unsuspecting counterparts by utilizing a skill not quickly learned: the art of observation. During training, I often tell my recruits a simple concept, “If something doesn’t seem right…that’s because it’s NOT!”
Just last week, I was training a new police recruit. We were dispatched to a silent intrusion alarm of a residence. As my recruit prepared to open the side gate of the house, I said, “Hang on.”
I whistled loudly and said, “Come on, buddy! Come here, boy!” moments later, a large black German Shepherd came running to the gate and barked at us violently while foaming at the mouth. My recruit shrieked and then laughed. I asked, “I bet you’ll start doing that from now on before you start walking into a random backyard, huh?” I had no prior knowledge of the dog being in the backyard, but I made this mistake several times early in my career. Through my experience, I found this to be an effective means not to get torn to shreds by whatever four-legged friend that may secure that yard.
Trusting our gut instinct is not just a hunch or a guess. Observation is a skill that is sharpened and honed through our learned experience as a security officer. I know from experience that when I have someone detained for questioning if they are looking around me and taking in their surroundings, that often indicates preflight planning. This person is searching for his route to run and what path would give him the most successful means of escape. This is not just an uncomfortable feeling or odd behavior; it is an observation I’ve made over the years that is correlated with fleeing suspects.
As we pass a suspicious vehicle on the client’s property after hours, we take a look inside to see what is in plain view. What we see inside a vehicle can often tell us who or what we may encounter inside the building. If I notice a car seat, an iPad, and an access badge hanging from the mirror, it’s likely that an employee is in the building and typed in the wrong alarm code. If I see drug paraphernalia and burglary tools with copper wiring of various sizes cut in non-uniform lengths, this indicates copper theft. An extreme example would be observing multiple bags of ammunition, firearms, and rifle plate carriers in the car. This could be the clue that potentially foiled a mass shooting just before it was carried out. It’s these types of observations that separate us from other professions.
The age-old saying reigns true: you don’t know what you don’t know. How much truer is this: you don’t know what you don’t SEE or HEAR? We use our senses daily while on patrol, whether we realize it or not. It’s not just our sight and hearing but our sense of taste, smell, and touch. You will often SMELL smoke before you SEE the fire. If you check the handle of a locked door during your rounds of the building and immediately get a burn on your palm, that tells you that something behind that door is heating the door handle…potential fire. Without your sense of touch, you’d never know that an electrical fire had started in the server room but had no airflow to spread. It’s our senses that make our observation skills what they are. As security professionals, we develop a keen sense of suspicion and second-guess even the smallest things. Our attention to detail makes or breaks us as effective security officers.
A man walks into the building wearing a reflective safety vest and a hard hat, carrying a tool bag and says he’s there to work in the server room. You see a lanyard hanging from his neck with an access badge with the company name and logo. You find it odd that the company name is misspelled, and the company logo is not the same colors consistent with shirts, documents, and building signage. You alert your supervisor, and the police respond. Through an extensive investigation, you find that the company had no maintenance scheduled in the server room. The individual requesting access planned to insert a USB flash drive with pre-loaded malware into the company’s servers to access critical financial information. This process would take approximately 15-20 minutes, and he would leave with everything needed to financially cripple the company and hold valuable client data for ransom. But you thought it was odd that the company name and logo were suspicious.
I hope this highlights the potential threats we encounter daily. We aren’t just warm bodies to fill a seat for a 12-hour shift. We are the professionals that the client entrusts with the safety of their employees, executives, and assets. We should constantly look for ways to learn and grow in our profession. Trade some observations around with your co-workers. See what kinds of things they have encountered, odd or suspicious things that stood out to them on occasion, and how they reacted. As always, keep up the great work and stay vigilant.