By
in
Did you hear how the Seattle Seahawk team arranged to catch roughhousers at its game against the San Francisco 49’ers in September, 2013?
They hired undercover cops.
But not to dress like an average Joe football fan bringing beer and popcorn to the stadium stands. No. Rather, these undercover cops dressed the part of a specific type of fan bringing beer and popcorn to the stadium stands. In fact, the opposition type. The undercover cops hired by Seahawk management wore 49’ers shirts in order to instigate a possible brawl with the home team fans, catching violent behavior before it escalated. A clever ruse.
You’d think it’s obvious to assess whether you need uniformed security guards or undercover agents. You simply ask yourself: Do we want our security guards to be identifiable, serving as a deterrent and/or called-upon emergency help? Or do we want the guards to be virtually invisible in the crowd, waiting in the wings to clamp perpetrators by surprise?
While the example of the Seahawk’s security plan was unusual (and therefore made news), the choice about whether to use undercover officers versus uniformed security guards is not necessarily a simple one.
Consider your needs. Usually, smaller firms with one-off events do not need private undercover agents. On the other end, larger organizations, specifically with threats of personal violence, terrorism, or grand theft, could do well with undercover security personnel. If you are hiring security agents for a large-scale event or day-to-day business, you will likely need both undercover officers as well as uniformed security personnel.
Most importantly, the uniformed and undercover team members need to be professionally trained to work together. As an example, think shoplifting sting. The undercover cop “shopper” spots a real shopper’s try at a five-finger discount. The undercover guard swiftly reaches into his pocket, pressing a button on his cell phone to alert the closest-positioned uniformed security guard that a sting is in the works. The security guard then calls the undercover agent who, answering a seemingly innocent cell phone call, describes the precise location of the perpetrator. A few seconds later, the shoplifter is arrested.
Another means of guaranteeing security is to trade off uniformed security guards with undercover personnel. This can “trip up” potential criminals who tend to scope out venues before they perform their operation. This way, switching uniformed and plain-clothed security personnel can even serve as a deterrent because the criminals won’t be able to plan with precision, leading them to conclude it’s too risky to even bother.
All told, while you’ll inevitably hire uniformed security guards as a basic insurance policy, consider the broad offerings an undercover agent can provide. At least this way, you’ll know your hired guards are protecting you best, even if they dress as the opposing team.
