armed security vs LEO in Texas?

[RHenriksen]

Friend of mine asked me this, need some help, please?

"What is the difference between an armed security guard and a police officer in Texas?"

[A-R]

Night and day.

For starters, LEOs are licensed by TCOLE and security by DPS Security Bureau.

Security is licensed, regulated by the state but hired and directed by private firms and clients.

LEOs are public servants.

Security must obey laws but their duty is to their clients

LEOs have duty to all citizens and powers that vastly exceed the powers of a security guard, explicitly spelled out in statute, for example:

Art. 2.13. DUTIES AND POWERS. (a) It is the duty of every peace officer to preserve the peace within the officer's jurisdiction. To effect this purpose, the officer shall use all lawful means.
(b) The officer shall:
(1) in every case authorized by the provisions of this Code, interfere without warrant to prevent or suppress crime;
(2) execute all lawful process issued to the officer by any magistrate or court;
(3) give notice to some magistrate of all offenses committed within the officer's jurisdiction, where the officer has good reason to believe there has been a violation of the penal law; and
(4) arrest offenders without warrant in every case where the officer is authorized by law, in order that they may be taken before the proper magistrate or court and be tried.
(c) It is the duty of every officer to take possession of a child under Article 63.009(g).

Acts 1965, 59th Leg., vol. 2, p. 317, ch. 722.

There are also huge disparities in training requirements, etc.


All of the above just scratches the surface.

[jbarn]

A LEO is employed by a political subdivision of the state or federal govt. As stated above, they have authority set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure. They are charged with enforcing law and maintaining order, but to the public in general and no one or group in particular.

A guard has no more authority than any private citizen. A guard is responsible under contract to protect a person or group, or specific property. He is either an employee of a business or person that he protects, or an employee of a private business that contracts with another business or person to provide persons to protect persons, businesses or property.

LEO's in Texas must receive months of training and pass psychological testing. An armed guard must complete 40 hours, one week, of training.

[spolct]

i worked at a fancy restaurant in texas as a valet for a few years. in the beginning they had off duty, uniformed constables providing security. later, for whatever reason they switched to armed, uniformed private security guards. without exception, the constables were always a pleasure to talk to and be around. likewise, almost without exception, the security guards were NOT a pleasure to talk to and be around. as a result of their comportment or their direct comments, there were several that left me with zero desire to be in close proximity.

during those years there only one 'major' incident requiring intervention. it just so happened that the perfect (off duty) LEO for the situation was there and was able to diffuse the situation. had it have been a security guard i have little doubt that things would have escalated before the real police arrived, shots would have been fired, and it would likely have been national news due to the parties involved.

i'm sure there's some really great guys/gals working as uniformed, armed security guards but the vast majority i have come into direct contact with are not in any way reassuring to me. quite the opposite actually.

[jbarn]

i worked at a fancy restaurant in texas as a valet for a few years. in the beginning they had off duty, uniformed constables providing security. later, for whatever reason they switched to armed, uniformed private security guards. without exception, the constables were always a pleasure to talk to and be around. likewise, almost without exception, the security guards were NOT a pleasure to talk to and be around. as a result of their comportment or their direct comments, there were several that left me with zero desire to be in close proximity.

during those years there only one 'major' incident requiring intervention. it just so happened that the perfect (off duty) LEO for the situation was there and was able to diffuse the situation. had it have been a security guard i have little doubt that things would have escalated before the real police arrived, shots would have been fired, and it would likely have been national news due to the parties involved.

i'm sure there's some really great guys/gals working as uniformed, armed security guards but the vast majority i have come into direct contact with are not in any way reassuring to me. quite the opposite actually.

I wonder how many you have come into direct contact with?

[spolct]

I wonder how many you have come into direct contact with?

i'll admit it's a pretty small sample size.

i also think that there aren't many armed security in proportion to unarmed security, but i may be way off base. i guess i should specify that most of my experiences with private security have been either positive or neutral. only a few of those experiences have been with the armed variety, and most of those were negative.

[Excaliber]

Friend of mine asked me this, need some help, please?

"What is the difference between an armed security guard and a police officer in Texas?"

It's easier to explain the single point of similarity: they both carry guns at work.

Everything else is different.

[texanjoker]

i worked at a fancy restaurant in texas as a valet for a few years. in the beginning they had off duty, uniformed constables providing security. later, for whatever reason they switched to armed, uniformed private security guards. without exception, the constables were always a pleasure to talk to and be around. likewise, almost without exception, the security guards were NOT a pleasure to talk to and be around. as a result of their comportment or their direct comments, there were several that left me with zero desire to be in close proximity.

during those years there only one 'major' incident requiring intervention. it just so happened that the perfect (off duty) LEO for the situation was there and was able to diffuse the situation. had it have been a security guard i have little doubt that things would have escalated before the real police arrived, shots would have been fired, and it would likely have been national news due to the parties involved.

i'm sure there's some really great guys/gals working as uniformed, armed security guards but the vast majority i have come into direct contact with are not in any way reassuring to me. quite the opposite actually.

A lot of good guys get their start as security then make the move to LE work. Then there are those that can't make it as a LEO so they are security, or those that retire from leo work and then work security. Nothing wrong with it. I have had to intervene before between security and the public for various reasons. The big difference is that the public knows they are security with no authority so they tend to ignore legitimate requests from security. Security guards defiantly fill the void between an unprotected business and a leo presence. Armed security makes about 12 bucks and hour vs whatever the local leos make in your area.

[texanjoker]

i worked at a fancy restaurant in texas as a valet for a few years. in the beginning they had off duty, uniformed constables providing security. later, for whatever reason they switched to armed, uniformed private security guards. without exception, the constables were always a pleasure to talk to and be around. likewise, almost without exception, the security guards were NOT a pleasure to talk to and be around. as a result of their comportment or their direct comments, there were several that left me with zero desire to be in close proximity.

during those years there only one 'major' incident requiring intervention. it just so happened that the perfect (off duty) LEO for the situation was there and was able to diffuse the situation. had it have been a security guard i have little doubt that things would have escalated before the real police arrived, shots would have been fired, and it would likely have been national news due to the parties involved.

i'm sure there's some really great guys/gals working as uniformed, armed security guards but the vast majority i have come into direct contact with are not in any way reassuring to me. quite the opposite actually.

A lot of good guys get their start as security then make the move to LE work. Then there are those that can't make it as a LEO so they are security, or those that retire from leo work and then work security. Nothing wrong with it. I have had to intervene before between security and the public for various reasons. The big difference is that the public knows they are security with no authority so they tend to ignore legitimate requests from security. Security guards defiantly fill the void between an unprotected business and a leo presence. Armed security makes about 12 bucks and hour vs whatever the local leos make in your area.Not a bad gig for 40 hours training vs minimum wage flipping burgers.