Allied Barton Security - Allied Security ripoff, dishonest, discrimatory, worst company I've ever worked for. Cincinnati Ohio

I have worked for Allied Barton for a total of 2 years and I work with guards that have worked for them for 5+ years. Two of the few people are female. Our site is a good one. I for one love this company. The site supervisor, account manager, and our client contact would bend over backwards to help any guard here. I for one have never had trouble getting a raise, benefits, vacation time, or anything due to me.

Allied Barton is run here by Tom Dbag and Dave Dbag.  Both are losers, and will lie, cheat and steal to get the next loser on board to fill time. 
Dont pay chit.  I walked in and they said it was 9 and hour, I walked right back out.  Dave Dbag was like 'wait wait wait, we have some that pay more'.  I walked out making 12. 

Worst job I ever had.  People dont respect you, think you are a bum, and the uniform you have on tells them your a bum.  I"m not a bum.  I need a 12 hr job to pay my bills and bit the bullet. 

Duke Energy has Allied Barton.  What else do you need to know?

NEVER WORK FOR THIS COMPANY. 

To all of you on here who like to work here, wonder if you like sucking meat, cause thats who gets promoted.  The branch in Erlanger, KY has a fired cop and a retard 1 and 2 in command.

Allied Barton will tell you lies, will steal from you, will steal from their clients.  No, they dont walk out the door with valuables.  They rob the clients of money on more things, like time.  Charge 21.00 an hour and pay the dude 9-12.  I was given $1000 of gear, they never even asked for it back the turnover is so high.

Allied Barton will never be respected by me ever again.  It's a dump, run by thieves, a*s kissers, and people that will do anything, even supply drugs, to keep a current client.  ANYTHING.  I saw it.

Try getting unemployment after leaving.  My pay was cut, so I had cause.  Denied.  AB never pays unemployment.  Guess why?

Anger management-dude

I AM ANGRY BECAUSE I SAW THE WAY WOMEN IN MY FAMILY WHO WORKED HERE WERE TREATED. AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO MY WOMEN FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS AND IT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER TOO. THERE IS A PATTERN OF DISCRIMINATION, HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT HERE AND SETTING UP FEMALE EMPLOYEES FOR FAILURE

THEY WEREN'T ALL THAT CRAZY ABOUT ME.

I'm not a corporate shill, I live in NJ and am female. Not management, no desires to be. As i said before i have been in this industry for a long time, I have been management and can see both sides.

WHY AREN'T YOU MANAGEMENT NOW, IF I CAN ASK?

I am sorry you have such a hard time believing that someone can like the company they work for. Allied has never done wrong for me, as for starting at the bottom and staying there, thats on you.

i have my College education, my 10 years experience and my ability to reason on my side for when and if I decide I want to move up or transfer.

IF YOU HAVE COLLEGE, WHY ARE YOU WORKING A SECURITY JOB WHICH DOESN'T EVEN REQUIRE A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION -- BUT I'M NOT IN NEW JERSEY.I HAVE 20 YEARS SECURITY EXPERIENCE... GOOD LUCK IN THIS ECONOMY. I KNOW PEOPLE WHOSE POSTS ARE GOING DOWN BECAUSE THE CLIENTS ARE CLOSING OR MOVING OVERSEAS --and the jobs that are gone are not coming back.

private security is not as recession proof as it used to be.

MAYBE IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE UP THERE IN NEW JERSEY.

DOWN HERE, WE HAVE A HISTORY OF PEONAGE, SLAVERY AND EMPLOYEE ABUSE. AND ONCE THE YANKEES COME HERE, THEY LIKE IT A LOT. THEY PICK UP ON THE SCAM, SKIM AND EXPLOITATION VERY FAST. AND MANY CLAIM THEY HAVE TIES TO THE NEW JERSEY "MOB."

BUT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ORGANIZED CRIME, J. EDGAR HOOVER SAID SO.

But some people just want to complain. (That comment is not ment towards the original poster, but the very angry waht I assume is young man who should consider professional help.)

WE HAVE PLENTY TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HERE. THAT'S WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO TAKE THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY OVER.

THE YOUNG LADY IS TELLING THE SAME STORY THAT EVERY ONE OF MY FEMALE RELATIVES HAS TOLD ME AND I WAS ALSO DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

ONE OF MY COUSINS DID HAVE A PEACE OFFICER TRAINING AND LICENSE, HELD A SECURITY OFFICER COMMISSION AND HAD A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE AND NEARLY 2,000 TRAINING HOURS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT-ONLY CLASSES. SHE IS IN NURSING SCHOOL NOW FOR FOUR YEAR RN BECAUSE OF THE VICIOUS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN -- STRAIGHT AND GAY -- HERE IN TEXAS.

I HAVE NEVER WORKED IN NEW JERSEY BUT WITH THE HISTORY OF LABOR UNIONS, I IMAGINE THAT ALLIED BARTON TOES THE LINE UP THERE.

I AM GLAD THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO FIND A PLACE TO FIT IN -- FOR NOW.

I'm not a corporate shill, I live in NJ and am female. Not management, no desires to be. As i said before i have been in this industry for a long time, I have been management and can see both sides.

I am sorry you have such a hard time believing that someone can like the company they work for. Allied has never done wrong for me, as for starting at the bottom and staying there, thats on you. i have my College education, my 10 years experience and my ability to reason on my side for when and if I decide I want to move up or transfer.

But some people just want to complain. (That comment is not ment towards the original poster, but the very angry waht I assume is young man who should consider professional help.)

I Currently work for this company, and in fact have worked in the security industry for many years. This report upset me for many reasons..

AS WELL IT SHOULD BECAUSE YOU HAVE DEVOTED YOUR LIFE TO THIS EXPLOITATIVE, HIDEOUS "BUSINESS." JUST LIKE I NEARLY DID UNTIL I SAW IT FOR WHAT IT IS. EVEN A JANITOR HAS MORE BENEFITS AND BETTER TREATMENT.

AND HOW MANY OF THOSE YEARS HAVE YOU WORKED FOR ALLIED-BARTON, DUDE?

I SUSPECT YOU ARE A CLUELESS YANKEE FROM KING OF PRUSSIA IN PENNSYLVANIA WHO MIGHT BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHY YOU PEOPLE ARE HAVING SUCH A HARD TIME RECRUITING NEW VICTIMS FOR YOU INCREDIBLY SORRY AND EVIL COMPANY.

BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO WORK FOR YOU PEOPLE. NOBODY WHO HAS A CONCERN ABOUT THEIR FUTURE AND DOES NOT WANT TO BE LIED ABOUT, BACKLISTED AND GIVEN FALSE JOB REFERENCES FROM HELL AND THE OTHER THINGS YOU PEOPLE DO TO TRY AND DESTROY EX-EMPLOYEES NO MATTER HOW WELL THEY WORKED FOR YOU.

HOW BADLY DID YOU GET HARASSED WHEN YOU WERE ELIGIBLE FOR A RAISE?

AROUND HERE, DUDE, IT MEANS THAT THEY ARE GETTING READY TO FIRE YOU WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN THERE LONG ENOUGH TO GET A RAISE--NO MATTER WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU DID FOR THEM OR NOT.

AND, I TAKE IT THAT YOU ARE A WHITE MALE BECAUSE I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU ARE NOT A WHITE MALE OR RETIRED REAR ECHELON MILITARY OR CAN PASS FOR WHITE , YOU WILL NOT HAVE A GREAT EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE WITH THESE PEOPLE. IF YOU ARE A WOMAN OF ANY ETHNICITY OR A MINORITY PERSON --YOU WILL HAVE A WORK EXPERIENCE FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL -- I TAKE THAT BACK, HELL IS BETTER RUN AND YOU PROBABLY BE TREATED BETTER THERE.

Security officers do not 'protect and serve' generally the job discription is to 'observe and report'

THAT IS WHAT WAS SAID. BUT YOU SEE WHO GETS SUED IF SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED.

yes we do get lunch breaks, we are paid for them so we don't leave the site unattended to go get food.

YOU ARE A BAD LIAR, DUDE. AT LEAST HERE. NO LUNCH BREAKS AND THEY TIME YOUR RESTROOM BREAKS VIA COMPUTER MONITORS AND VIDEOTAPE WHICH IS AGAINST OSHA. I DON'T KNOW HOW ALLIED-BARTON GETS AWAY WITH IT.


As for the authors experiences, my question to her is..what did you do about it? Did you speak to anyone from the company outside the site (read:management) about the problems at the site? Did you ask for more training? With warehouse work, often security is in a shack logging in trucks. generally the people who 'sit around and do nothing' have more experience in the field, higher education or better computer skills. When you start in any field they put you at the bottom.

IF YOU "GO TO MANAGEMENT," YOU WILL BE FIRED SOONER THAN LATER. I WENT TO THEIR MANAGEMENT AND THE MANAGER WAS MORE INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW MUCH HE COULD SCAM AND SKIM AND DIDN'T GIVE A d**n ABOUT SOME INTERCHANGEABLE EASILY REPLACEABLE SERFS AND PEONS. WHICH IS HOW THEY SAW US AT CORPORATE BECAUSE THE IDIOTS AT CORPORATE HQ HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE. AT TIMES, I WONDER IF THEY HAD SOME SCAM GOING...

HERE, EVERYBODY STARTS AT THE BOTTOM AND THEY STAY AT THE BOTTOM FROM THE TIME THEY ARRIVE HERE UNTIL IT IS TIME TO GET THAT FIRST RAISE, AND THEN, THEY FIND A WAY TO TERMINATE THEM SO THEY CAN BRING IN A NEW PEON OR SERF FOR A LOWER WAGE.

PEOPLE WHO SIT AROUND AND DO NOTHING ARE ALSO SCHEDULED TO GO. IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME.

With uniforms and Id cards, I can't comment as I have very well fitted uniforms that I have tailed and was reimbursed for. Same goes for training, my OJT may not have been great but the advanced training is. My job is not difficult to figure out.

NO, THE JOBS ARE NOT DIFFICULT. THEY COULD PROBABLY TRAIN A CHIMP TO DO THIS --AND NOW THEY WILL HAVE AN EXCUSE TO FIRE MORE PEOPLE ASSUMING THEY WERE STUPID ENOUGH TO WORK FOR ALLIED-BARTON TO START WITH. NOBODY BUT CORPORATE PEOPLE AND SUPERVISORS GET ADVANCED TRAINING AND I DO MEAN NOBODY --SO YOU JUST SHOWED US WHO YOU ARE.

If your coworkers wern't doing their jobs, why were you doing it for them. If My coworker is given an assisgnment and he doesn't do it how does that affect me and my job?

YOU LOSE THE CONTRACT, STUPID, AND THEN EVERYBODY IS OUT OF WORK. OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF TEAMWORK. IF YOU LOSE THE CONTRACT, ALLIED-BARTON FIRES AND BLACKLISTS EVERYBODY AT ONCE ON THE CONTRACT POST THAT THEY WERE WORKING --AN EN MASSE FIRING -- AND YOU WILL BE SUBSEQUENTLY BLACKLISTED AND FIRED FASTER THAN YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF YOU WERE ABLE TO HOLD ONTO THAT ACCOUNT ( WHILE FRANTICALLY SEARCHING FOR A JOB IN ANOTHER LINE OF WORK IF YOU ARE SMART).

AND YOU CAN SEE HOW THE ORIGINAL WRITER OF THIS RIP-OFF REPORT WAS "REWARDED" FOR HER ( IT IS ALWAYS A WOMAN WHO GETS THE BRUNT OF THE HATRED) LOYALTY AND DEDICATION TO DUTY BUT SOMETIMES OLDER OFFICERS GET IT IN THE BACK TOO.)

As for benefits, Security is unskilled labor with a high turnover, they wait 90 days before offering insurance, I don't see this as unreasonable as most industries have a wait time for benefits.

THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFITS OFFERED WITH THESE PEOPLE AS THEY DELIBERATELY ENGINEER IT SO YOU WILL NOT BE AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO COLLECT THEM. I HAVE READ THEIR PROPAGANDA AND EVEN IF YOU DID MANAGED TO HANG ON THERE, YOU WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT ON THE PITTANCE THAT THEY PAY YOU --AND THAT IS BEFORE YOUR CHECK IS SKIMMED.

YOU ARE NOTHING BUT DISPOSABLE GARBAGE TO THEM..NOT WORTH INSURANCE.

IT IS RATHER BAD THAT THE CLIENT FEELS TO BAD FOR THE GUARDS FROM ALLIED-BARTON THAT THEY ATTEMPT TO OFFER THEM THE SAME BENEFITS THAT THEIR OTHER EMPLOYEES HAVE. ALLIED BARTON IS ALL OUT FOR THE MONEY AND THE HELL WITH EVEN THE MOST BASIC AND HUMANE TREATMENT FOR THE POOR SLAVES WHO HAVE TO WORK FOR THEM.

The supervisors relationship to the client and his marital status really has nothing to do with the complaint and was not nessicary...

IT DOESN'T MATTER. YOU WILL DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO KEEP THAT ACCOUNT OR YOU WILL BE OUT OF WORK AND BLACKLISTED. YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT A BLACKLIST IS. IT MEANS YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIND A JOB AGAIN IF YOU ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO LIST THEM AS A REFERENCE NO MATTER HOW GOOD A JOB YOU DID FOR THEM. IF THE CLIENT WANTS A GUARD TO HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH THEM, HEY, IT'S A GUY, IT'S A GOOD THING FOR HIM AND IT INSURES THAT THE CONTRACT WILL BE RENEWED BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT ALLIED-BARTON CARES ABOUT.

IT ALSO MEANS THAT THE CLIENT WILL DEFER TO THE SUPERVISOR AND HE WILL BE ABLE TO OVERRIDE THE OFFICER'S COMPLAINTS TO THE ALLIED MANAGER, ASSUMING THE MANAGER ISN'T TOO BUSY SCAMMING, STEALING AND SKIMMING FROM EVERYBODY TO GIVE A d**n.

DUDE, WHEN YOU ARE BLACKISTED, YOU CAN'T EVEN LEASE AN APARTMENT.

WHICH MEANS THAT THE OFFICER'S COMPLAINTS GO NOWHERE EXCEPT TO BE USED AGAINST HER LATER WHEN THEY USE IT AS AN EXCUSE TO DENY HER UNEMPLOYMENT AS A CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE, VOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND AS THE BASIS OF A BLOACKLISTING

I've worked both sides of security, officer and supervisor, I hear a lot of'they don't do anything' from both sides. a lot of the time people only see what they want, after all if you were 'stuck in a dirty shack' for 12 hours a day...HOW do you know what everyone else was doing all day long?

YOU HAVE EYES, COMMON SENSE, EARS AND YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING ON. AFTER ALL, SECURITY OFFICERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MORE OBSERVANT THAN THE SO-AVERAGE PERSON AND AN INNATE CURIOSITY AND INVESTIGATIVE ABILITY WHICH ATTRACTS MANY BRIGHT PEOPLE TO THE BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE --THE ONES THAT MANAGEMENT DELIBERATELY TRIED TO DESTROY -- BUT THEY USUALLY FIGURE IT OUT IN A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS AND ARE USUALLY BRIGHT AND YOUNG ENOUGH WHERE THEY CAN QUIT AND GO TO THE JOB THEY FOUND WHILE THEY WERE BEING EXPLOITED BY ALLIED-BARTON AND DON'T HAVE TO MENTION SUCH A DEMEANING, BAD EXPERIENCE ON THEIR RESUME.

I WAS VICTIMIZED BY THEM AND SO HAVE MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN MY FAMILY. AND PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW.

I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THEM VERY LONG IF YOU ARE REALLY JUST A SECURITY GUARD OR YOU WOULD HATE THEM TOO --CAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO BE FIRED BY THEM,DUDE, IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME.

BUT I REALLY THINK YOU ARE A SUPERVISOR WHO THINKS YOU ARE GOING TO GO INTO MANAGEMENT --YOU AREN'T -- OR YOU ARE IN MANAGEMENT ALREADY AND MAYBE YOU STOPPED SKIMMING, STEALING LONG ENOUGH TO ASK WHY PEOPLE HATE YOUR SORRY COMPANY SO MUCH.

THIS RECENT BAD ECONOMY WILL MAKE SOME PEOPLE DESPERATE ENOUGH TO COME TO WORK FOR THIS COMPANY BUT MANY OTHER WOULD RATHER BE ON UNEMPLOYMENT THAN TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO THE VICIOUS MENTAL TORTURE,SUBHUMAN TREATMENT AND LOUSY PAYCHECKS --THESE GUARDS ARE PAID LITTLE ENOUGH --WHY DO MANAGERS TRY TO SKIM FROM THEM???

NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WORKS FOR ALLIED-BARTON. EITHER THEY SEE IT FOR WHAT IT IS AND QUIT OR THEY ARE TERMINATED, LIED ABOUT, BLACKLISTED AND ARE PREVENTED FROM GETTING THEIR UNEMPLOYMENT. ALLIED-BARTON KEEPS MOVING THEM THROUGH LIKE AN ASSEMBLY LINE.

THEY MIGHT NOT BE LIKE THAT EVERYWHERE BUT THEY ARE LIKE THAT HERE.

AND FROM WHAT I READ HERE FROM ELSEWHERE, DOING HURTFUL, SPITEFUL THINGS TO THEIR EMPLOYEES WHILE THEY ARE WORKING THERE AND AFTER THEY SET THEM UP FOR TERMINATION, IS WHAT THESE EMPLOYERS DO BEST AND OFTEN IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.

I Currently work for this company, and in fact have worked in the security industry for many years. This report upset me for many reasons..

Security officers do not "protect and serve" generally the job discription is to "observe and report"

yes we do get lunch breaks, we are paid for them so we don't leave the site unattended to go get food.


As for the authors experiences, my question to her is..what did you do about it? Did you speak to anyone from the company outsside the site (read:management) about the problems at the site? Did you ask for more training? With warehouse work, often security is in a shack logging in trucks. generally the people who "sit around and do nothing" have more experience in the field, higher education or better computer skills. When you start in any field they put you at the bottom.

With uniforms and Id cards, I can't comment as I have very well fitted uniforms that I have tailed and was reimbursed for. Same goes for training, my OJT may not have been great but the advanced training is. My job is not difficult to figure out.

If your coworkers wern't doing their jobs, why were you doing it for them. If My coworker is given an assisgnment and he doesn't do it how does that affect me and my job?

As for benefits, Security is unskilled labor with a high turnover, they wait 90 days before offering insurance, I don't see this as unreasonable as most industries have a wait time for benefits.

The supervisors relationship to the client and his marital status really has nothing to do with the complaint and was not nessicary...

I've worked both sides of security, officer and supervisor, I hear a lot of"they don't do anything" from both sides. a lot of the time people only see what they want, after all if you were "stuck in a dirty shack" for 12 hours a day...HOW do you know what everyone else was doing all day long?

Allied Security or Allied Barton or whatever the hell they are calling themselves now, perhaps in efforts to distance themselves from when they were just Allied Security or Allied/Spectraguard, etc. and sold LOUSY security services at way overinflated prices to gullible and stupid clients, is NOT a good place to work!

Sometimes, in Texas, law enforcement officers of smaller departments where they pay is not much ( Not everybody wants to live in the BIG CITY and there is not enough room on the metro forces that really PAY a living wage here!) are forced to go to work for private security companies to make ends meet.

So you NEVER KNOW in private security just who is behind that lousy cloth badge sewed on that cheap, miserable polyesther shirt.

Because security officer employers dress them in psedo-cop suits, the clients delude themselves into thinking that the scarecrow guards will be able to PROTECT them and SERVE them. ( Think of mideaval vassals when you think SERVE, bud, NOT police!) There IS a lot of difference between the pride and confidence a well-trained law enforcement PROFESSIONAL has and a beat-down, broke, ill-trained,virtually untrained, intimidated SECURITY GUARD! The off-duty pay reflects it too --about $20-$50 AN HOUR AND UP OFF DUTY PAY TO COPS WHO PROVIDE SECURITY VERSUS MINIMUM WAGE FOR THE SECURITY SCARECROW IN THE CHEAP POLYESTER SUIT.

So to the guy who thinks that cops and security officers are different, just remember what I always used to tell my rookies, "NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING. BECAUSE WHEN YOU DIVIDE ASSUME DOWN THE MIDDLE YOU MAKE AN a*s OUT OF U AND ME!"

Check things out very,very carefully before you make a judgement call.

ESPECIALLY when it concerns the career you want to choose to make your living doing!

DO NOT CHOOSE TO WORK IN PRIVATE SECURITY!

I am seeing more and more of these peon jobs go begging because nobody wants to be cheated out of their pay, face potential danger and false accusations and being treated like the proverbial dung heap on the botton of a yuppie's Gucci loafers. Capiche?

If anybody is stupid enough to want to work for a private security employer, PLEASE TELL THEM TO RESEARCH THE SECURity company in the RIP-OFF REPORT.

I can tell from firsthand occupational excursions into the depths of SECURITY HELL that everything the past and present contract security officers are writing is TRUE! DO NOT WASTE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR TIME IN PRIVATE SECURITY!

I have never read in any of these article comparing security to police or fire departments. I have a daughter who is an undercover police office and a first cousin who does protect and serve. I did not know what I was getting into because of the lies and deceit when I applied and went thru the necessary testing and interview for the job. and that was my first securtiy job and my last.I as the rest of us Americans went to work because I have a family to feed and bills to be paid. I have excellant credit and want to keep it that way.

I am not laying in the bed ( as you Ang stated) as of 7 months ago. I work for one of the nation's largest bank now making a living far better living than a security officer. I have benefits, paid holidays, vacation leave, sick leave and no I don't have to put my life on the line for $9.00 any longer. But us true Americans will work to put food in our family stomachs and a roof over our heads..no matter what it takes. As to our police officers, some are good some aren't..Read our newspapers. They are full of bad people who claim they protect and serve.Some do put their life on the line and I am very proud of my daughter..My cousin has been a female polce officer for over 16 years with the same force..True there is no comparrison between the two.. I never read here that there was ANG..Security police is exactly what we all have been saying it is. Police and fire is completley different. But I was hired to protect and to serve in an 1 million aquare foot building.

Could you Ang, protect and serve your community without training , without proper instructions on how to do your job? To go out everyday on patrol not knowing what to do or how to do it? I think not.In the security buisness we was..

I have never read in any of these article comparing security to police or fire departments. I have a daughter who is an undercover police office and a first cousin who does protect and serve. I did not know what I was getting into because of the lies and deceit when I applied and went thru the necessary testing and interview for the job. and that was my first securtiy job and my last.I as the rest of us Americans went to work because I have a family to feed and bills to be paid. I have excellant credit and want to keep it that way.

I am not laying in the bed ( as you Ang stated) as of 7 months ago. I work for one of the nation's largest bank now making a living far better living than a security officer. I have benefits, paid holidays, vacation leave, sick leave and no I don't have to put my life on the line for $9.00 any longer. But us true Americans will work to put food in our family stomachs and a roof over our heads..no matter what it takes. As to our police officers, some are good some aren't..Read our newspapers. They are full of bad people who claim they protect and serve.Some do put their life on the line and I am very proud of my daughter..My cousin has been a female polce officer for over 16 years with the same force..True there is no comparrison between the two.. I never read here that there was ANG..Security police is exactly what we all have been saying it is. Police and fire is completley different. But I was hired to protect and to serve in an 1 million aquare foot building.

Could you Ang, protect and serve your community without training , without proper instructions on how to do your job? To go out everyday on patrol not knowing what to do or how to do it? I think not.In the security buisness we was..

I have never read in any of these article comparing security to police or fire departments. I have a daughter who is an undercover police office and a first cousin who does protect and serve. I did not know what I was getting into because of the lies and deceit when I applied and went thru the necessary testing and interview for the job. and that was my first securtiy job and my last.I as the rest of us Americans went to work because I have a family to feed and bills to be paid. I have excellant credit and want to keep it that way.

I am not laying in the bed ( as you Ang stated) as of 7 months ago. I work for one of the nation's largest bank now making a living far better living than a security officer. I have benefits, paid holidays, vacation leave, sick leave and no I don't have to put my life on the line for $9.00 any longer. But us true Americans will work to put food in our family stomachs and a roof over our heads..no matter what it takes. As to our police officers, some are good some aren't..Read our newspapers. They are full of bad people who claim they protect and serve.Some do put their life on the line and I am very proud of my daughter..My cousin has been a female polce officer for over 16 years with the same force..True there is no comparrison between the two.. I never read here that there was ANG..Security police is exactly what we all have been saying it is. Police and fire is completley different. But I was hired to protect and to serve in an 1 million aquare foot building.

Could you Ang, protect and serve your community without training , without proper instructions on how to do your job? To go out everyday on patrol not knowing what to do or how to do it? I think not.In the security buisness we was..

I have never read in any of these article comparing security to police or fire departments. I have a daughter who is an undercover police office and a first cousin who does protect and serve. I did not know what I was getting into because of the lies and deceit when I applied and went thru the necessary testing and interview for the job. and that was my first securtiy job and my last.I as the rest of us Americans went to work because I have a family to feed and bills to be paid. I have excellant credit and want to keep it that way.

I am not laying in the bed ( as you Ang stated) as of 7 months ago. I work for one of the nation's largest bank now making a living far better living than a security officer. I have benefits, paid holidays, vacation leave, sick leave and no I don't have to put my life on the line for $9.00 any longer. But us true Americans will work to put food in our family stomachs and a roof over our heads..no matter what it takes. As to our police officers, some are good some aren't..Read our newspapers. They are full of bad people who claim they protect and serve.Some do put their life on the line and I am very proud of my daughter..My cousin has been a female polce officer for over 16 years with the same force..True there is no comparrison between the two.. I never read here that there was ANG..Security police is exactly what we all have been saying it is. Police and fire is completley different. But I was hired to protect and to serve in an 1 million aquare foot building.

Could you Ang, protect and serve your community without training , without proper instructions on how to do your job? To go out everyday on patrol not knowing what to do or how to do it? I think not.In the security buisness we was..

Please don't use the term "protect and serve" as a rent a cop you do neither. Don't insult the police or the military by insinuating that we do that line of work. Why are you so disappointed? You chose a crappy job to work at, you chose to be paid 9 bucks an hour, what did you think you'd get? Surrounded by quality people. I highly doubt it.

You made your bed. Now lay in it. Just don't use the term protect and serve. You don't know what true service is.

I have to wonder about people who are concerned enough about either their insurance premiums or the security of their facilities that they go to the trouble and expense of hiring a private security contracting company to find and staff their premises with PRESUMEDLY QUALIFIED and WELL-TRAINED personnel. ( Read their advertisements, they ALL claim to have these kind of people when those of us who have been in the business for a while know that they sure as DO NOT! Ot they may have a first but those people get wise to the bad working conditions and lies and broken promises and skimmed wages, etc. no health insurance or other perks, etc.& etc. and they LEAVE and then it becomes a rush for the bottom to find ANYONE who will do this sorry excuse for a "job."

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCED THAT THE$E $o-called private $ecurity companie$ in Au$tin Texas are having an EXTREMELY difficult time finding personnel who are commissioned to carry a firearm. ( You have to pay for your own training to carry a firearm --which you MAY have to use--for near minimum wage for no benefits if you are injured in the line of "duty"!)...

And they are having a difficult time trying to find unarmed, interchangeable, epxendable flunkies to put in their sorry, cheap polyester suits with sew-ion badges!

All I can say is that I have hoped for years that WORD WOULD GET OUT about what a HORRIBLE WAY this is to try and make a living! How they push and push you and push you to work and when you just can't work anymore because you are so exhausted you can barely see and you wear out your personal vehicle going from job to job , they just toss you out like yeasterday's garbage! Get hurt on the job --NO worker's compensation!

And people who hire private security companies had BETTER check out what they are getting for their money. Actually talk to the people being puton your property at your expense --that is, if they are even showing up and the employer isn't "ghosting" the posts and writing fake reports when nobody was even there or stuff is made up...

I HOPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES AND MAKES RULES AND REGULATIONS SO THAT OSHA, A FAIR WAGE INCLUDING UNSKIMMED OVERTIME PAY, PROPER DEDUCTIONS,ETC. ARE OBSERVED!

At best, many of the security companies that I have worked for ( those that haven't been shut down by the State or gone out of business due to their own greed and stupidity) are marginally legal operations at best!

They practice racism, age discrimination, gender discrimination, color discrimination, etc.!

And THEY ALL GIVE FALSE JOB REFERENCES FROM HELL NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF AN EMPLOYEE LEAVING! That is, assuming they haven't deleted all record of you having worked there in the first place.

Allied Barton appears to have morphed into Allied which is one of the worst!

IF YOU NEED TO HIRE A SECURITY OFFICER, DO YOUR OWN HIRING AND FIRING AND DO NOT RELY ON THESE PIMPS WHO PROFIT OFF THE MISERY OF THEIR POORLY-PAID, AND OFTEN ILL EMPLOYEES( because they can't afford medical or dental care) TO STAFF YOUR PLACE OF BUSINESS!

I was in this business for a long time and everything that everyone on here has said is TRUE! Unfortunately.

As a ex employee again I will state,that all the above quotes are true.. I was just a body in a huge uniform. No training for my job at all. I had alot of heavy lifting and lots of walking doing inventory. We had a fire drill one day, when all the employees was gone for the day..I had to stay in the building to make sure everyone got out ok. No one had let me know that the maintence crew working on conveyor belts was in the building. So I had to go look for them..If this had been a real fire, I would have been trapped inside this burning building. My partner was outside smoking a cigarette..My walkie talkie never worked and the batteries all the time needed replaced..my male co workers always made sure to come to work late, go into hiding when there was work to do,or just sit back on the humps and watch the lady do the work.. They was getting paid more than I was and doing 1/3 the work..My supervisor never cared what happened as long as it never interfered with her and her boyfriend who worked for the company we was hired to protect.. ore her on line poker games...

I am not out to belittle or rag out guards or guard companies here nor am I trying to trivialize the situations mentioned as I have no doubt many are true. But it seems that many people have read more into this kind of job than it is and this is probably due to guard companies and their recruiting methods and marketing b.s.

Many of you will not like or even agree with what is written here. I will only say this; it is written by someone with experience.

ALL CLIENTS WHO UTILIZE CONTRACT GUARD SERVICES KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE GETTING AND WHO THEY ARE HIRING! Most play a "hear no evil/speak no evil/see no evil" attitude when dealing with guards and guard companies. Whatever happens between the guard and their company is just that; it is not the client's issue. (If an owner has a manager that doesn't know what is going on at their property, those I have seen will have that manager or management company replaced instantly!)

Most property management companies, especially in high-rise office buildings(since this area is my area of experience, this is what I will use as examples) are contractors hired by the building owners at a low-bid. This makes all of the other contractors that the management hires equally low-bid sub-contractors and hired to a price, not a standard. This includes the guard service.

"Security" is a generic and subjective term at best. To speak metaphorically, "Real Security" is usually served by electronic or mechanical means. While this does not make the guard unimportant or unnecessary, it does not put them at the top of the list..or even near it.

Guards are usually hired for insurance requirements and certain "lapses in quality" are expected. Any financial loss or risk is to be absorbed by the sub-contractor (such as if the building catches fire and the guard is asleep or has walked post) and not the client who hired them.

Guards are hired for low expense, appearances, be able to somewhat communicate, be a body in uniform and assume liability. THAT'S IT! No matter what anyone thinks or says to the contrary. It does not take a high degree of quality overall for this purpose. This is why guard companies have the often dubious reputation they do. Many are rather shady operations that are ineptly run and managed, regardless of the size or the company.Some are fly-by-nights.

Regretably, some clients (and many guards) buy into the guard service's often implied tactic that they are some kind of police or other emergency responder or investigator. Many advertisements and even security company vehicles further this impression. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! Clients are not out to hire cops, fire fighters, detectives,etc. If they were, then they would in the first place.

As far as how these companies are run,well, I've met security guards, supervisors, and managers who were good. they never lasted long. Most were utterly incompetant at all levels. When a serious issue came up with the guards, you often got a shrug, grin, and a comment like "Hey, it's just security" from the guard company management and some have referred to their guards as being "somewhere below neanderthal level" (What does that make you, Mr/Ms Security Manager?)

As far as training goes, it is lacking. Some companies have "training" that is not conductive to the post requirements. Most clients only what the guards trained in what they need to do for their particular post. Everything else (why does a guard need haz-mat training if they are guarding an empty warehouse?) is irrelevant and not wanted.

Many clients feel that the astronomical turn over rate found in the guard business is highly desirable as it keeps the guards from becoming complacent. One person on this forum said about being in more than six months was too long. This is a little extreme, but a year is a good run. If you stay in it too long, it can make you "typecast" and often hinder you in getting better employment regardless of education or experience. If you see a security manager with several "legitimate" college degrees who has been with a guard company for more than a few years...there is a reason and it is not always good!

A guard's job depends on the contract and they and their company serve at the pleasure and discretion of the client who hires them. All can be replaced at a whim with but a phone call; no reason need be given or any questions asked.In Texas, contract guards are "employees at will" and may be terminated with or without cause at any time.

If this occurs, you are left with few options and in many cases, putting up a fight will cost you more money than you have for a case you might not win, even if evidence is in your favor. Guard companies know this and take advantage of it at every opprotunity. If you are too opinionated, too smart, been with a company too long, etc. then you are on someone's list somewhere and will be "highly encouraged to move on" by any and all means availible.

In the next ten to twenty years, regardless of international issues, expect to see many guard jobs disappear, being replaced by sophisticated monitoring systems and while it won't vanish completely, what is left will be low-wage, rock-bottom contracts and positions staffed by rinky-dink operations. Many of the larger companies will no longer exist or be merged into other forms. This is already happening in many areas. Some on this site have decried the foriegn ownership of guard companies. this is nothing new and despite appearances,is not really relavent overall.

In closing, all of you who read this should keep this in mind if you are in the guard business: Don't put more into it than you have to and don't stay in it longer than you need to.

Believe me, despite what clients may say to the contrary, most will agree with what I have written here.

I think that your opinion is correct for most contract security companies.

However, I disagree that you should put us all in this category.

I spend a lot of money on training, fortunately not a lot on On the Job Training because I have a very small turnover. However, if any employee tells me they wish to have more training, I am happy to accomodate them as I think this is very important.

In the case that I do have to provide OJT, I have an in house certified Field Training Officer give the new officer as much training as needed to satifsy both parties before the new officer starts on their own.

A week or so into being on their own, I personally go to the site and make contact with them to make sure all is going well, and that they feel they are trained to a satisfactory level and if not, they get more.

This can be a very professional career, if the people in charge chose to make it that way. I have a lot of pride and integrity in my organization, and hope you can see that most, but not all are the same.

Nice to know the more things allegedly change, the more they stay the same.

EVERY SINGLE WORD THIS PERSON WRITES IS TRUE!

POTENTIAL SECURITY CLIENTS OF ALLIED BARTON, ARE YOU READING THIS???????

YOU'D BETTER!

This is prety much the same thing that I experienced working for Allied Security at a couple of high-tech companies in one city (Different state but same corporate policies) and some apartment complex in another city where EVERYBODY was ARMED and I do mean EVERYBODY--except the security officer. ( And I had a knife pulled on me by some psycho who wanted to go buy drugs from his dealer who lived in the complex. The dealer lived a lush gated community and the addict had abcesses on his arms from dirty needles!)You are just a minimum wage replacable, interchangeable piece of worthless trash as far as they are concerned. Until enough people get wise AND DO NOT WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE ANYTIME AND ANYPLACE!

I think these idiots and that's a NICE word for
them from Prince of Prussia, PA would realize that if you treat your people good, they will give you a much better job and keep the client very happy! There is an immensely high turnover rate with them. It is PLANNED. They do NOT want to give a raise --much less pay retirement! Few people with any mind or other job skills at all usually last beyond a year --unless they are having a "close" relationship with their supervisors --and that only lasts until he or she getw another he or she who is a fresher and dumber face! This is how a cheap wannabe thug would run an operation...wait a minute, I don't want to insult the Thuggs!

You can't tell the people in King of Prussia what is going on because it would be outside the "chain of command" and scum doesn't talk to the Internal Affairs they need to set up IF they are serious about cleaning up their sorry operation. They ought to call it the King of Delusions or the King of Lies because those guys there apparently have NOT A CLUE about what is REALLY going on with their line officers.

I wonder what happens when they run out of profitable companies to BUY and HAVE to make a PROFIT based on their OWN RECORD!

Ideally, they want cute young WHITE men between the ages of 18- 26, tall and willowy and if you are female and aren't cute, young and white, THEY WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE HELL UNTIL YOU QUIT! Unless you have the "patronage" of a field or site supervisor, that is.

To the person who didn't get paid for the work that you did: You need to go to the Labor Board or Wages and Hours and complainj to the Criminal Investigation Division to the IRS. Allied took out for my commission card and my license BUT I NEVER RECEIVED THEM EITHER. You better call up Social Security and see if they paid into you Social Security account. ALso, call IRS and tell them what happened to you. Otherwise, they might claim they paid you and leave you stuck with the tax bill.

You should have read what was posted on THE RIP-OFF REPORT about Allied Security BEFORE you went to work there. Allied Security and unfortunately, not Allied-Barton is apparently not any different in the amount of hell dished out for security personnel who care no matter where you go.

It SEEMS that the managers are encouraged to rip-off the peons in the field who actually DO the work-- and they get to KEEP it ALL!

IF THEY ARE RIPPING OFF THE LOWER ESCHELON PEOPLE --THE ONES IN THE FIELD WHO ARE MAKING THEM MONEY -- WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO THEIR CLIENTS --THE POEPLE WHO PAY THEM GOOD MONEY FOR "SECURITY"?????

Apparenty, the new and improved Allied -Barton will STILL rip you off for your security officer card, your uniform "deposit," where they claim to give you brand new uniforms but give you rags that are barely holding together instead --no telling what sort of fantastic deductions they are getting from IRS,also I had to call Social Security and see if they were paying my Social Security payments that they were deducting form my check because THEY DON"T HAVE To. It is your responsibility. Once i called and reported them,. Social Security then MAKES them pay into my fund. BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT! I was 30 years old when I found that out!

When you turned in your uniforms, I hope like hell you itemized everything that you checked out and everything you turned in. Otherwise, you will get some very creative deductions from your last check. They will try to say that you agreed to be paid minumum wage if you are terminated within so many days of your probationary period and the manager keeps THAT money too, the difference between what you earned and the minumu wage that you will actually get paid unless you refused to sign that paper that they try to get you to sign. At least they did when I was there. Maybe someone told them it was rather marginally legal.

If they issued firearms, they would just give you some rusting piece of crap that would explode in your hand if you ever had to use it. Besides, most of those guys in PA are probably too stupid to figure out how to shoot a firearm and they ASSUME that their line personnel are as well.

BEST OF ALL, THEY LIKE TO SCREW YOU OUT OF YOUR VACATION PAY.

When you accidentally stay with them for a year,(work night shift where the bastards can't see you!) you will find a cheap pin commemorating your loyal Service thrown on a desk or wherever your post is. You better hope they don't give you a raise because they will trump up reasons for you to be FIRED shortly afterward. Remember, ANY money the manager saves goes straight into his/her pocket!

Allied had such a bad reputation around here that Barton Protective Services who was beating them in bidding for accounts because they really DID encourage people who cared to work there, Allied bought them in what must have been a HOSTILE TAKEOVER IN MY OPINION, because Barton had some choice accounts that Allied could plunder. I don't know how they are doing at keeping those premium accounts now but if they pull the stuff that I read about here and the stuff I have personally witnessed, NOT VERY LONG!

By the way, supervisors drinking on duty is nothing new. We had a field supervisor who drove around their miserable little compact worn-out piece of **** that was the company "patrol" vehicle and he smelled like an entire dance club, tobacco cigarette smoke, alcohol and ALL!

Allied did NOT have affordable health insurance --if they EVEN offer it at all these days, I will be surprised. And if the securty personnel are being tereated like human being elsewhere, they will go to the Sunbelt states where there are NO labor unions and EXPLOIT the people there and make that money back and more.

DO NOT WORK FOR ALLIED-BARTON!

If you do, YOU WILL BE SORRY!

POTENTIAL PRIVATE SECURITY SERVICES CONTRACTORS--are you reading this. PAY ATTENTION!

I was actually threatened with my life when I came in and discovered a theft ring working on one Allied post stealing from the client direct. The officers involved were transferred out and fired but no criminal action was taken against them. They tried to break into my car and they tried to assault me AND NOTHING WAS DONE!

It wasn't Allied who did anything about it. It was a client employee who apparently figured it out on his own. These are high tech people after all, they aren't stupid people and they apparently had the guilty guys -- on tape-- tampering with the security computer at the guard console and erasing certain activities that it recorded on the loading dock. They wanted answers. They got them. Apparently they were already suspicious to what was going on because Allied was only on a month to month contract when I came aboard. I think I kept the contract longer for them but by that time, Allied got tired of the stuff that had happened and Allied LOST the contract.

Whether or not Allied charged more because their personnel were just there month to month --which they should have --and the officers SHOULD have been paid more since our jobs were NOT SECURE --and you KNOW that money went into the manager's back pocket.

What the client didn't know is that the other company --Pinkerton, now Securitas BASED IN SWEDEN OR DENMARK AND NOT OWNED BY AN AMERICAN COMPANY ANYMORE!!!!! --was going to keep some of the same people who MIGHT have been involved in the suspicious activities to start with. SO I was GLAD to be gone. Did Securitas know? Did I really care?

After being ripped off by almost every security company I have EVER worked for, I am glad to be AWAY from Allied or Allied-Barton or whatever they call themselves now!

And I don't intend to be stupid enough to EVER work for them again!

REMEMBER WHEN YOU VOTE IN THESE MID TERM ELECTIONS THAT ALL OF THE HIGH PAYING JBS ARE GOING TO BE LEAVING THESE UNITED STATES FOR CHINA, INDIA and other slave labor places.
The ONLY Jobs that will be left will be "jobs" like this!

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW?

Thank you.

People really shouldn't find the kind of behavior described as shocking. It is quite typical of the guard industry in general.

From what was described, this is warehouse work, which suprised me as even being in the $9/hr pay range...most guard jobs of this kind are in the $7/hr range. It is primarily clerical in nature, with the guard service providing bodies to accept liability (read: if something comes up irregular or missing, we can blame the guard). Also to perform some kind of labor functions...just because "security" is the name slapped on the duties doesn't mean it is security related...it is more like inventory control (read: if something comes up irregular or missing, we can blame the guard).

I have dealt with this type of enviroment before and that is exactly what it is. Be thankful you weren't also required to be the cleaning crew as well.

The client is fully aware of what is going on and at least unofficially approves of it and I'll wager not only your post orders were not up-to-date, they were probably non-existant. The company you worked for is also aware of this....they are only to provide bodies and bank the money at billing time. (Ripoff Report is full of complaints on this company...where there is smoke, there's fire). I'll also bet the reason for the lack of training was just to get the post filled and have a suitable scapegoat when the time came. You can bet that when a serious theft comes up, the client and the guard company will look for a patsy.

I am not at all unsympathetic to "glad to be gone"...she should be; would anyone want to stay at an enviroment like this? I guarentee that someone was found for the open shift in short order...probably at a lot lower pay rate as well.
While not knowing the whole story on either side, but having a good idea, I submit that "glad to be gone" in the future should be mindful that anytime you work for a guard company...no matter who it is...you face the same kind of situation. I would not want to depend on a crew like the one described to help in an emergency, would you?

I would say this, though, "glad to be gone" was lucky not to have been removed from post, terminated, or suspended just for putting in written notice. If you ever resign from one of these companies with written notice, do so by registered mail and get a reciept! Don't hand it to anyone, fax it, snail mail it, or e-mail it.

The industry needs some overhauling, but don't expect it anytime soon. Just be lucky you found out what they were like before you put in too much time with them.

Guard Companies are only staffing companies in uniform...that's it...nothing more. I don't care what they say they are. You are NOT there to protect or to serve...just be the "hired help".

Many guard companies say that if you work an eight hour shift, you don't get a lunch break as you are on the clock at all time. (My take is you take a working lunch, able to respond to emergencies. Most I've seen don't believe in this despite legal issues involved. One even said in an off the record that guards could go to the labor board, then go straight to the unemployment office afterward.) This is the way they work. Many clients agree with this behind closed doors, never publically. Guard companies get fined all the time...it means little. Even serious issues tend to get "forgotten" in short order. They pay the fine, maybe can or demote a few people, and carry on in the same way.

Unless you get really lucky, this is the guard game when it comes to contractors such as the company mentioned. It is something to keep in mind when you apply with them.