Email and tell us if you have any #SIAHeroes stories. We're especially keen to hear from women in security. Please get permission from anyone featured in your stories before submitting them to us.
London security company goes from managing nightclubs to overseeing social distancing queues
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious effect on the door supervision sector. Events and festivals have been cancelled en masse, and bars and clubs have been shut as people stay home and observe social distancing.
Peter Harrison, the FGH managing director, knew that many security businesses were in a similar situation due to the crisis, and saw an opportunity. He suggested that a group of security businesses work together to deploy door supervisors at supermarkets. Supermarkets, as an essential service, were still open. Their need for security was increasing as they needed support to manage additional demand, as a result of social distancing.
Harrison, along with FGH’s marketing director, David Hassall, contacted door supervision security companies around the UK. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Within 72 hours, 50 door supervision companies had teamed up, and 1,700 security operatives were mobilised to work in supermarkets around the country. At present, FGH Security have over 175 companies within their network and 51 are currently working with them as delivery partners.
When we asked Peter Harrison about how he responded to the COVID-19 pandemic he said:
“We have partnered with security companies around the UK and responded to make sure that security operatives keep their jobs. It was a case of pivot and adapt rather than go bust. There was not much capacity within security guarding companies, but there were door supervisors, with the necessary skills, ready to work.
Most of the businesses are small to medium-sized, and rely on a few contracts. By working together we can keep afloat and respond to demand in many locations; from the Isle of Wight, to London, to Edinburgh.
What is really interesting is that some security businesses are busier now than they were before COVID-19 because there is a high demand from supermarkets. But the security industry is like that - we are a resilient and hard-working bunch.”
Security guard at the London NHS Nightingale Hospital saves a woman from drowning
On the morning of 15 May, Elizabeth was on patrol alongside the river and saw a woman who appeared to be distressed standing on the connecting footbridge over the Thames. The woman was too far away to engage with, but Elizabeth saw her throw a bag into the fast-flowing river before she then jumped in after it. Elizabeth quickly raised the alarm both internally and with the marine police unit, who swiftly responded and saved the woman’s life by pulling her out of the river. Elizabeth said that if she had been taken by the current the woman would have died.
Elizabeth said of the rescue:
“It was part of my everyday job - I did what I needed to do to help to save her life.”
Chris Burr, Managing Director, G4S Events UK, Elizabeth’s manager said:
“Our fantastic senior security supervisor, Elizabeth George, joined G4S in 2007 as a security officer and has quickly progressed to her current role of senior supervisor.
Her infectious smile, positivity, and humour are an asset to our organisation. She brings a wealth of experience and energy to all deployments. Her most recent role with G4S is at the NHS Nightingale at Excel. She has been instrumental in the #clap for carers/key workers, and every week arranges the security and stewards to line the steps at the hospital to applaud the shift change over. This alone is an excellent example of her true professionalism, as well as her respect and integrity, which are two of our key values.
G4S is proud to have Elizabeth as part of our team. We believe she should be recognised for her actions across the industry. She is a lifesaver and an everyday #SIAhero.”
Security operative in Eastbourne responds to SOS and delivers baby milk and emergency supplies to the vulnerable
The grandmother of the baby who needed the milk wrote to APS directors saying:
“I really can't thank you and your team enough for going around the county tonight to get my granddaughter some baby's milk. It's so nice to know there are such lovely people in the world in a time of need. Thank you again - you are amazing people and people like you deserve a medal for all you are doing to help people.”
An NHS worker wrote:
“Thank you Elmas (Housein) for you and your family’s support in this difficult times at the NHS.”
Kind security guard in Manchester helps pensioner with his supermarket shopping
“I used to work for a bar in Berry town centre but the work dried up. So I decided to work helping people and managing the queues at supermarkets. I don’t do it just because it’s a job, I do it because I like to look after people. I don’t like the bad impression that many people have of door supervisors. We are not all mean and tough doormen. If you’re polite it makes such a difference. And sometimes how you speak to someone can make their day.”
“This is honestly typical of Jessica's selfless nature.”
Before COVID-19, Hannah could be seen on the door of bars and clubs across Manchester. With six years’ experience, Hannah is used to de-escalating confrontations.
However, on Sunday 29 March, Hannah was at work when she and the store manager witnessed a man attempting to shoplift. Hannah explained that if he handed over the items, he would be barred from the store and that they would take no further action.
The man handed over some stolen items, but became aggressive when he was asked for additional items in his bag. His response was to throw food cans at her, use racial slurs, and spit at her.
Fortunately, Hannah was able to avoid the cans of food. She ran after the man and detained him, but was furious after the incident and described it as disgusting.
Similar reports are heard across the country, yet security operatives like Hannah are choosing to work to protect the public and key infrastructure.
We are hailing security operatives who are supporting the national effort against the pandemic as #SIAHeroes.
Gavin has been wearing a mask since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and has had to enforce a ‘no visitors’ policy at the scheme. He says that the residents have struggled with this ruling, as many young people would. As a result, Gavin has faced an increase in verbal abuse and threats of violence, and he was recently spat at. The police were notified, and the person who spat at him was arrested. Sadly, spitting has frequently been reported as a form of retaliation against security guards during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gavin is a lone worker security guard, and worked four long days over the Easter bank holiday to make sure the site was secure at all times. On several occasions Gavin has had no choice but to call the police to enforce restrictions at the facility. He doesn’t want to do this because he knows it can put added pressure on fellow key workers, but often has no choice.
When we spoke to his partner, Jemma Williams, she spoke of Gavin’s exceptional commitment. She said “He does all of this to look after others, whether it be the youngsters at his work place or his family at home who he rarely gets to spend time with due to working so much.”
Ex-Army security operative John Davies, saved a taxi driver's life in Cardiff's St. Mellons! This story was told to us by his wife Kirsty, as follows:
Since leaving the Army, John has been doing security for several years. One night after working the doors, along with his brother Colin Alexander, they were on their way home. John's wife Kirsty rang them to see how far away they were. They had said they were just five minutes away, but 30 mins later, nothing. And then an hour later - they both walked in.
They told us that after they had finished work and were driving home, they drove past a taxi that was driving along but the under carriage was on fire. John and Colin turned the car around and drove up to the taxi in their car. They flashed their lights to get the taxi driver's attention. Luckily he stopped and before Colin stopped his car, John had jumped out. He ran over to the driver of the taxi, opened the door, and pulled him out. Two seconds later the car was engulfed in flames. With quick-thinking, John and his brother called the emergency services, stopped traffic and alerted homes in the area. They saved that taxi driver's life that night.
In December 2019, Lowri Williams-Jarvis had just finished duty as a front line security guard at the Amazon Warehouse in Swansea. She heard an explosion, and saw a car come to a screeching halt – with one of its wheel arches completely bent, the hubcap sending sparks across the road, before coming to a standstill, followed by an eerie silence. She discovered a three-way road traffic collision, with two cars demolished and another car further up the road was clipped during the incident. Seven people were involved. Miraculously, no one was badly hurt, just a few were in shock.
According to eye witnesses, one of the vehicles (which had five associates inside) had decided to reverse out suddenly into an already busy road, which caused the collision. At this point the emergency services arrived to assess the situation, while Operations and Health & Safety focused their efforts on getting back to business as usual, as the incident had caused major disruption. She decided to assist further by making sure no other vehicles went up the main road and diverted traffic.
Eventually the road was cleared and operations went back to normal. Following the incident, she was approached by the Amazon Operations Manager, as well as the Loss Prevention Team and was awarded for her assistance. She was also awarded ICTS Employee of The Month for the Corporate Sector for December 2019 and was also awarded the ICTS Going The Extra Mile Award.
Security operative saves a life during President Trump protests
Adina Ochert of Milton Keynes provided first-aid to an accident victim during protests against President Trump in Westminster in July 2018 and her act saved a life – we salute you! We celebrate her, and other women, as International Women’s Day approaches.
Adina, who was working for Chiron Resources as ‘back-watch’ security to a film crew covering the protests in Westminster against President Trump’s visit to the UK, witnessed an accident. Her reaction is an example of a licenced Close Protection Officer providing assistance to a member of the general public. Adina was escorting the TV crew near Parliament when they witnessed an elderly lady crossing the road, who was struck by a motorbike. Adina reacted straight away to this incident and was able to provide immediate first aid to the casualty. She continued providing assistance when the Police Liaison officers arrived and worked with them to keep the casualty alive.
Adina is a trained Laboratory scientist. She spent a short time in the police before working in the private security industry. She also served as a reserve soldier in the Royal Army Medical Corps, where she is a qualified medical assistant so she did not think she had done anything out of the ordinary.
Security guard steps in after mass collision
Kerry Smith, a Gloucestershire security guard, had just finished a fairly uneventful night shift and had handed over to the Day Security Officer, when she noticed two cars coming down the road. It looked to her as though they were racing each other. The drivers were men around 20 years of age and the vehicles were being driven either side of the road. A silver Golf GTI was on the correct side of the road while the other car was a white BMW 1 Series was on the other side. They were passing a garden centre approaching a roundabout just outside the site where she was working.
Simultaneously Kerry noticed a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle being ridden by man with a woman passenger. The motorcycle was heading in the opposite direction, towards the roundabout and the oncoming cars. Before she knew it, the BMW drove straight into the Kawasaki. Both bike riders were sent flying off the bike. The silver Golf did not stop and continued along the road and did not come back.
Kerry rushed over to the scene and found the casualties and checked if they were conscious and then rang the emergency services. The BMW driver was clearly in shock, and the male bike rider had been catapulted through the car's windshield. The woman had landed a short distance away and was haemorrhaging.
Initially Kerry tried to calm the bikers down as they were shouting out, probably because they were in pain but also checking on each other as one could not see the other. Shouting was good as it meant they were both alive. Kerry advised them to stay still because if they moved they might have caused more damage to themselves. She also realised that the female biker had the most serious injuries.
Kerry tore some strips from my shirt and I used them to try to stem the blood from her injuries. She was bleeding heavily and I used further strips to keep them in place. Throughout she kept talking to her, explaining what she was doing and why and that it might hurt as the strips needed to be very tight to effectively stem the bleeding. Kerry continued talking to them all, ensuring they all stayed conscious.
The BMW driver was very shocked but with no apparent injuries and did not want the police to arrive.
At last an ambulance arrived and Kerry quickly explained what had happened. As she was speaking with the paramedics the police arrived. They began by speaking with the BMW driver, checking his licence. Meanwhile the paramedics called for backup and the fire service to assist in releasing the casualties. At that point Kerry became a bystander and left the medical and police professionals to handle the situation.
A short while later the fire service and air ambulance arrived. The police continued their investigation and Kerry said she thinks it was fairly obvious what had happened and who was at fault.
The police then called a vehicle recovery company to come and remove the BMW and motorcycle. The BMW driver was driven away in the back of the police car. The paramedics transported the woman to hospital in the ambulance while the man was air lifted to hospital in the air ambulance. A short while later the vehicles were recovered and Kerry headed home set off home.
Security supervisor prevents a gang war
Wendy Tomlinson, a security supervisor from Woodford Green in Essex, and with quick-thinking skills prevented a major fight incident from escalating between two young women. Her act of selflessness deserves a salute in the run-up to International Women's Day this Sunday, 8 March.
In May 2019, she witnessed a major incident involving two young women which would have probably escalated tragically, hadn’t been for her. A friend of both young women was calling up her friends, to come and start a fight with them.
As soon as she realised that this would have posed an emergency, Wendy tried to get a Duty Manager to come and help with that situation. Unfortunately she couldn’t get hold of him so she decided to put her officers on standby and intervene herself. Right in that moment, a fight started in a canteen and Wendy immediately got between the young women and shielded one of the young women.
The attacker then picked up chairs and started to throw them at Wendy and the young woman, before running outside to the front of the building and further down the road. Knowing that things weren’t over, Wendy had managed to call the police just before deciding to keep her inside the building and gather all her security to the front barriers. That was when the attacker came back with other people, joined by members of an Albanian gang.
They were looking for the young woman, who Wendy had put in her security room for her own safety, guarded by two of Wendy’s security officers. Under Wendy’s skilled supervision and guidance, although security was stretched to the limit trying to protect the young woman from continuous attempts to attack her, they were able to contain the whole situation and keep it under control before police arrived.
In this incident, not only did Wendy save the young woman from getting seriously injured, but she was also mindful of her security officers, without any disregard for her own safety. In such challenging moments, Wendy went well above her duties by selflessly putting herself in the front line and skilfully coordinating her team in what was turning into a proper gang war.
Wendy, who was nominated by Professional Security Magazine for a Women in Security award in 2019, is one of many women working in security we are featuring in the run-up to International Women's Day, and beyond.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed stories about women working in security.
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