This blog aims to impart few basics for Security Officers about securing hotel or your resort premise. A personal approach that i employed at Hilton Resort and Spa during my stint as the Security and Safety Manager and apparently rendered a significant impact towards the over-all security in the property. Let me share with you what we had then. The concept of most if not all major hotels and resorts here is usually a mixed proprietary and contract security services wherein proprietary security officers generally take charge of internal security while agency guards securing external premise and hotel major access points. The resort is fenced and main gate offers a good stand-off distance from the main building hence employing armed guards at the main gate is certainly desirable. This goes the same with other access points enroute to the resort interior premise that sits directly by the roadside.
Though armed guards seemed to enjoy a sort of acceptance already in Philippine hotels and resorts more specifically in the southern parts of the country, the security person's role is to aim for optimum control over it and ensures management is well briefed of relevant issues to this effect to include the accompanying liability issues. Policy intervention also plays a crucial factor, e.g: rules of engagement, no armed guards at guest areas, weapons check, weapons deposit and safekeeping policies, armed patrol coverage, weapons safety and disciplinary system, etc. I also employed support services of the city's "Tourist Police Officers" or more popularly identified as the "Task Force Turista" doing erratic patrol and provided us with ample visibility in the facility but not at guest contact areas.
Security companies nowadays use semi-auto pistols, 9MM's and shotguns to which we deployed replacing old and unserviceable revolvers shortly after i assumed office. However, shotguns are confined to the main gates, kept in firearm boxes and carried only at night. The contention really is that, armed guards if there is a necessity to use them should not be employed in a manner that may alarm hotel guests yet keep its existence aimed in providing them a reasonable level of security when situation warrants.
"Threat Detection" still plays a collaborative role in the over-all security of the premise (intelligence build-up) hence, employing force multipliers from external friendly units within the immediate community would help in this aspect. We made use of community based “Barangay Peace Keeping Action Teams (BPAT), Barangay Intelligence Networks (BIN), Local Tanods and other peace and order watch teams to reinforce security of the outer perimeter areas and help us deal with potentially harmful external threats through wise management and utilization of valuable intelligence information.
But then again, the concept would always vary as against the need of a particular facility being protected. Among few points of consideration are the nature, type and the level of threat you expect to deal with, degree of risks, background of local environment, crime trend, profile of the business being protected and its patrons, over-all peace and order situation in the region and others. And as always been said, no two properties have the same security requirement. There is always that peculiarity and uniqueness. I dealt with mine then, what could be yours to deal with today?
Hope this would help Hotel Security Practitioners in hardening soft spots in their own properties.. Thanks!
