Introduction:
We can thank Hollywood for distorting our view of mall security. They are the masters of making certain people of certain demographics despised by society. Mall security is always played by certain actors who display certain stereo types. The most famous one being Paul Blart. An overweight adult male with no social life. Well I’m here to tell you as someone who works in mall security myself, that there is more to us than what Hollywood allows you to see. Here are ten reasons why we deserve more respect.
We’ve all got our own things going on.
Like your average American, there are mall security guards who come in all different paths in life. I myself have worked with security guards with their own families; their own children that they parent. I’ve known a security guard who works as a Twitch streamer as a part time gig and hobby. On top of that, there are many security guards who work this job with aspirations of joining law enforcement. To get the feel of wearing a uniform and learning necessary skills for becoming a cop like following orders, maintaining patience when dealing with difficult people, and getting to know the local law enforcements for major incidents. For most, like myself, mall security is an end’s meet job; a simple decent paying job that is stable and can provide basic needs as we bide our time to invest in ourselves. At the end of the day, it depends on the individual person. Yes, there are some security guards who fall into the stereo type of not having a social life and being overweight, but there are people in all lines of work with these attributes.
We specialize in negotiations.
Let me give you a perspective from behind the scenes for when it comes to mall security. Going hands-on is discouraged. And this applies to any security guard position that’s unarmed. Usually when you work at a post like this, it’s because the site has a history of some security guard using excessive force during an incident that gave their team a bad reputation. The same can be said for the site that I work at. We use our words instead of our hands. Honesty, this is something everybody can apply to their lives. Mall security encounters angry people who take it out on the workers in the mall. Our job is to keep both parties calm so they don’t throw hands. We encounter mischievous teenagers who like to cause disturbances. We encounter crazy homeless people who like to throw things around and yell at the air. Instead of manhandling everybody, we talk to them to find a solution to move past the issue, and we warn them that local law enforcement would be called upon refusal to cooperate. I have worked in mall security for four and a half years, and I have only had to go hands-on once. That’s a lot of time to not raise a hand against another. The goal is to not go hands on, and do everything in your power to keep the situation calm.
If we have to go hands on, so be it.
Sometimes getting physical is unavoidable. The one time I had to go hands on, this middle aged man was accused of touching a teenage girl. This girl’s friends confronted him and I tried to keep both parties apart. None of my negotiating worked, and so the girl’s friends began to beat the man. I did what I had too to protect this man and keep any blood from being spilt in my mall, so I began to throw the teenagers off the man and keep them pushed away. I saved this man from injury, and I saved those boys from having to face legal repercussions. Mall security guards are heroes who protect our customers, and our customers and clients alike feel safe from our presence.
We are constantly thrusted into stressful situations, and we handle it well.
During training, we learn about some pretty dark things that can happen on the job, and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it here: Rape, suicide, bomb threats, active shooters. These are all possible situations that could occur. A couple years ago, one of my co-workers was telling me about how on his first day on the job, he had to prevent a mentally deranged woman from jumping off the rail of the second level of the mall interior. For me, the most stressful incident I’ve ever dealt with was when a massive brawl took place between groups of high schoolers in the food court. It was about three separate fights going on between two people at the same time. Luckily they all dispersed after I threatened to call the police a few times. There was another time where this homeless man started knocking over trash cans, yelling, and threw a chair over the railings in the mall interior, so I ended up having to chase him out. While you’re having a nice time shopping and buying food for your little ones, you can thank us for keeping these situations under control on the other side of the mall so you can have a pleasant family oriented experience.
We come in all shapes and sizes.
Because of the famous movie Paul Blart, people seem to have this silly perception that all security guards are overweight males with mustaches. You’ll be surprised by how diverse security teams are. I know a guy who looks like a prince from a rom-com film. I work with a girl who looks like an anime character brought to life; short, skinny, squeaky voice and has the most fabulous hair styles. I have a supervisor who looks like Santa Clause. I’ve worked with a ghetto fabulous queen with long fancy fingernails. I’ve even worked with guards who were on their way to law enforcement who were in peak human shape and walked around with a bulletproof vest. You encounter all kinds of people in this line of work, because at the end of the day, we’re average Americans just like everyone else.
A good team is a home away from home.
After everything we go through together, there’s no way we won’t make friends with each other along the way. Okay, technically, we’re not supposed to fraternize outside of work, but you can’t stop bromance when it happens. Sorry. I will invite some guards over to a birthday party or family barbeque because that was the person who had my back in a stressful situation that I couldn’t handle on my own. When guards have worked together for a long time, we’re pretty much friends at this point who also make a dynamic duo when it comes to situations that arise. I’ve had guards be there for me when I went through emotional pain. I’ve had guards pay for my lunches when I struggled financially. And as for me, I’m the guard who likes to bring in office treats like doughnuts or pizza. We all contribute to a social structure on the security team and make the job worth coming to.
We are your friend.
We work in customer service. We recognize regular faces who like to frequent the mall. Because of this, we’re naturally curious and like to go out of our way to get to know you. There is never a reason to be afraid of us, or to despise us. We’re not police officers, so don’t worry. We’re not going to arrest you if we find you suspicious. We’re just regular civilians like you and we have your back if somebody bothers you. If you experience a health problem like a seizure, fainting, or cardiac arrest, we’re there. If you think someone is stalking you and you feel unsafe, we’ll protect you. If somebody is actively trying to hurt you, we’ll hold them back for you. We’ve got nothing to do but walk everywhere and look at things, so if you feel like chatting, we’re always up for it.
Conclusion:
We contribute to the economy just like everyone else who goes to work. After all, somebody has to watch the mall while everyone else is asleep! We’re essential workers, so during the quarantine for the Covid-19 pandemic, we were still there at the mall, keeping watch. During the holidays, we are there to watch the mall so everyone can go home and enjoy their time with their families. Our role is to make sure all operations in the mall are running smoothly, to prevent bad people from doing bad things, to protect everyone by keeping an eye out for signs that could lead to harm, and to collaborate with emergency response units (police, firefighters, EMT) so we can assure everyone’s survival. To sum it all up in one sentence, our role is to make sure the shoppers have a pleasant experience. So next time you see a security guard in your local mall, go up to them and thank them for their service. We always appreciate the recognition.