The answer to that question is not easy? It invites more questions.

Where is the security guard going to be placed?

What are the working times for the security guard?

What weapons will the security guards going to be armed with?

What training is given to security guards to protect themselves and others, with and without arming them?

My last question is one for the security companies. They surely wouldn’t want a situation where they put their security guard’s life at risk without providing some kind of training on how to defend themselves and not put their lives in danger? How many of them actually do?

At no time should security guards be placed in any situation where they put their own lives at risk. I believe more businesses that employ security guards to be more aware of the dangers their particular business could bring. To hand it over to a security company and forget all about these dangers is often the case.

So what prompted me to write this?

One of our readers called me about the violent attack on staff and security guards at Scotts Marina and George Town Yacht Club area last Sunday night. See iNews Cayman story published August 19 2019 “Man seriously injured in incident on North Sound Road at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-man-seriously-injured-in-incident-on-north-sound-road/

“….A security guard had come upon four young males who were using a pool facility that was not open to the public at that time. The males were spoken to and eventually left the premises, however they returned sometime later with two other males and began throwing rocks at the security officers and other staff, striking some of them.

During the incident one of the security officers was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle that had been on the compound. It is suspected that one of the males who had been throwing the rocks, was able to enter the vehicle and drive it, before fleeing with the other males and leaving the vehicle behind.

The man who was struck by the vehicle, along with another who was hit with a rock, were both transported to the Cayman Islands Hospital for treatment. The man who was hit with the rock was subsequently discharged, while the man who was struck by the vehicle remains in hospital in critical condition.” From RCIPS Press Release.

Subsequently, we have learnt that the matter has been referred to the Ombudsman for investigation.

We have been told (unverified) that the RCIPS have not collected any of the video that the security cameras in the vicinity could have caught showing the incident. Another complaint is the police were too slow to respond.

CNS are reporting the police stating “the first call the emergency services were told that a group of four boys had been causing trouble but there were no weapons and no injuries. Therefore, the police did not send officers to the scene after that initial call. “This was quickly followed by information that the boys had left the scene,” the RCIPS stated, noting that at that point no units were deployed. Sometime later further calls were received indicating for the first time that violence had taken place, with rocks being thrown and someone being struck. Within ten minutes of that information being received, it was reported that police were on the scene and had spoken to victims.”

Presumably this is the reason the Ombudsman is now involved.

It all reinforces the cry that security guards should, at the very least, be adequately trained, licensed and then armed. To provide them only with batons is absurd. Unfortunately, times have changed and become more violent.