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Courtesy Officers In an Apartment Community
Apartment Property Managers always have a lot on their
plates and sometimes a property's security plan is relegated
to having security personnel on site. "Courtesy
officer" may mean a law enforcement officer who lives on the
property and who "patrols" the property at various times.
A contract security officer(s) may provide several functions
including a post position such as at a gate, a roving patrol
within the property, or a periodic/random patrol three or
four times a night. Each of these positions requires
proper structure and duties to be effective. The
random patrol is the least effective method regardless of
structure.
The unavoidable truth about a police officer-based Courtesy
Officer is that they are hired specifically because they are
a member of a law enforcement agency and have the power of arrest. Their function,
however, is the same as a security officer: provide a
presence to deter crime. Where the significant
difference occurs is in the management of the Courtesy
Officer.
Police officers are routinely underutilized and generally
poorly managed by property managers. There may be an
assumption that they inherently "know" what to do and are
therefore not given any structure as to their duties.
The position is no different that any other employee:
there are expectations of job performance, that performance
must be measurable, and failure to satisfactorily perform
results in disciplinary action including termination.
Managing Courtesy Officers
There are many considerations when hiring a Courtesy Officer. Planning
is critical and job duties must be thoroughly discussed
with the candidates. They must be willing to meet
or exceed the requirements of the job which is no
different than the expectation of any other employee.
Click
here for a
sample template
Courtesy Officer Job
Description, Daily Activity Reports, and Monthly
Reports (as presented to the Texas Apartment Association
Education Conference, 2010). This document has been left in Word so
that changes can be made to suit any environment.
PDF
version
Accountability is critical in managing this function
of an overall security plan. A Courtesy Officer is
not THE plan but rather part of an overall operational
strategy to manage crime prevention.
Call us if there are any questions about implementing this
type of program at 713.899.2402 or
email us. |
