Choose the right tool for the right job

No one tool is a catch-all tool. We often must select the right tool to serve the job we need to complete.  This is an often misconception within the security industry, especially when choosing the tools we put on our officer’s belts. The choice for firearms within a security program is one example. A gun is an extremely specific kind of tool, and it is critically useful for particular types of jobs. However, it is not helpful for all jobs and not practical for most jobs within the scope of security practice.

There are a plethora of tools to choose from when equipping security officers for their work. Devices like handcuffs, Tasers, and radios are just a few examples. But what is most important about the tools we put on the tool belt is how we equip the officer wearing the tool belt to choose the right tool for the right job. Certainly, we do not want our officers to solve every problem with a gun, and the same can be said for every tool on the belt. The problem is we often get hyper-focused on the tools instead of the tool wielder.

Training is the bedrock for how our officers will wield their tools and how they will choose which one to use for the job. We can either choose to train them for success or allow our training programs to train them for failure. In either case, the success or failure they face is a direct result of our investment in them as the practitioners of our trade. It is time we started choosing to invest as much time and energy in our training processes as we do in selecting the tools our officers carry.

You can take this thought process outside the discussion about the tools on the tool belt as well. Sometimes security officers are the right tool for the job, but just as often that is not the case as well. Sometimes the application of a security officer is not the needed application to solve a problem in the most effective way. Here too, we find an opportunity for training to lay a strong foundation for our officers and our organizational leaders. It is our responsibility, and security leaders, to educate our leadership teams on what is and what is not an appropriate application of security forces and when it is appropriate to bring their various tools to bear.

What are your thoughts? Does your organization invest as much in training as you should to set your officers up for success? Do you see your choice of tools as appropriate for your needed application? Join the conversation in the comments below, and don’t forget to like, follow and share to support the Proactive Security Blog.