Roles, Responsibilities and Professional Conduct of a Security Guard
What the role actually is
A security guard is a private, non-police professional whose authority comes from the property owner's instructions and from the law, not from any police power. Understand the core duties: deterrence and visible presence, access control, patrolling and observation, reporting, emergency first response, and customer assistance. Know the difference between preventive duties (deter, detect, report) and reactive duties (respond, contain, escalate).
Conduct and ethics
The exam tests conduct as behaviour, not slogans. Key concepts: integrity (no theft, no bribery, no favours), impartiality, confidentiality of information seen on duty, punctuality and correct uniform and ID display, sobriety, and respect for dignity of all persons. Guards must never use excessive force, must never search a person without lawful basis and authorisation, and must never accept gifts that could compromise judgement.
Traps to watch
- Questions that imply a guard has police powers of arrest and detention without qualification.
- Scenarios where a guard is asked to 'keep quiet' about a colleague's misconduct - confidentiality never covers illegality.
- 'Customer service' answers that conflict with safety: safety always outranks service.
Rule of thumb
Observe – Report – Escalate – Record. If an action is not within your written post orders or the law, do not improvise; call the supervisor or the police.
Worked example
A visitor offers a guard AED 100 to allow entry without registration. Correct answer: refuse politely, follow the registration procedure, and report the attempted inducement to the supervisor. Accepting and 'just this once' are both wrong.