Security Officer Roles, Ethics, and Professional Conduct
What the candidate must know
A security officer is a private citizen with a duty to observe, deter, report, and assist - not to punish. The core ethical duties are integrity, impartiality, confidentiality, and avoidance of conflicts of interest. Officers must not use their position for personal gain, must not accept gifts that could influence judgment, and must protect personal information they see (names, health data, access logs). Professional conduct includes appearance, punctuality, honesty in reports, and de-escalation before escalation. Understand the duty to intervene or report misconduct by colleagues, and the concept of negligent performance - failing to do what a reasonable officer would do.
Traps
Questions present a "small favor" (a tenant offers cash, a vendor offers a gift card) and ask what to do - the answer is decline and report per policy, not "accept if small." Another trap: an officer who sees a coworker sleeping on post. The wrong answer is "ignore it"; the right answer is to address it per policy and document. Watch for questions that confuse courtesy with leniency - being polite does not mean waiving rules. Also beware of the "ends justify the means" option: lying in a report to secure a conviction is always wrong.
Rule of thumb
The newspaper test: if your action appeared on the front page, would you be comfortable? If not, don't do it - and document what you did do.