The White Pickup at the Laydown Area
You patrol a six-acre high-rise construction site alone, unarmed, from 2300 to 0700. Your post orders authorize observe-and-report only; there is no detention language and no guard is permitted to block a vehicle. At 22:20 you see a white pickup with a subcontractor decal backed up to the copper laydown area. Two men are loading coils of wire into the bed. One calls out that the superintendent cleared it and that they are 'just moving it to the other site,' but he cannot name the superintendent or produce a material transfer slip. The gate log shows the truck entered on a valid contractor badge issued to a different company than the decal. Your phone shows one bar and the site has no cell amplifier. The site supervisor's number rings to voicemail. HPD response time to this district is typically 20 to 30 minutes. You are 150 yards away, in a lit aisle, with a clear path back to the guard shack.
1. Describe your next actions in the first two minutes and justify them.
Read the worked answer
Stay at distance in the lit aisle and do not approach the truck bed. One unarmed guard against two people and a running vehicle, over property that is insured, is a bad trade - your post orders already ban blocking vehicles, and that ban exists for this exact moment. Get the plate, the decal company name, the badge number if visible, and descriptions of both men, then move to a position where the truck cannot turn into you. Call 911 rather than the non-emergency line, because this is a possible theft in progress; say 'suspected theft in progress, two males loading copper, I am an unarmed security guard observing from a distance,' and give the address and gate. Do not identify yourself as police, and do not say you will detain anyone. If they drive out, step back and let the gate open rather than standing in it.
2. The driver walks toward you and asks who you are. What do you say, and what are you trying to obtain?
Read the worked answer
Identify yourself truthfully as site security and keep the conversation short and calm: 'I'm the night guard. I don't have authority to release material - I just need to log who's on site.' Then ask the three questions that actually resolve the matter: the superintendent's name, the material transfer or gate pass number, and who authorized the after-hours load-out. His inability to answer any of them is itself the finding. Do not argue, do not accuse him of stealing, and do not say police are coming - that can trigger flight or confrontation. Write down his exact words and note that they were unverified hearsay. If he produces a genuine pass, log it and stand down; the report then becomes a documentation question for the day shift, not a confrontation.
3. The truck leaves. What does a defensible report and evidence package look like?
Read the worked answer
Timeline first: when you first saw the truck, when you called 911, when it left, which gate it used. Then facts: plate, decal, badge number and the mismatch with the decal, number of coils, and the driver's statements quoted exactly and labelled as unverified. Record the failed verification steps you took - supervisor voicemail at what time, no material pass produced. Preserve the gate log page and photograph the empty rack and the floor marks so the count can be reconstructed. Export the camera covering the laydown area and note the time offset. Then notify: the site superintendent and your account manager before 0800, and the police report number if one was issued. Do not write 'stolen' or 'theft confirmed' - write what you saw.