UNIVERSITY OF AFRICA DEVELOPS CURRICULUM TO ELEVATE QUALIFICATIONS OF SECURITY GUARDS
BY DAVIS MULENGA MORE often than not, they are the first people to be on a crime scene.
Their importance is illustrated by the fact that a security guard was the first person to get to where the killer of the recent United States most horrific shooting incident that left more than 50 dead and hundreds injured.
Despite playing a vital role in providing security to individuals and eminent institutions in both the private and public sectors, the security guard industry is plagued by lack of inadequate training.
Even more disconcerting is that these security guards who were at the frontline of loss prevention, risk management, and safety and security of businesses and individuals, lack basic understanding of law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Having security guards who are better educated, trained and qualified in many aspect of preventing and investigating crime is not going to happen overnight.
But the push by companies that want truly professional security services and demand by the general public create optimism to radically change the frontline of combating crime.
Working together with the Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO), the University of Africa (UoA) has taken a major stride in making improvements that need to be made in the highly fragmented industry.
The university has designed a curriculum to elevate not only the public perceptions but also skills and qualifications of security guards.
“This is a result of efforts by the industry, companies – both private and public, such as ZAFFICO that want professional security services,” said Ramap Bedding, UoA Head of School of Law. According to Bedding, the newly developed curriculum would help the industry develop fundamental skills required for preventing and investigating various types of crime, including white-collar crime and fraud.
The two-week training programme also covered constitutional concepts, criminal justice system and human rights.
Other aspects included national security and development with emphasis on responsive criminal justice system.
“By and large, security guards are unprepared to handle problematic situations when carrying out their jobs.
This strongly endorses the need for strengthening minimum standards they need in preventing and investigating various types of crime,” says Bedding.
The significance of the training is underscored by the growth of the industry.
Globally, the growth has been influenced by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In some countries the private security industry has even outgrown public policing.
Locally, the expanding economy has helped growth of the industry. It is for this reason that security guards are a common sight in communities and businesses. Another notable feature was that the number of armed guards had increased in the recent times compared to previous years. However, the growth has not been matched by effective regulation and standards. This has resulted into security guard jobs being relatively low-paying with a high turn-over.
Further, police typically held security guards to a lower standard because of their limited powers and perceived lack of education.
This gives rise to a significant need to raise the professional qualifications of security guards.
The trend to address the situation has been toward public-private partnership to strengthen this important industry of fighting crime.
“Many other roles players in law enforcement and private security are also convinced the initiative was vital because of the increase and complexity of crime,” Bedding said.
The resource team for the training included senior personnel with vast experience in law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.
Deputy Vice Chancellor Christine Mushibwe said the training represented a significant milestone in improving national security. “Both corporate security and contract security firms across the full spectrum of security services recognise the importance the training, and the officers from ZAFFICO bear testimony to this,” Dr Mushibwe said.