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That's why in 1981, I decided to put in a few classes at a local Jr. College in Hayward, California. I had already attending that Jr. College while in High School in 1973 taking Welding classes to get certified as a Welder.
In 1981, after a few years off of active duty, and after working a few jobs such as being a mechanic with Western Pacific Railroad and working in a machine shop, with the economy so bad that a lot of people were out of work at the time, I found myself working as a Security Field Supervisor for a large security company. In fact, it was the second largest security company in the world at the time.
Soon, I found myself carrying a full-load of classes while working 60 plus hours a week at my job. Though, as a Security Field Supervisor, I was an operational leader responsible for managing security personnel and ensuring daily protocols are executed, it was during that time that I also started contracting out my services as a Security Consultant. It was all about freelancing to make money.
As a Security Consultant, I evaluated an organization's risks, determined what it would take to protect its physical assets, and I designed strategies to secure businesses and executives. The mission was to block threats.
As for identifying vulnerabilities, I had to find and analyze weaknesses in the security layouts of businesses and residential properties. I conducted penetration testing to figure out what it would take to breach their security. That meant that I had to perform authorized simulated incursions to test the reliability and resilience of security systems before and after they were improved.
As a Security Consultant, I evaluated an organization's risks, determined what it would take to protect its physical assets, and I designed strategies to secure businesses and executives. The mission was to block threats.
As for identifying vulnerabilities, I had to find and analyze weaknesses in the security layouts of businesses and residential properties. I conducted penetration testing to figure out what it would take to breach their security. That meant that I had to perform authorized simulated incursions to test the reliability and resilience of security systems before and after they were improved.
As for responding to incidents, I found myself investigating security breaches and built remediation plans. And yes, I found myself creating compliance standards that my clients could afford. My clients were well aware of the cost of a long-term security investment. And frankly, it wasn't cheap. But, looking back at those days, the cost was small compared to later when computers and cameras were introduced and becoming commonplace.
It was interesting days for me. As a Security Field Supervisor working for a the security company that I did, I didn't wear a uniform. All of the Field Supervisors didn't wear uniforms. And no, our patrol vehicles were not marked. There were reasons for that. First, it was the San Francisco Bay Area and my district office was in Oakland. It was a very hostile place. Second, we didn't wear uniforms and have marked cars so Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond hoods wouldn't shoot at us or our cars. And yes, it happened.
As a Security Field Supervisor, I was responsible for overseeing a security staff during my shift. I coordinated daily shifts. I handled local incidents. I drove all over the East Bay to inspect plants and other facilities who were our clients and we had guards posted. I did routine investigations of incidents and crime scenes. I supervised on-the-ground guards and I reported to a mid-level manager who was our district office manager.
As a Security Consultant, that was an easy job in comparison to working strike actions supervising guards. As a consultant, I diagnosed security risks, advised executives, and designed security policies. I was an independent contractor. I didn't hardly ever come into contact with guards, because I mostly interacted directly with business executives such as CEOs, CSOs, or business owners in meetings.
The fundamental difference between a Security Field Supervisor and a Security Consultant is that as a supervisor I was in on the execution of the day-to-day hands-on security operations verse as a consultant when I was seen as an outside expert hired to analyze risks, discover vulnerabilities, and design high-level security strategies.
As a Security Consultant, I advised businesses, evaluated infrastructure, conducted risk audits, and drafted security strategies while working as an independent contractor or freelancer. It took a lot of communication, project management, and planning.
In contrast, as a Security Field Supervisor, as an operational leader responsible for managing security personnel and ensuring daily protocols are executed, life is all about managing employees, enforcing established protocols, doing conflict resolution, and doing investigations. And yes, there were times that also meant investigating the police and their connection to incidents.
As a Security Field Supervisor in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, I enjoyed managing and overseeing security officers, dealing with mobile patrol units, and having input in the security of facilities to protect people, property, and assets. I had to assign shifts, monitor security officer performance in the field, and ensure posts were continuously covered in accordance to our contract. I conducted routine patrols and spot-checks, and inspected gear, cameras, alarm system, fire equipment, and even inspected firearms of armed guards to make sure they functioned properly.
When I'm asked which one did I enjoy more, consulting or supervising, I have to admit that while consulting paid a lot more money, I really enjoyed the hands-on work of doing security with a team to keep people safe.
When I left working for that security company, it was because I found myself making more money working for myself. And yes, there was a point when I was being hired by companies, including my former employer, to take care of problem situations. In some cases it was to supervise guards and get a situation under control. In other cases, it was to do what law enforcement was restricted from doing. I did what needed to be done to keep people safe. And frankly, I didn't mind doing it. It paid well.
In fact, I had an old boss who liked the way I worked, that he hired me on contract, and put me in charge of coordinating the security for facilities and businesses that were targets of labor strikes in Alameda and San Francisco counties. In those situations, my life was all about hands-on security, dealing with rowdy Union strikers and their attacks on people, buildings, and equipment. I supervised guards, set up command posts, dealt with traffic and crowd control issues, dealt with threats, a lot of threats, dealt with guards being attacked, and dealt with companies who in some cases refused to take the precautions that were prescribed to them.
Providing good security for facilities that were targets of labor strikes and violent Union workers was challenging and dangerous. I did background investigations of members who made threats against people and their employers and the businesses they were striking. I've seen Union workers set fire to the places that employed them. I've seen cops stand by and do nothing as guards were beaten. I've seen Leftist crazies come out of the woodwork in places like Berkeley because they were told that "Capitalists were exploiting Workers." I've seen those same tolerant crazies assault innocent senior citizens for no reason.
In those days, Union workers, strikers, or their hired picketers, threaten me and my family with great harm. I was shot at on a couple of different occasions. I was in an unmarked car and drove up to a blocked picket line at the entrance of Golden Gate Field Race Track when Union strikers and Berkeley Leftists decided to turn over my car -- while I was in it. And yes, I was run off the road and followed home a few times back then. It was a real education.
As for training both new and older security personnel on security protocols, people skills and customer service, emergency response, and first aid/CPR, I did that while using a lot of what I learned in the Marine Corps. And yes, as for responding to incidents, I've had my share of apprehending and/or evicting trespassers, holding offenders for the police, and coordinating with local police and fire departments.
I look at my prior security experience in the Marine Corps, including my background as an Instructor in the Marine Corps, as being a help back in the day. The Marine Corps taught me leadership, conflict resolution, risk assessment, familiarity with security, and resilience.
The Marine Corps demanded that Marines have verbal and written communication skills. That all came in handy with report writing since documentation is so important. To do that job, you had to know how to maintain compliance records for management and clients. But just importantly, you had to know how to write extremely detailed incident, accident, and shift reports.
That's why when I went back to school, as I was also taking the perquisite General Education courses in Math, English, Humanities, and so on, I started out by taking classes in Report Writing, Patrol Procedures, and a few other courses. Soon, I realized that I put in enough classes for a degree in the Administration of Justice (ADMJ). Yes, that's how I got my first degree.
What I found is that Administration of Justice courses provided vital foundational knowledge for me as a Security Consultant by bridging the gap between public law enforcement principles and private security risk mitigation. I didn't want to be a law enforcement officer because I found them restricted and not pro-active.
In fact, that's the key difference between security and law enforcement. By the nature of what they do, security is pro-active while law enforcement is reactive.
While taking course in the Administration of Justice, I knew very well that traditional criminal justice programs focus heavily on policing. But, I also knew that taking specialized security administration modules directly addressed the legal frameworks, asset protection tactics, and investigative techniques required in the private consulting sector -- all which would help me in my job.
Since I was introduced to security in the Marine Corps, I found that some of the courses were very basic in that they taught basic functions, operational procedures, and business structures of private security. I found that as a security consultant, this was important to learn since it addressed how private firms operate differently from public law enforcement and the military which is what my experience was based on.
Learning the California Penal Code, Crime Scene Investigation Techniques, rules of evidence, courtroom procedures, studying the elements, classifications, and definitions of crimes, and the difference between crimes against persons versus property, all helped me a great deal in my work. Of course, learning how the U.S. Constitution governs investigative conduct, arrests, and evidence collection must operate within parameters to avoid legal liability was extremely important.
Looking back on what was covered while getting my degree in the Administration of Justice, I enjoyed learning how to gather investigative details, the proper protocols for preserving evidence, how to preserve physical evidence and a crime scene. Of course, in that field, it is vitally important to write clear, concise, and legally binding professional logs and survey summaries.
For me, learning how to do that easier and more efficiently help me provide my clients with quality reports. So yes, it was something that I found useful in the security field -- as well as in my life later when I left the security field and entered the inspection industry.
As for conflict resolution, de-escalation, and defusing a potentially volatile situation, I appreciated what I was taught in that Administration of Justice program in regards to functional strategies for mediating disputes, managing risk situations, and navigating tense environments safely. But being frank, while I appreciated what I was taught in that Administration of Justice program, all it did was reaffirm what I was taught in the Marine Corps in leadership classes.
Of course, I've found that my training in the Marine Corps and the Corps' focus on leadership, the Marine Corps training in general, has given me resilience and management skills that I believe have been invaluable. So yes, there are reasons why companies respect what the military teaches Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen. Most of us who served understand being responsible team players while also having people skills.
I supervised a lot of guards, various types of facilities and businesses, a lot of events, as well as a lot of strikes back in those days. In my personal life, I learned that there are people who tell you one thing and do another. Some profess to be good people, but aren't.
One such person tried to get me to take her to a gun range to learn how to shoot. I knew when I talked with her that something wasn't right. She was an ardent anti-gun Liberal Democrat. I knew she would never accept the fact that target shooting is a fun sport. So yes, knowing this, I waiting for my friend, her husband, to get home from a sabbatical so that I could talk with him about it.
When I found out about it, I figured that she suspected it and may have wanted to learn how to use a gun to shoot him. What I found out later was much worst than that.
Later, I found out that he told his wife that he was spending a lot of time supposedly helping me with something or other. It was all a lie. In fact, I was so busy that I hadn't seen my friend in months. But, that didn't stop him from telling his wife that he was spending time helping me -- when he was in fact spending time with his mistress.
His wife's plan was not to shoot him. Her plan was for me to readily and willingly take her to a gun range, load a pistol, and hand it to her. Her plan was to shoot herself in front of me to have the most impact on my life as she could. She wanted to do that because she felt that I was covering for her husband -- even though I was completely in the dark about what he was doing.
She and her husband were extremely "educated" people. When I learned the truth of what was going on, I told them that I used to admire their knowledge of things. And while I didn't agree with or understand their fondness for the Democrat Party, or their hatred for people like me who are Republicans, I told them that I tried to ignore that about them because I though they had some sort of redeeming quality that I might have missed. But I was wrong. They had no redeeming value at all. And yes, I told them that. I also told them that I didn't want to hear or see them again.
So, besides attending Jr. College classes and getting some good from that, most of what I learned back than was about the worst in people. That was my real education back in the early 1980s. And for a while, I believed that the worst in people was easier to find than the best of us. Thankfully, over the years, I learned that we are better than that.
It takes a lot of resilience to hold onto that shift in perspective, especially when your "real education" has given you so much evidence to the contrary. The early 1980s were not a good time for some folks. In my case, I saw the worst in people at work and in my social life. And yes, I learned that it is incredibly easy for a person's worldview to get permanently locked into that survival-mode mindset because of dealing with people who lack a moral compass.
When you spend a chapter of your life witnessing the worst in people, cynicism starts to feel like realism. It feels safe because it ensures you are never surprised or let down. But as time goes on, thankfully we realize that humanity is fundamentally capable of being better than what we give it credit for.
My education in the early 1980s, both in working in security and dealing with "friends" like the ones that I mention above, made me understand that it isn't about being naive to the bad in the world. It's about actively choosing not to let the bad blind you to the quiet consistent good that exists. And yes, it does exist.
Tom Correa
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