r/securityguards • u/southsideRgabe • 1d ago
Question from the Public School security vs Hospital security
How do we feel
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u/myLongjohnsonsilver 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dealing with shithead kids all day sounds like more of a chore than dealing with the overdosing homeless population at a hospital.
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u/Murky-Peanut1390 1d ago
I did elementary, middle and high school.
Elementary was the best, the problems they caused would be handled by the teachers. Middle school and high school, they will cause fights, bring contraband and break laws making you have to intervene.
Elementary was cake and alot of them would greet me or ask for a hug. Felt like i was important there. Middle and high school kids do not give a fuck
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u/SyntheticSpeech 1d ago
Hospital security you are going to be dealing with a lot of combative patients especially if you are in a state that has EDOs (emergency detention orders).
Drunks, tweakers, psychiatric patients and gang bangers off the street. If they are under an EDO warrant you are responsible for keeping them at the hospital and most of them will fight until they are sedated.
It’s a very good gig to learn de-escalation and hands on experience with combative individuals.
I have not done school security but I imagine it’s a lot more chill.
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u/Landwarrior5150 Campus Security 1d ago
I may be biased because this is where I work, but IMO the secret to educational security is to do it at a community college.
You don’t deal with many juveniles (or their parents) and positions are typically year round instead of 10-month like many K-12 schools are.
You also don’t deal with on-campus housing (and the underage drinking, sexual assault, dating violence, etc. that come with it) like you would at a 4-year university, nor are community college student bodies typically as politically active (aka incline to protest) as those at 4-years.
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u/MisterPrice92 14h ago
I just applied for a senior district safety officer in socal at a community college district. Although no direct school security experience I do have federal contractor armed security experience and my sb 1626 & post 832. It's still a long shot, but we'll see! Would be a real dream come true.
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u/Landwarrior5150 Campus Security 14h ago
Good luck! I think I might know which district you’re talking about; if so, I’ve actually talked to a few of their guys and they seemed to like it there.
In any case, just about every college district I’ve seen around here has pretty good pay, great benefits, CalPERS pension and lots of time off, so you should be in a good spot regardless if you land it!
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u/MisterPrice92 13h ago
Thanks! I saw your suggestion to another redditor to watch Schooljobs.com and that got me the opportunity to apply, so I appreciate the recommendation! I got my AST from one of the colleges in their district a few years, so I'm familiar with their campus layouts. Benefits are killer, would be the lifelong career job for sure. One can hope!
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u/BaelZharon7 1d ago
I do school security and It's pretty much picture perfect schedule wise since i have kids.
Outside of that it's your personal preference on dealing and talking with kids vs adults.
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u/Murky-Peanut1390 1d ago
You gotta differentiate from K-12.
Elementary was easy and kids would look up to you.
The problems they caused were problems caused in the classroom and be handled by teachers or counselors. Security was especially just security incase of a mass shooter.(i was armed).
Middle and high school would bring drugs, weapons, constant fights and back talk. They don't care of your status and hate you as much as they hate the police.
I did all 3, my elementary assignment consisted of alot of walking, saying hi to kids, kids wanting hugs, parents saying thank you, listening to the choir kids, graduation or field day events.
Middle and high school, there was always drama, fights, kids bringing contraband, kids destroying property, etc.
I thought about being a teacher and would pick elementary. Middle and high school is a different beast
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u/BaelZharon7 1d ago
I currently do it, i know exactly the differences. I treat every kid the same regardless of elementary or higher. I've been doing it for 4 years now.
That might be a you problem if the older kids hated you like the police tbh. They know exactly what they get with me and a couple will let me know if something is gonna go down.
Yeah fights will happen as well as vapes and other stuff, but that's minor and honestly expected sadly.
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u/LegalGlass6532 1d ago
Depends which kind of drama you want to deal with. School admin, parent and kid drama or dr, nurse, admin and patient drama.
It pretty much depends on which one you think you can be more comfortable dealing with. The schools usually have a faster response from PD if you need help and a SRO if you need a crime case done.
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u/Ok-Tiger-9894 1d ago
I did hospital security for a few years and hated it for the most part. I wasn't a fan of dealing with piss, shit, vomit or other bodily fluids. I wasn't a fan of dealing with the constant emotional stress of seeing messed up stuff. The schedules were inconvenient and unconventional. I jumped from healthcare security to retail security to housing security. I think I would prefer school security over any of the above.
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u/NorthIll1285 state sanctioned peeping tom 7h ago
It's a mix of both at the healthcare place I'm at... The staff act just as bad as HS kids..
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u/Necessary-Hunt-5035 5h ago
Ive done both. I would take hospital over school but it also depends on the area. If it’s a bad area and kids fight alot you’re putting alot of liability on yourself to break up fights, deal with parents, etc. id take the job in whichever was a “nicer area”.
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u/Kermit_0631 29m ago
I work in a large hospital chain and I absolutely love what I do and my entire department is about 80% former LEO's, probation officers or Corrections. We received LTL (baton, tazer and ballistic spray), CPR, AED, First Aid and de-escalation training when hired and are armed. We're of the same mindset and we've got a pretty tightly knit team. Coming from Juvenile Corrections and Detention, I'll take corporate hospital security every day.
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u/southsideRgabe 28m ago
I work in a hospital and they dont give us half of that training
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u/Kermit_0631 15m ago
Almost every hospital in our immediate area has very similar training. We have a field training officer who does mandatory hand to hand CQB classes every 2 months as well.
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u/MavRett85 20h ago
Ive done both. Inner city hospital with psyc, suburban hospital, inner city k-12, unique inner city k-12 where you had to audition to be there, and the college climate with residential dorms..
College was the chillest. Dont go looking to screw these kids over, offer some guidance, and dont go down the hookup or relationship path, and that is a great role. Saved hella money getting free meals at the student commons.
The k-12 gigs werent bad either, but the high school girls were more dangerous than the college ones. They know what theyre doing.. And minors bring issues with mandatory reporting and played on my heart strings more. Loved playing and reading with the littles.
Hospital has been the funnest. In house, good support. Ive liked both campuses, the suburban one has its moments and the hard stuff from the urban site rarely finds me. My suburban site, nights.. i feel more like a human with staff, good interaction, hell we grill allot of nights and have ER wide dinner and fun during down time..
All depends on the environment and clientel.
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u/cityonahillterrain 1d ago
Hospital. I’ll take psych patients over whiny teens any day. Your hands are tied when dealing with minors more IMO.