Ethical, or selfish?
If this blog let you setup polls, that's what I'd be doing right now. Since that's not available, I'm going to lay something out for any of you readers that aren't figments of my imagination, and encourage you to comment. Do it anonymously, even. Opinions are good, reasoning behind the opinions are ever better. Ready? Here we gooooooooooooooooooooo
I've been working on my site for a couple of months now. I'm usually without much in the way of human contact, as befits an office during the graveyard shift. However, some brave (or deluded) souls come in at 0400, and by 0600 there's a definite hum of activity.
And since I've been steadily there for this time, people are getting used to my presence. I'm approachable enough (as approachable as anybody in a hurt-your-eyes-in-the-morning fluorescent yellow jacket can be) and I've got some people that I regularly exchange a few words with in the mornings.
And lately they've been telling me things.
I won't go into much in the way of detail here, because even though this a fairly anonymous blog, I did agree to keep things on a "need to know" basis when I signed up for a sleep-inducing career in security. Also, the site doesn't need advertisment that a bunch of monkeys is keeping it safe. ;)
However, to clarify for anybody who needs it, there's a building that needed/wanted security. So they contacted my firm and we provide it. We're not part of the building, we're independant contractors. So we don't quite fit into the corporate structure of the site. Dig?
Now, the highest-ranking guy from my firm that's on the location is my S/S - Site Supervisor. Yes, the acronym sucks. I'm a Security Officer, and that acronym for that is S/O.
Unfortunately, I've been using SO for years to mean "Significant Other", so it's a little odd to hear my chief refer to me as one of his S/Os. :P
Anyway, my S/S has been at this site for years. Years. That's a little bit unusual, at least from what I gather. People tend not to stay at the same site (or indeed, same sort of job) for such a length of time. Years, sure. But not years.
He's a nice guy, I've got no complaints. And no complaints on the other guy that works the site (there are three of us in total, one on at a time) although he's pretty grumpy a lot of the time. He's forbidden me from asking him how he is or if any employees came in while he was on duty, on the grounds that I always ask him that. Go fig.
Now let me attempt to wrench this trainwreck of a monologue back on track. People at the site are used to me now and are starting to tell me things. So are others, like employees from other security companies that I interact with. And the picture of how things are has started to change for me.
See, my S/S told me (and indeed, it seemed to be the case) that he knows everybody in the building, and was friends with most of them. And I observed that it certainly seemed to be the case.
But some of these same employees have been telling me things. It's been observed that my S/S constantly ingratiates himself to the managers (and higher-ups). These are the people that determined that they needed security, so it doesn't seem odd to me that maintaining good relations would be important.
However, the people go on to say, it's also believed that anything that any employee tells him he passes on to these managers not as a benefit to them, but to make himself look good and "like a detective", as one employee put it to me.
Also, there's a reward program at my firm. Each month, there are commendations that go out for various things, and some of them include cash awards. My S/S got one of the biggest ones for something that happened the week or so before I started on the site. I asked him about it at the time, and he told me his version.
But according to people that claim to have actually observed what happened, or were with him at the time, what in fact happened are totally different things! The way it was originally reported sounded like someone who was alert and responded appropriately. The way these alleged witnesses tell it, the guy wasn't paying attention and the problem was brought to his attention by an employee. And listening to the way in which he responded, it was most definitely not appropriate the way he responded. Also, he apparently got knocked on his ass.
I'm hearing that he ( don't know about recently, but not too long ago) would leave the site in the middle of his shift for three to four hours at a time. Or that he'd go up a few floors into an executive conference room and watch tv for a while. That doesn't sound bad, but when you consider that with the layout of this building, penetration by a hostile party happens on the ground floor, then being a few floors up in a sound-baffled room in a distant corner of the building with 30+ speakers worth of the Sports Channel going... maybe this isn't the way the client expects their security to be run?
I read the daily reports of everybody. It's not a duty, but I certainly have access to them and I'm expected to know what goes on at the site. Mine read a bit differently from those of the others, however.
Mine have random times all over them. Know why? Because I'm not a machine, and because I try not to fall into a detectable pattern. It probably wouldn't be much of an issue at this particular site, but it's good to keep in practice. Also, by my reckoning, I patrol about four times as much as the others do. That means that in some cases, it might be as much as an hour before I patrol the same place twice. According to the reports, it might be as long as four hours from the other guys.
Also, their reports indicate that they do their rounds like clockwork. And I mean, literally on the hour. And I figured out why: I come in early, and I find their reports pre-written. If I get there at 2000, I'll find that not only have they completed their patrol just then, but they're also anticipating completing them at 2100, 2200, 2300, etc.
Folks, you don't anticipate things in security. Of course if something happens they could just destroy the unrepresentative report and write a new one, but as it is they're not accurately recording what they do. That means nobody has any idea of the security of the site.
Obviously I haven't given much in the way of specifics to you, but I'm not going to.
However, I needed to get some payroll stuff fixed, and I needed to get a smaller jacket (since it isn't to cover my ego, I'm hardly an XL). So I went into the office today and took care of that. While dealing with that manager, I asked if I could bounce something off of her off the record. She said sure, and I told her the bulk of this stuff, and asked for advice.
Her advice? "Email it to (various management types in my firm higher up the food chain)." I mentioned that I was a nobody at the company (she didn't like that, but I explained that I meant it in terms of reputation. I'm a non-entity at this point) and my S/S had been there forever. I mentioned such things as "the old boy's network" way of information moving around via non-traditional channels, and how much I'd hate for this to get back to my S/S as it would hardly make for a pleasant work environment. I mentioned that this was mostly rumour and hearsay, and that I in fact quite like this guy.
She was adamant. She wanted it reported. She offered to let me email her and then she'd pass it on on my behalf, stressing to who she passed it to that my identity should be protected. She said she'd done similar in the past, and it all worked out. So I told her I'd consider it.
Talking to others since then, others who have been in the corporate and government worlds for a long time, I've been advised that I shouldn't say anything. That it's "none of my business". That it's "ratting someone out".
I beg to differ. It's my business because security of the site is what I've been assigned to, and many of these things, in my opinion, compromise the security of the site. Also, I feel that this behavior reflects on me, albeit indirectly.
And... ratting someone out? I suppose, but that implies that I have a relationship to them and then used what learned in the course of that relationship to betray them. That's not the case here. If I don't report something like this, aren't I doing a disservice to the client, along with my entire firm?
The advice went on to say that I should just "keep my head down" and "do my own work well" and "let others find and deal with the problems".
But how is anybody ever going to find out? I'm pretty much the only one privy to both our operations and out reports. And for someone else from our company to come in... why would they? On paper things look find, why waste time investigating nothing?
While I've quoted G'kar's early philosophy many times in jest: "Everything in the universe is made up of a complex mixture of matter, energy, and an enlightened self-interest." many times, I often find myself easily willing to sacrifice my self-interest for what I perceive to be a more important good.
And walking home after getting off the bus today, I remembered a famous passage about doing nothing, since "it doesn't concern me". The one from Rev. Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then the came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
There are various versions of this around, they include Trade Unionists and others, but the gist is the same. I find the notion of "let it be someone else's problem" to be craven and cowardly and selfish-in-a-not-good-way.
That said, does anybody have any advice for me? Advice backed with reasons/reasoning is even better. And best of all is brevity. Time's a factor, so if you've got something to say don't put it off. And feel free to comment multiple times. Comments are unlocked, so you don't have to be a member of blogspot to leave one.
And don't be afraid to tell me if my head's firmly up my ass. ;)
I've been working on my site for a couple of months now. I'm usually without much in the way of human contact, as befits an office during the graveyard shift. However, some brave (or deluded) souls come in at 0400, and by 0600 there's a definite hum of activity.
And since I've been steadily there for this time, people are getting used to my presence. I'm approachable enough (as approachable as anybody in a hurt-your-eyes-in-the-morning fluorescent yellow jacket can be) and I've got some people that I regularly exchange a few words with in the mornings.
And lately they've been telling me things.
I won't go into much in the way of detail here, because even though this a fairly anonymous blog, I did agree to keep things on a "need to know" basis when I signed up for a sleep-inducing career in security. Also, the site doesn't need advertisment that a bunch of monkeys is keeping it safe. ;)
However, to clarify for anybody who needs it, there's a building that needed/wanted security. So they contacted my firm and we provide it. We're not part of the building, we're independant contractors. So we don't quite fit into the corporate structure of the site. Dig?
Now, the highest-ranking guy from my firm that's on the location is my S/S - Site Supervisor. Yes, the acronym sucks. I'm a Security Officer, and that acronym for that is S/O.
Unfortunately, I've been using SO for years to mean "Significant Other", so it's a little odd to hear my chief refer to me as one of his S/Os. :P
Anyway, my S/S has been at this site for years. Years. That's a little bit unusual, at least from what I gather. People tend not to stay at the same site (or indeed, same sort of job) for such a length of time. Years, sure. But not years.
He's a nice guy, I've got no complaints. And no complaints on the other guy that works the site (there are three of us in total, one on at a time) although he's pretty grumpy a lot of the time. He's forbidden me from asking him how he is or if any employees came in while he was on duty, on the grounds that I always ask him that. Go fig.
Now let me attempt to wrench this trainwreck of a monologue back on track. People at the site are used to me now and are starting to tell me things. So are others, like employees from other security companies that I interact with. And the picture of how things are has started to change for me.
See, my S/S told me (and indeed, it seemed to be the case) that he knows everybody in the building, and was friends with most of them. And I observed that it certainly seemed to be the case.
But some of these same employees have been telling me things. It's been observed that my S/S constantly ingratiates himself to the managers (and higher-ups). These are the people that determined that they needed security, so it doesn't seem odd to me that maintaining good relations would be important.
However, the people go on to say, it's also believed that anything that any employee tells him he passes on to these managers not as a benefit to them, but to make himself look good and "like a detective", as one employee put it to me.
Also, there's a reward program at my firm. Each month, there are commendations that go out for various things, and some of them include cash awards. My S/S got one of the biggest ones for something that happened the week or so before I started on the site. I asked him about it at the time, and he told me his version.
But according to people that claim to have actually observed what happened, or were with him at the time, what in fact happened are totally different things! The way it was originally reported sounded like someone who was alert and responded appropriately. The way these alleged witnesses tell it, the guy wasn't paying attention and the problem was brought to his attention by an employee. And listening to the way in which he responded, it was most definitely not appropriate the way he responded. Also, he apparently got knocked on his ass.
I'm hearing that he ( don't know about recently, but not too long ago) would leave the site in the middle of his shift for three to four hours at a time. Or that he'd go up a few floors into an executive conference room and watch tv for a while. That doesn't sound bad, but when you consider that with the layout of this building, penetration by a hostile party happens on the ground floor, then being a few floors up in a sound-baffled room in a distant corner of the building with 30+ speakers worth of the Sports Channel going... maybe this isn't the way the client expects their security to be run?
I read the daily reports of everybody. It's not a duty, but I certainly have access to them and I'm expected to know what goes on at the site. Mine read a bit differently from those of the others, however.
Mine have random times all over them. Know why? Because I'm not a machine, and because I try not to fall into a detectable pattern. It probably wouldn't be much of an issue at this particular site, but it's good to keep in practice. Also, by my reckoning, I patrol about four times as much as the others do. That means that in some cases, it might be as much as an hour before I patrol the same place twice. According to the reports, it might be as long as four hours from the other guys.
Also, their reports indicate that they do their rounds like clockwork. And I mean, literally on the hour. And I figured out why: I come in early, and I find their reports pre-written. If I get there at 2000, I'll find that not only have they completed their patrol just then, but they're also anticipating completing them at 2100, 2200, 2300, etc.
Folks, you don't anticipate things in security. Of course if something happens they could just destroy the unrepresentative report and write a new one, but as it is they're not accurately recording what they do. That means nobody has any idea of the security of the site.
Obviously I haven't given much in the way of specifics to you, but I'm not going to.
However, I needed to get some payroll stuff fixed, and I needed to get a smaller jacket (since it isn't to cover my ego, I'm hardly an XL). So I went into the office today and took care of that. While dealing with that manager, I asked if I could bounce something off of her off the record. She said sure, and I told her the bulk of this stuff, and asked for advice.
Her advice? "Email it to (various management types in my firm higher up the food chain)." I mentioned that I was a nobody at the company (she didn't like that, but I explained that I meant it in terms of reputation. I'm a non-entity at this point) and my S/S had been there forever. I mentioned such things as "the old boy's network" way of information moving around via non-traditional channels, and how much I'd hate for this to get back to my S/S as it would hardly make for a pleasant work environment. I mentioned that this was mostly rumour and hearsay, and that I in fact quite like this guy.
She was adamant. She wanted it reported. She offered to let me email her and then she'd pass it on on my behalf, stressing to who she passed it to that my identity should be protected. She said she'd done similar in the past, and it all worked out. So I told her I'd consider it.
Talking to others since then, others who have been in the corporate and government worlds for a long time, I've been advised that I shouldn't say anything. That it's "none of my business". That it's "ratting someone out".
I beg to differ. It's my business because security of the site is what I've been assigned to, and many of these things, in my opinion, compromise the security of the site. Also, I feel that this behavior reflects on me, albeit indirectly.
And... ratting someone out? I suppose, but that implies that I have a relationship to them and then used what learned in the course of that relationship to betray them. That's not the case here. If I don't report something like this, aren't I doing a disservice to the client, along with my entire firm?
The advice went on to say that I should just "keep my head down" and "do my own work well" and "let others find and deal with the problems".
But how is anybody ever going to find out? I'm pretty much the only one privy to both our operations and out reports. And for someone else from our company to come in... why would they? On paper things look find, why waste time investigating nothing?
While I've quoted G'kar's early philosophy many times in jest: "Everything in the universe is made up of a complex mixture of matter, energy, and an enlightened self-interest." many times, I often find myself easily willing to sacrifice my self-interest for what I perceive to be a more important good.
And walking home after getting off the bus today, I remembered a famous passage about doing nothing, since "it doesn't concern me". The one from Rev. Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then the came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
There are various versions of this around, they include Trade Unionists and others, but the gist is the same. I find the notion of "let it be someone else's problem" to be craven and cowardly and selfish-in-a-not-good-way.
That said, does anybody have any advice for me? Advice backed with reasons/reasoning is even better. And best of all is brevity. Time's a factor, so if you've got something to say don't put it off. And feel free to comment multiple times. Comments are unlocked, so you don't have to be a member of blogspot to leave one.
And don't be afraid to tell me if my head's firmly up my ass. ;)
posted by Rimmy at 21:02
1 Comments:
I think I agree with Matt here.
You have been given the task to protect a place and I believe that now that you know about someone slackiing off, its your obligation to report it. I'm not sure exactly what I would do at first if this happened to me at a job but, this isn't just any job. Its security.
These people that falsify their records are compremising the companies name. If they can't look past their own bored ass and look at the big picture why are they there in the first place?
If you get snubbed or a bad rep for doing the right thing then your not working for the right people. In my opinion it would be doing your job to"Rat some one out"
Even though its small, and maybe this guy does rip up his report and write a new one if something happenes, it still doesn't look good to the company. If your going to write your report in advance, don't put it up till the end of your shift:P
Also if negligance causes a breach and something is stolen, keeping your head down or letting it be someone elses problem doesn't cut it. The whole firm suffers including you because they might lose a client.
I would do something about this for your clients sake.
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