NewsWhore
11-10-2011, 01:30 PM
A 29-year old private security worker recalled, as he talked with Diario Libre, how he witnessed a criminal murdering his 33-year old partner, while he attempted to stop a raid on the place he was guarding. "I came out to help my friend, but it was too late," he said. Because of the impact of the experience, he left this line of work, but he returned. Today, he fears that he might be next.
Yesterday's Diario Libre published statistics from the National Police that show that from 2009 until this October, criminals have murdered 93 private watchmen, the majority while committing a crime. 78 were employees of companies providing security services and 15 had been privately contracted as night watchmen. Hiding his identity in order to not put his job at risk, the young watchman said that the pay of between RD$8,000 and RD$10,000 for working 12-hour shifts, at times rotating shifts, is not enough to compensate for the risk that the job entails. The Industrial Engineering student took the job two and a half years ago "so as not to become a criminal." He worked at a branch of EdeEste and today he works in a private company. A total of 250 companies belong to the Dominican Association of Security Companies (Adesinc). They employ 35,000 people as private watchmen, according to the president of the association, Bismarck Tavarez Caminero.
Another watchman who was interviewed, 45 years old, recalled how he left his job as a farmer to work for a security company. With his shotgun in his hand, he directs a customer backing out of the parking lot, a normal service provided by this type of employee. Previously, he worked the night shift, but today he is working days. He said that everyone who works the shift knows that he must sleep during the day, which means difficulties in the family relationships. "I got into this for the moment. Everyone who does this is thinking of doing something else," said a private watchman who works in a casino in the capital. Before this he worked as an ironworker, but he chose to change jobs.
Although he earns a low salary, he thinks that working conditions have improved for watchmen since they work in a more comfortable environment. The president of Asesinc has said that the companies are working to improve working conditions for the watchmen. Guards working in banks must be friendly yet firm towards the customers. Financial institutions prohibit the use of cell phones inside the premises and it is the watchman's duty to point this out to customers.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
Yesterday's Diario Libre published statistics from the National Police that show that from 2009 until this October, criminals have murdered 93 private watchmen, the majority while committing a crime. 78 were employees of companies providing security services and 15 had been privately contracted as night watchmen. Hiding his identity in order to not put his job at risk, the young watchman said that the pay of between RD$8,000 and RD$10,000 for working 12-hour shifts, at times rotating shifts, is not enough to compensate for the risk that the job entails. The Industrial Engineering student took the job two and a half years ago "so as not to become a criminal." He worked at a branch of EdeEste and today he works in a private company. A total of 250 companies belong to the Dominican Association of Security Companies (Adesinc). They employ 35,000 people as private watchmen, according to the president of the association, Bismarck Tavarez Caminero.
Another watchman who was interviewed, 45 years old, recalled how he left his job as a farmer to work for a security company. With his shotgun in his hand, he directs a customer backing out of the parking lot, a normal service provided by this type of employee. Previously, he worked the night shift, but today he is working days. He said that everyone who works the shift knows that he must sleep during the day, which means difficulties in the family relationships. "I got into this for the moment. Everyone who does this is thinking of doing something else," said a private watchman who works in a casino in the capital. Before this he worked as an ironworker, but he chose to change jobs.
Although he earns a low salary, he thinks that working conditions have improved for watchmen since they work in a more comfortable environment. The president of Asesinc has said that the companies are working to improve working conditions for the watchmen. Guards working in banks must be friendly yet firm towards the customers. Financial institutions prohibit the use of cell phones inside the premises and it is the watchman's duty to point this out to customers.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)