Mobile security patrol work can be more challenging than many people realise. A mobile patrol officer generally travels between multiple client sites, checking premises, responding to alarms, conducting scheduled patrols, checking doors, gates and access points, identifying suspicious activity and documenting anything that occurs during the shift. You need to understand different alarm and access-control systems, electronic keys and codes, GPS navigation, communication equipment and increasingly sophisticated electronic reporting and data-logging systems. You also need excellent time management.

Getting from one client site to another quickly does not give you an exemption from the road rules, so patrol officers must manage priorities and respond safely and lawfully. Working alone, particularly at night, also means you need good situational awareness, judgement and the ability to assess risk before entering a site or responding to an alarm. It can certainly be challenging, but many security officers love mobile patrol work because of the independence, variety and responsibility it provides. You are rarely sitting in the same place all night and no two shifts are necessarily the same.

With property crime and community concerns about the security of homes and businesses, mobile security patrols continue to provide an important visible security presence throughout Queensland. The CPP20218 Certificate II in Security Operations provides important foundation skills for patrol work, including conducting security patrols, risk assessment, communication, incident response and reporting. Like most areas of security, however, you continue learning every day once you are actually out there doing the job.