The Shift Security Activity Report (SAR) is critical to well-run security operations on any site. The SAR not only informs the security provider of activities, performance and security incidents that occur on a site but also allows the client to be able to review a document that accurately details the services that they are paying for and get a understanding of what is occurring on their site. The report is also important if required for any court case, where accuracy is critical to the successful defense or prosecution of any legal case.
For the most part, the client isn’t going to see the actual work security officers provide. They will not see the myriad of tasks security may perform during a shift, to keep their property secure. They may request to see the SAR to gain an overview of what is occurring on their site, and if it’s sloppy and incomplete, they’re going to assume the work you do is similarly poor. The more time security officers put into the report to make it accurate and factually comprehensive will have a flow on benefit of providing a positive reflection of your company and its employees, and goes a long way to enhancing how your customer views security officers and security provider services on their site.
This idea, that your SAR might someday be used in a court proceeding, is a good one to keep in mind. That’s why it’s so important to make note of all the small details, as well as the big incidents. You never know what might end up being important down the road.
The report, thus, becomes a permanent record of hours of work performed, any special instructions relayed to oncoming shifts and records matters that cannot be safely entrusted to memory. It becomes a full, accurate and unambiguous source of confirmation for evidence given in any court of the land, particularly in respect of conversations resulting from incidents or interactions between security and others and other material that may be relevant to legal proceedings.
Information in the report should be clear, brief and to the point except where conversations are being recorded verbatim. Use plain unambiguous English, limiting technical phraseology and slang to ensure that the report is understandable to the reader. Do not include personal opinions unless it is important to the report and based upon sound facts.
Every observation that an officer makes should be accompanied by the time that the officer is making that observation. If you are using electronic daily activity reporting software, a time stamp will help demonstrate to your customers that officers are active throughout their shift. In addition, if the report turns out to have legal significance an accurate detailing of activities will be important.
Do not delete any comment or statement. If changes are necessary, draw a line through the original statement and initial it before correcting it, in writing or ensure that any electronic reporting tool accurately notes the changes for chain of evidence purposes.
During the course of a shift there are a number of things that officers can add to their activity reports. Officers should provide the Who, What, When, and Where for observations that they are making. Even on uneventful shifts the officer’s report can include things like:
- How long it took to complete a patrol
- People that the officer sees or talks to
- What the officer has observed looking out of the window
- Things that the officer hears
A common issue seen in many reports is the ‘cop out’ statement of ‘nothing to report’. this indicates laziness and can allow issues that were identified, not to be properly recorded. Instead of recording ‘nothing to report’ or ‘all is well,’ why not expand the statement such as, ‘A patrol was conducted of the perimeter fence, I checked the fence (and note any issues that you may have discovered or state that the fence-line was found to be in good repair etc), or, I checked the valuable assets on the property,’ and list them off with information on any issues found. Go through the detail of the activity that was completed. Not only does this extra detail show off your hard work to the client, it ensures that there are no discrepancies or inaccuracies in your report, and can protect you from liability.
Moreover, recording small incidents can be useful in terms of figuring out what important tasks you might be missing, or what processes can be carried out more effectively. If you don’t know what you’re doing in the first place, you can’t come with ways to improve. The SAR can assist in identifying gaps in tasks that may leave a site vulnerable.
The SAR is more than a tool for your Shift Supervisor, it is a permanent record for your company management, client and yourself. If you find yourself in court needing to remember activities and conversations that occurred in the past, you may regret not including complete details in your SAR. Whether your company has implemented digital reporting or is still using handwritten reports, if your officers understand how to write a daily activity report your reports will be professional, useful and reflect well upon the company.
It is too important to neglect.
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