Private security glossary
The vocabulary of contract security operations, defined without jargon.
- Guard tour system
- Technology that verifies a security officer physically visited defined checkpoints on a route, using GPS, QR codes, NFC tags or Bluetooth beacons, and produces a timestamped record of each visit.
- Post order
- The site-specific written instructions defining an officer's duties, escalation procedures and reporting obligations at a particular post.
- Bill rate
- The hourly rate a security company charges a client for officer coverage.
- Pay rate
- The hourly wage paid to the officer working the post. The gap between bill rate and pay rate, less loaded costs, is contract margin.
- Unfilled post
- A scheduled shift with no assigned officer at start time, typically triggering service credits and client escalation.
- Daily activity report (DAR)
- A shift-level summary of patrols, observations and incidents submitted by an officer at the end of a shift.
- Fire watch
- Continuous patrol of a building at mandated intervals when fire protection systems are impaired, documented for the fire marshal and insurer.
- MARSEC level
- The maritime security level set by the US Coast Guard that determines required protective measures at regulated port facilities.
- SORA
- New Jersey's Security Officer Registration Act, the state certification required to work as a security officer in New Jersey.
- Clery Act
- US federal law requiring colleges to disclose campus crime statistics and maintain a public daily crime log.
- Service Contract Act
- Federal law setting minimum wage and benefit determinations for service employees, including guards, on US government contracts.
- Mobile patrol
- Vehicle-based security service visiting multiple client sites on a route rather than staffing a fixed post.
- Alarm response
- Dispatch of an officer to a client site following an alarm activation, with documented arrival time and findings.
- Use of force report
- A specialised incident report documenting any physical contact or restraint, subject to heightened legal and insurance scrutiny.
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