(09-23-2023, 04:51 AM)hkriflenut_aka_sasquatch Wrote: Last spring after Nashville's private school shooting - myself and a number of parents reached out to our kid's school to see what security measures they were going to take, or had taken. I'd been working in healthcare security at that point - still do, but when I came on with the school, I had to step out of my full time hospital job to go to work at the school. I'm still working PT at another hospital, had to transfer because my old site was going to FT employees only and eliminating part timers from the team. I also decided to go back to college, so started that up a couple weeks ago, so I'm going very, very PT with the hospital gig just so I have time to sleep and do homework, beyond working at the school.
The biggest issue they ran into - contract security is expensive, and possibly unreliable. Off duty law enforcement is likewise very expensive, and PRN officers can be unreliable either through personality defect, department needs, or court. The answer lied in in-house security. Thankfully the state of Texas makes it very easy for a business to get in-house authority to run its own security department - it just requires registering with DPS. Letter of authority is free. Any personnel working a security role must be properly licensed and trained. They skip the requirements for certain insurance that for-hire guard companies require. So I came on board for the last six weeks of school in an official capacity. Was volunteering in an unofficial, non-uniformed capacity as a "watch dog" for a couple weeks before that, while we were getting things in order.
School director decided after getting parent and teacher feedback to bring me back in a paid, regular role for this year. I tried getting her to budget for 2 people, but was shot down there. There was a tuition surcharge this year to cover my role. So I am *the* entire security department right now.
We have a few parents who are law enforcement, one decided to be kind of a dick and take issue with me being brought on regular this year - he made a stink about me not being LE, about me *only* being licensed for armed work in this state since February, and about not having certain training typically reserved for LE, like an LE-centric active shooter course. Dude ran a BGC on me unauthorized, but I decided not to raise a stink about it with his bosses to keep the school as drama free as possible. Dude never talked to me, never emailed with me, never attempted to reach out to me to get my background or learn what I have or have not done. Guess his background didn't reveal my security experience in another state, not that its the most recent, but it was still there.
He was right though - I'm not LE. Never have been. Tried for years, but its very competitive in the PNW. Down here damn near anyone can go to the community college for their police academy, self sponsored, and then apply. Big agencies do run their own academies, but very few big agencies compared to the numerous smaller county, city, ISD, water districts, hospitals etc that have their own PD's and typically want people who have already done the academy on their own, or thru another agency. I should've moved to Texas in my 20's - probably would've gotten hired on easy enough, but I digress.
I did find a training company based in Houston that is run by active LE for a large agency in the area, and got an 8 hour course. Was the first company that said they'd train security guards, not just LE for active shooter response. Gatekeeping is bullshat, this is training anyone carrying a gun professionally needs. Definitely need to do the courses more than once - trying to get the school's director to cut loose with some training budget for me. So far aside from my wages and this class, nothing has been spent on security this year. We need more cameras, better doors / door locks for interior doors, we could use some additional equipment, and certainly I want to get more training courses under my belt. I re-upped my first aid certs / stop the bleed on my own. Hell, I even had to find and source uniforms and get them up to state standards as far as getting the business name and my name on them. Paid for that out of pocket. I look at it as investing in my own kid's safety - as well as the 170 other kids in the school.
I also really, really wish she'd have bumped that tuition surcharge up just a bit, and given me a partner. One man CQB sucks. *IF* we had a Nashville like incident, I'd really like to have a partner watching my back as we're rushing toward gunfire or clearing rooms.
My wife got me an X300U to replace the TLR-9 for my duty gun as an early birthday present today. I like the TLR-9 switches more than the TLR-1HL or even the base switch on the X300 - but since the X300 can use a pressure pad, and the TLR-9 cannot, the switch is a no brainer. Damn shame Cloud hasn't released their EPL - as I think its going to be putting out a lot more candela than the X300. The SureFire puts out a better, warmer color tone to the light, and has a tighter hot spot. I threw the TLR9 on a Glock 17 that lives in a night stand drawer. I'm skimpy on Glock holsters at the moment, so it sits with a full mag and empty chamber. Going all Glocktarded for this school year, I'm running a G34 for my duty gun, a G19 as my concealed carry gun, have a G17 that I carried for a short time that was going to fit both roles until I got the 34. Wife has a G43X and now thinking she wants either a Canik Mete or a Glock 26MOS.
Last range trip I realized, after 17 years with her, she's frickin cross eye dominant which does her no favors with her shooting. I put my 34 in her hands, told her how to really use the dot (she's dabbled with it before, but never really listened to me) and she stacked 9 out of 10 shots in the 9 ring of a target, in a group *maybe* 3 inches, but probably closer to 2.5 inches. Her shooting with her little Shield 9 was all over the damn target before that. I think I finally got it thru to her that double stack guns are easier to shoot, and red dots really are better. Especially for a middle aged woman with already bad eye sight! Ha!
I'm putting a pause on adding guns to my collection for a while - at least actual real center fire, lethal guns. Since I know the school director isn't going to buy a couple G17T's for me for training, I'm on the quest to build a non-lethal training gun arsenal. Found a couple well used G17T's online today, but have also been looking at Umarex T4E paintball guns - they have a licensed Glock 17 copy that shoots .43 caliber paint balls OR rubber balls. I also ordered some gas blow back airsoft guns. I have a group of gentlemen in my friends circle that have agreed to be antagonists or victims for future training and practice sessions - which I'm hoping I can start doing at least once a month for 4 hours. If I can swing it, or better yet, if I can get the school to swing it - I'd like to get a professional instructor out at least once every 2-4 months - or at bare minimum twice a year. Houston PD, I found out does active shooter 2X a year, but they do it in huge class sizes, so there may only be a couple of guys who actually get to pull triggers in the scenarios while everyone else just watches. Some other agencies here only do active shooter once a year.
The probability we'll ever have such an issue is really low - these incidents are already very, very rare statistically - but I do take the task seriously, and no one in White Settlement or Southerland Springs, Texas would have ever guessed violence would show up to their church. Santa Fe high school here in the Houston area probably never figured on a kid showing up with a 12 guage and shooting the place up. Our facility is both a church AND school, and our little town of 10k people is set to boom to nearly 100k in just a few years as something like 20k new houses have been approved to build around this town, as soon as the drought lets up anyway. Its crazy.
Once the kid graduates high school in six years, we're probably going to put our house up for sale and move - either elsewhere in Texas that's less crowded, or maybe up toward Idaho or Wyoming. I *may* at that time consider applying for an LE job again - but I may take my fresh college degree and try to do something with it too. I'll still be in my 40's so still have time for a whole 20+ year career in something before I ever even get within sniffing distance of retirement - that's if the country doesn't devolve into civil war or major economic collapse before then, given the Sniffy One and his pupeteers handling things the way they are.
in 10 years Wyoming will be priced out of reach of all but the very wealthy
Housing is hard to find and way more expensive due to people moving from Colorado and commuting or remote working. They will offer 10k over asking price if not more depending on location
know a guy who paid $250k for a hobby ranch, with a great view, put in a well & built a modest 3 bedroom 2 bath & sold it for $800k to someone from California sight unseen
Right now WY is very LEO friendly and looking for good candidates or officers from other liberal states
WY highway patrol is hiring, Laramie county got a new Sheriff who is said to be very officer concerned & got them. Pay raise & other benefits And is looking for jailers
https://www.laramiecountywy.gov/_officia...TTCRw0riLW
