Since the September 11th attack there has been an increase in the demand for security personnel police air marshals airport security etc. How do you think the higher demand has affected the US?

Answer 1

This is the view of a sergeant at a mid-sized university security department (20 officers).

The 9/11 attacks have created a lot of senseless paranoia (we have an appointed homeland security guy on our payroll who does nothing but evaluate our agency's weaknesses should we become a target of terrorists).

A lot of security product businesses are quick to feed on this paranoia, as corporations and the government are shelling out big bucks to buy the latest security gadget junk.

However, most actual security guards make about the same as a janitor; they're uneducated, under trained, and under equipped.

As for actual police, it's a good time to get into that kind of work, if that's what you want to do, as there's a shortage nationwide of qualified recruits. (Most of their guys are in the Reserves or Guard and have been sucked into Iraq/Afghanistan.) A lot of police departments are lowering their standards to get more warm bodies in. But the work itself is hard and the hours are terrible.