If the thieves are back on the street, you're still on guard, what difference does that make? It's not like the guards should expect to go on vacation because they arrested a thief.
Granted, but a human guard nevertheless presents a problem for robbers.
Do you take the guard hostage? Do you kill them? Will they themselves be armed? Will they put up a fight, training or no training? If you try aggressively to bring their vehicle to a halt, will they concede immediately (as an autonomous vehicle likely would), or will they try ramming your vehicle?
A human guard is an unknown quantity, and any crimes you commit against their person are in a different league to the theft of the cargo.
I doubt security guard is really required, at least in US, Europe and most other developed countries. Container is closed and it's easy to install device that calls police in case it's opened mid-way. Also most trucks transport goods that are difficult to steal and sell profitably (low price, high weight - think groceries, furniture, etc).
In the security guard story: I understand the point that the author is trying to make, but it falls short as the security guard adds value to the property owner by just being phsysically there.
By being present the chance of a robbery, vandalism etc is significantly reduced. In most countries the average guard is also not expected to actually intervene with a robbery and instead call police (the US might be an exception here in some cases).
Sure, because criminals are all dumb as rock and flock to your guarded property like lemings.
What they certainly won’t do is threaten the family of your armed guards, or bribe your guards, or sabotage the vehicles of your armed guards until they don’t show up no more, or learn the schedule of your armed guards and sneak around them.
Or you know, lay low and do easier things until you stop paying guards and come back then.
They are supposed to guard the people but job security and mission creep means their priority becomes guarding themselves. This should come as a shock, unfortunately it does not.
Stop them from doing what? The police won't prosecute. Security guards are private citizens and do not have an unlimited right to just grab other people and detain them. If the stolen goods are inside, say, a backpack, they also do not have the ability to search that backpack.
You can only have security guards if the state backs them up. The state is not backing them up.
You have a very weird idea of what security guards do. They don't sit in front of the entrance all night, scaring off would-be robbers. They are inside the building, in their booth, probably looking over some monitors. They do not provide a deterrent, they just call the cops if something does happen. Robbers have no clue if they are there or not. The heuristic works fine.
I happened to be next to a store in Central Mexico when an armored cash pickup truck showed up. It was a MUCH more intense scene than the pickups I've seen in the states. There were multiple guards in the parking lot, guns drawn, that looked very alert; they weren't just going through the motions.
Nothing happened and the stop was done in a couple minutes, but it reminded me of how different the daily lives of those guards must be from any job I've ever worked.
I see mentions of security, but from pictures it is just few men without any (visible) weapon most of the time. Even given these men, i believe on a so long distance, there are many desert places, where nobody is present.
Question - how such a valuable shipments protected against someone, who will try to disconnect few cars, crack open 'em and steal all these laptops on trucks?
If the thieves are back on the street, you're still on guard, what difference does that make? It's not like the guards should expect to go on vacation because they arrested a thief.
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