As some Barbadians prepare to stage fetes for Independence and the yuletide season, they are being reminded that the security guards they employ should be licensed.
This reminder has come from Security Officer in the Ministry of Defence and Security, Earl Deane, who said no security guard, private investigator or security agency should provide such services unless they were licensed under the Private Investigators and Security Guards Act.
Deane continued: “A person who contravenes the Act is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $5,000, or imprisonment for two years, or both. Therefore, my message to those holding fetes and engaging the services of security guards, as well as agencies and entities employing guards, is to check and make sure they are licensed.”
According to him, the Act states that “a security guard may in the performance of his functions, arrest without a warrant any person who is in breach of the peace, or whom he reasonably believes to be in breach of the peace, or who commits or attempts to commit treason or felony”.
Deane reiterated that any company which hired an individual who did not have the relevant documentation would be in breach of the law and would be liable if something occurred. He urged those security guards, private investigators and security agencies who were not licensed to “immediately do the right and lawful thing”. (BGIS)
