Searching People Is a Skill – Not Just Looking Inside a Bag

Searching is one of the most important functions performed by frontline security operatives. It is also, in my experience, one of the most underestimated.

I've watched searches being conducted at events and venues where, on the face of it, everything looks right. There are security officers at the entrance, bags are being opened and people are being checked.

But ask a more important question:

What are they actually searching for?

Sometimes the answer isn't particularly clear.

There is a significant difference between performing a search and conducting an effective search.

A search should have an objective. The person carrying it out needs to understand that objective, know what they are looking for, understand where those items could realistically be concealed and know what to do when something doesn't look or feel right.

Simply looking inside somebody's bag doesn't achieve that.

SIA training should be the starting point – not the finished product

I have worked across policing and private security for more than two decades, and one of my concerns with frontline search operations is the assumption that holding the relevant SIA licence automatically demonstrates operational competence in searching.

It doesn't.

That isn't necessarily a criticism of the purpose of SIA licence-linked training.

The SIA describes licence-linked qualifications as covering the core knowledge and skills required for the relevant role. They provide an important baseline.

My concern is what happens when we treat that baseline as the finished product.

In my experience, basic security training can result in an approach to searching that is too rigid and procedural.

An operative learns a process, demonstrates that process and obtains their qualification.

Real search operations aren't always that straightforward.

An operative may subsequently be expected to search hundreds of people entering a busy event, understand different concealment opportunities, interpret an extensive prohibited-items policy, communicate appropriately with very different members of the public and make decisions when they encounter something unexpected.

That requires competence, confidence and judgement – not simply remembering a sequence.

A search can look right and still achieve very little

This is probably one of the biggest problems I see.

A security operative can appear to be searching somebody correctly while actually conducting a very poor search.

We've probably all seen it.

A quick look inside a bag.

A superficial check of a coat.

The same predictable movements repeated on every person.

Then:

"That's fine. In you go."

Technically, a search took place.

Operationally, what did it achieve?

If an operative doesn't understand what they are looking for, where it could be concealed or why a particular search is being conducted, the process can quickly become a box-ticking exercise.

And this becomes even more apparent during sustained operations.

Searching the first ten people of a shift is one thing. Maintaining the same concentration, professionalism and consistency after searching hundreds of people is another.

Fatigue appears. Queues increase. Pressure increases. Shortcuts start creeping in.

That is why search competence involves considerably more than learning a physical technique.

Start with the question: what are we trying to stop getting in?

Before deciding how people will be searched, I believe every search operation should answer a very basic question:

What are we actually trying to prevent from entering?

The answer will vary enormously between environments.

An event might be concerned about weapons, drugs, pyrotechnics, glass bottles or alcohol. Another environment may have a completely different threat profile.

Once you understand the objective, you can begin designing a proportionate search strategy around it.

That influences the search method, prohibited-items policy, staffing, equipment, supervision, escalation procedures and potentially even the design of the entrance itself.

This is why I don't believe searching should simply be an instruction saying:

"Search everyone."

Search needs purpose.

Searching people is also about communication

Some of the best search operatives I've worked with aren't necessarily the fastest.

They're excellent communicators.

For most private security searches, cooperation and consent are fundamental. An operative therefore needs to understand the conditions of entry, what they are permitted to do, what happens when somebody refuses to cooperate and when something needs to be escalated.

A professional operative should be capable of explaining what is required, gaining cooperation and conducting the search respectfully without making somebody feel unnecessarily uncomfortable or intimidated.

Communication also gives the operative an opportunity to observe.

Does the person's behaviour change when the search is mentioned?

Are they particularly concerned about one area of their bag or clothing?

Are they attempting to distract the operative?

Does something simply not fit with what the operative is seeing or being told?

None of those behaviours automatically means somebody is concealing something.

But effective searching requires the operative to remain engaged with the person in front of them rather than simply completing a rehearsed physical routine.

Consistency matters

A search strategy is only as strong as its weakest search lane.

There is little point having one excellent operative conducting thorough searches while somebody ten metres away is waving people through after barely checking them.

People notice inconsistencies.

So do people deliberately attempting to circumvent security.

Search standards therefore need to be understood across the entire team and reinforced through effective supervision.

That doesn't mean every interaction has to be robotic.

It means the agreed standard must actually be delivered.

Effective searching and throughput have to coexist

There is another side to this.

You can design the most comprehensive search procedure imaginable, but if it creates an enormous queue outside the venue, you've potentially created another security and crowd-management problem.

Search operations therefore need to consider throughput from the outset.

How many people are expected? When are the arrival peaks? How many search lanes are required? How long does an effective search realistically take? What happens when prohibited items are found? Where are secondary searches conducted? What happens when somebody refuses? Who makes escalation decisions?

These aren't questions for the security officer to work out at the entrance when several hundred people are already waiting.

They should form part of the search strategy.

Training should develop judgement, not simply compliance

This is ultimately one of the reasons we developed specialist search training through UK Search Group.

We wanted to bridge the gap we see between baseline security training and the competence required to conduct searches professionally in real operational environments.

Our specialist frontline search training develops the knowledge and practical skills required by personnel responsible for searching people, property and other areas within private security environments.

The important part for me is practical application.

Because you don't become good at searching simply by reading about searching.

You become competent by understanding the principles, practising them, being challenged and learning how to make appropriate decisions when the situation in front of you doesn't perfectly match the textbook.

UK Search Group – specialist search training

Search supervisors matter too

There is also a tendency to concentrate entirely on the frontline operative.

That misses another important part of the equation.

Who designed the search strategy?

Who briefed it?

Who is supervising the search lanes?

Who checks whether standards are deteriorating?

Who monitors queues and adjusts resources?

Who reviews incidents and changes the strategy when intelligence or circumstances change?

An excellent team can still deliver an ineffective operation if the search strategy itself is poor.

Search is therefore not simply about the person standing at the entrance.

It is an operation that needs to be planned, managed, supervised and reviewed.

Three questions I'd ask any organisation conducting searches

If your venue, event or organisation searches people, ask several members of the search team independently:

What are you searching for?

Then ask:

Why?

And finally:

What would you do if you found it?

If those questions produce very different answers – or no confident answer at all – I would question whether you really have a search strategy.

You may simply have people conducting searches.

There is a difference.

Searching people properly is a professional skill. It requires training, judgement, communication, consistency, supervision and an understanding of the threat the search is intended to address.

SIA licence-linked training provides an important foundation.

But where searching forms a meaningful part of an organisation's protective security arrangements, I believe it should be viewed as exactly that:

The foundation, not the finished product.

Sean Keelan
Blue Light Security Solutions / UK Search Group