Jail, fine for security guard uniform

ANYONE who retains possession of the uniform of a deceased security guard faces three years imprisonment under the Government’s proposed Private Security Industry Bill 2019, the same penalty as now exists for a deliberate act of impersonating a police officer under the Police Service Act.

The security bill was announced in a statement by Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds last week. A perusal of the bill, posted on the Parliament website, shows it imposes a legal obligation on an unidentified person to act on behalf of a security guard, or face jail and a fine.

The bill says, “Where a security officer dies, any person in possession of any uniform, equipment, Firearm User’s (Employee’s) Certificate and other articles which were supplied to the security officer for the execution of his duties shall, within 14 days of the security officer’s death, deliver the articles to the security service operator with which the security officer was employed (section 74 (5)). A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for three years (section 74(7)). In comparison, the Police Service Act (section 62) says a person who dons a police uniform or in any way pretends to be a police officer is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $30,000 and to imprisonment for three years.