List of Guard jobs and assignments I worked in my young adult years

  #- Denotes  high crime area

 * denotes hazardous material  site requiring clean up when closed
 + Superfund clean up site

Burns international detective agency  Security- Unarmed Position 1978-79

CM American Forge - Mckeesrocks Pa- closed *#
Parkway Center West- Building 7#  assignment and 1 thru 6 assignment  - Green tree
Pittsburgh Annealing Box - Pittsburgh North side- closed and demolished-# *
Duquesne Light project south side Mary Jane street- completed
Duquesne light project 2nd ave Pittsburgh - closed -demolished *
LTL Trucking - McKeesrocks - closed -  worked trucker strike
Chatham Village  apartments- mt Washington

CPP Security- Unarmed Position

Affordable Furniture - West Mifflin - closed -demolished- strike *
Walsworth Valve -Greensburg - closed demolished- work stoppage- *
Holiday Inn - West Mifflin - closed  now reopened after several other things as holiday Inn express
Dravo corp.- catwalk plant neville island - closed *
Dravo corp offices - closed demolished *
Vulcan materials/AMG resources- neville island -closed demolished *
Sewickly bridge project- completed area now a park
Hepenstall steel- Pittsburgh Lawrenceville- closed demolished # *
Reliance steel products - Mckeesport - closed demolished -  now rite aide drug store # *
Caste Village Shopping center construction & remodel
Kaufman's dept store Sale - Downtown Pittsburgh- merged may company
The bank Center wood street downtown Pittsburgh -closed #
Mallet company -Carnegie
Sauer Bros-Pittsburgh  Lawrenceville - moved  #
AMO Pollution Services - Cecil twp. - strike - closed - demolished-superfund site  * +

Mcglennon  Detective agency - armed  and unarmed position

McDonald's McKeesport  closed #
Mcdonalds  Olympia Plaza Mckeesport #
McDonalds  Wexford rt 19
McDonalds Northern Pike Monroeville
Keystone Plumbing - East Liberty Pittsburgh - closed #
Rite aide ? Drug E. Liberty Pittsburgh- Closed #
Rite Aide  ? drug wind gap plaza -Pittsburgh closed plaza demolished #
Private home - Munhall
Lil general /Unimart C store -shady side Pittsburgh
Winkys-Carrick-closed #
Sweet Williams restaurant- Penn Hills - closed- demolished

Pa Certified police -  armed Position
- Holiday house new years eve party   1980-original  buck ram  platters played

Pa professional Security unarmed position

 - Shop n save -  south land shopping center Pleasant hills- closed

Commonwealth security armed position

carrick gold n silver- brownsville rd Pittsburgh -closed
gold n silver temp exchange  set up - Sheridan hotel - rt 19 upper st clair-closed
gold n silver  exchange - mckight road plaza- closed  now a bottom dollar-closed

 Don Stettner? detective agency- undercover plain clothes  assignments

Lil genral /Unimart  c store carrick
watch couple going thru divorce tail husband sarah street southside

Holmes Protection- armed position
  Ran alarm calls and investigated  or fixed alarms

McCormick products- strip district
Caldwell forge - strip district-closed *
 ? supply strip district-
Bertner? Kitchens- strip district -
Specialty office supply strip district -closed
AB Smith - art supplies - Monroeville -closed
AB Smith  downtown Pittsburgh-  closed
rubber products - strip district- moved
 Taylor chemicals - strip district *
Patterson machine - north side - closed #*
 ? lithographing  company  north side closed #*
? lithographing company off jacks run road -closed # *
 ? lithographing  company -Crafton industrial park - closed *
? lithographing company northside- closed *
? forge north side by keystone plumbing - closed demolished #*
Joesph Horne warehouse- Crafton - closed'
Joesph Horne company downtown Pittsburgh - closed
Heinz company Cecil twp warehouse - closed
Mellon bank liberty ave - closed demolished'
Mellon bank - Frankstown ave - closed demolished #
Mellon Bank check processing building - closed
giant eagle produce strip district -closed
Jacob gloves 5th ave Pittsburgh- moved #
Jacob gloves warehouse 5th ave - closed - demolished #
? clothing store 5th ave # -closed -demolished
Robinson amusements supply  forbes ave pittsburgh  - closed#
 Hamburg brother strip district - closed
Hamburg brothers stowe twp-  closed
Jason's dept store  Mckeesport- closed #
Plotkin brothers plumbing supply - Glassport -closed
 bataglia recycling - e casron street pittsburgh - moved- demolished *
?recycling  behind bataglia  east carson - closed -demolished *
Cambell barge offices on ohio river Pittsburgh
keystone scrap metals east Carson street -Pittsburgh
ab photo strip district -closed
Behorst food supply- Bridgeville
 Hardy & Hayes jewelry wood street Pittsburgh - closed
max azen furs Pittsburgh- closed
Canadian furs Pittsburgh -closed
Joesph Herman Furs-Downtown Pittsburgh
Roberts Jewelers -Downtown Pittsburgh - Closed
Wester Burlap Hill district Pittsburgh- closed -demolished #
Brooks brothers wood street Pittsburgh- closed
brooks brothers Monroeville mall - closed
Laverty jewelers  north side Pittsburgh- now my customer #
Madison pen north side -  closed  -buildings  owner now my customer #
Library food land - closed- was my customer till they closed
Wacken engineering route 8 rich land - closed
Atlas waste paper - south side Pittsburgh
M. Berger company 6th & Bingham St Pittsburgh -closed
Levinson steel south side Pittsburgh - closed demolished *
? vending - Homestead - closed demolished #
Lipsetts supply - morewood ave  pittsburgh
? auto supply warehouse- oakland pittsburgh - closed demolished
Lessnet supply sheridan - pittsburgh-closed
foodland super market - sheridan - pittsburgh - closed #
swartzs market - 5th ave - pittsburgh- closed #
swartzs market -e carson pittsburgh - closed
buncher scrap yard- herrs island - closed - demolished *
 swisvale auto recycling - Swissvale- closed- demolished- super fund site #*+
Whimco metals  Wilkinsburg #
Duquesne Club - Pittsburgh
Sears dept store- E. Liberty Pittsburgh # Closed demolished
Sears dept Store Warehouse- Lawrenceville Pittsburgh #
comcast warehouse - sheridan -pittsburgh #
crane plumbing supply- sheridan - pittsburgh- closed #
Anchor supply-Carnegie - closed
Winston furnace - Carnegie - closed
ryerston steel- Carnegie - closed
GMC Training center- monroeville- closed
GMC training center Carnegie - closed
Connely promotions - westwood - pittsburgh- closed
Beechman? vending- Mckeesrocks
? tire supply Mckeesrocks - closed
Patent Scaffolding - spring garden - pittsburgh - moved #
Follansbe Steel Mckeesrocks -closed
Ruthraff  mckeesrocks -
Lockhart steel mckeesrocks- closed
Mobil gas terminal - mckeesrocks - closed
sexton foods warehouse - Mckeesrocks
Browdy printing - east liberty - pitsburgh - closed - demolished #
 Williams metals - northside - closed #
Pittsburgh Tag company - northside -#
? tire smallman st strip district - closed
? Bank Freeport road - fox chapel -

Another example of security work which was very questionable under Pa. laws

My time involved with Search and Rescue Team. That was Barely Legal I have come to find out and now I try to get these and similar individuals and groups put out of business

I meet the team chief  when I belonged to Allegheny Valley React  one of his search members joined our group and as it turned out was a thief and we immediately removed him . Thieves and con artists and other assorted criminals love non profit groups because they join become officers and then loot them and disappear and are ever hardly prosecuted and if they are hardly ever punished. Happens in volunteer fire company's all the time  and they will keep taking them back as members remember my saying the fire service is its own worst enemy better believe it.
As I found out more about this individual after couple years of no positive answers from him I got the hell out glad I did. 

Well any ways I helped  the chief get rid of this individual from his team the proper way  and he asked me to join sure I said I always wanted to be a fireman or other wise be involved in rescue  and by that time the React teams where becoming irrelevant .

At the time the group was known as Medsar having evolved from the name from a defunct ambulance company South Hills Medical Rescue  or some similar such name.
They where located at the then small airport now industrial park in Cabot Pa. which was once  Pittsburgh Independent Drag-way  known as PID  off Pa. 50 in Washington county .A one time dragster strip.

I helped with several small electrical needs of theirs as my body was healing from crushing my right ankle . Got me out of house and chance to see if I was going to be able to work again.
But the owner closed the airport and the team had to move .
  ends up the section 8 apartment complex in Crafton heights section of Pittsburgh  where he lived and worked as a guard in the evening had a water damaged apartment we could move the team into  and clean up and use for free and with the move and all the expense of getting rid of the thief who stole from the team they had to file bankruptcy and reorganize after losing many disillusioned members  including a part time cop who stole climbing equipment from the team and paid the bill back before he was prosecuted like I said all these volunteer groups get some real losers in them thats why hard working volunteers like myself get disgusted and leave.
so with the newly formed team a new name - Search ,Rescue and Recovery of  Western Pa.
I was made deputy chief and allowed a red light and sirens which I never would have put on my vehicle as I later found out the team did not have the required permission from Penndot to have lights on vehicles. I could have gotten a major fine if ever challenged.
 This among other reasons is why I quit when I could not get straight answers from the chief.
The team raised money by providing   over night and show time security and crowd and traffic control assistance at Airshows  thru out Western Pa for Air Shows Unlimited   with offices at Beaver Airport where our group had a sub headquarters run by a Beaver County Commissioner .  But after asking how much we made and told we did not after a couple shows  at Beaver, Jefferson county and Akron Ohio I said this is bull shit the group not getting paid that's when I got serious about looking at the books and how the chief was getting paid. Seems if show did not make money we got nothing or so I thought.
It was after this and I joined the fire company and started reading articles on Fire police and fire dept rules I realized something was very wrong with this group.  My god the trouble we could have gotten into operating over state lines with air shows unlimited.  But because the group had a good probono lawyer  we never had problems they where always taken care of in effect we where operating above the law with no permits no license and no insurance to speak of. 
All because of a couple powerful individuals who kept it that way. But thats common practice around here just look in recent months how Pittsburgh Police chief  has resigned and facing serious federal felony's for stealing off duty officer  funds ,. the beaver county sheriff was indicted and arrested for harassment and several other chiefs fired over HIPPA violations and inappropriate conduct.
My god the corruption around here is everywhere and right in your face and constant one scandal gets uncovered corrected and uncovered again.

http://thesecuritygame.blogspot.com/2013/03/off-duty-officers-as-security-guards.html

It was during this time the chief started the MACC center Multi Agency Communications Center  .

because myself and several others where amateur radio operators and we had a mini dispatch center set up to handle our own rescue calls we went on occasionally when called ,we started handling radio calls from crime prevention groups patrol units who had 2 way radios .

and other such groups. We even helped with a search for a man who disappeared after getting into trouble with Russian mob supposedly   when asked to help by the Squirrel  Hill block watch group who we dispatched thru the macc center .

But with all the good we did it had to end I had enough of the double talk and bull shit with the funds the lights and everything else I was really worried about liability as more and more  search and rescue teams where getting set up wrongly  busted by the state and one of our groups medical bills where not paid when he injured his leg. It seemed every story the chief told about his life where phony or exaggerated as well. One day my chief at Penn Hills 4#  called me and needed the teams help a man was missing along   Pa. Rt.910 they found his car but not him. The team arrived and right away the chief who had no authority in the area tried taking over the search with that I told him to take a fucking hike and quit and started making phone calls  and inquiries 

Ends up they had no permission for red or blue revolving  lights ,no insurance I could find no nothing but a barely legal  paper organization.

By that time he had sweet talked a dear friend of mine to locate the team on her cousins old  farm in O'Hara Twp. off Skonojin Road.and give him an old pick up truck she spent a fortune on restoring which is anther story.

The team left after couple years  back to chiefs residence and was finally put out of business by state police when they had there lights  and emergency vehicle license plates confiscated.

But everyday you see all kinds of group's and businesses started around here an not worth the paper there written on. Its not till there is a serious incident are they put out of business like the . Pa. State Police of Erie & Crawford county  who where legally charted to track down horse thieves in 1800's  and mainly helped at parades etc. but had some rouge members cause problems and where shut down by state couple years ago because they wore uniforms exactly like state police  and public could be easily confused.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Police_of_Crawford_and_Erie_Counties

I have made it a mission in the last decade to shut down and challenge many groups  and people I know who have no authority doing what there doing often times illegally collectible funds  and operating under names of defunct groups. I find illegal guard outfits as well .When  I find them I turn them into police and attorney generals office for investigation. If I do not do it there are others as well helping to stop this problem in Pa. before more people get hurt.
This above the law mentality has to go away I thought the days of the Coal and iron police in pa. which where nothing more than legal commissioned thugs went away guess it never did as long as groups like this are allowed to operate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_and_Iron_Police

I spent plenty of time and money to make sure I have a business license , Insurance and any permits, training etc. I need to operate properly  in the alarm and electrical field and so should they as a non profit organization.
I feel bad for anyone duped by these people and groups.

Guarding the Gold& Silver Scam of the 80's and working for the Sheriffs son

All the Gold and Silver buying places you see are nothing new it happen back in 80's to as the economy went into the shiter during the carter administration.

After leaving Holmes Protection out of total and complete disgust I still worked as a guard till I got married and was making enough with the business I could run it full time .'
I saw an add one day for a Commonwealth Security who had offices in Mckeesport  who are no longer in business and had me go up to this old Tailor shop which believe it or not is still in business to get my uniforms.
this was an armed assignment .
I would work several of these set up over-nite gone the next Gold and Silver exchanges this was back when the Hunt Brothers where trying to corner the market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Bunker_Hunt

 I even had one of these places the now closed Eagle Gold & Silver exchange  in Dormont  on W. Liberty ave. the building was demolished while back for car dealer lot. One of the guys who worked for him and rented his back room space was busted for child pornography.   The guy is still in business as a jeweler in south hills his son runs the place for him now .He got stung by the IRS for not paying taxes I found everyone this guy knew or worked with just slimmy and I dropped him as a customer who needs this kind of work . I first meet him with a partner when they  re opened a long closed  coin laundry in carrick and I put an alarm in for him.  .

My first assignment was at the Sheratan Hotel on Fort couch Road in Upper St Clair   making sure the man who was collecting and weighing the jewelry was safe because he had a large amount of cash with him. We never had a problem other than couple mouthy people upset they where not offered more. After talking to this guy who was nothing more than a fraud making money off unfortunate people hawking there jewelery I decided I wanted nothing to do with this other than guard it.
I would do a couple more places one in a store front in carrick on Brownsville road where I knew the guy I grew up with him  Farrel was his last name. He explained the whole deal and who you could or could not trust in the industry what an eye full it was next to the now closed Ravittas Market  he was there until the bust in prices all of 1  1/2 years.
The next place I guarded was a store front in north hills same outfit which set up in the hotel.
It was on McKnight road in the shopping plaza where the new bottom dollar store is now.  I decided enough of guarding people who where unethical in my eyes and quit this company after this was all they had in the way of contracts and I was having severe knee problems.

At the time I carried an old German 25 caliber  semi automatic hand gun my grandfather gave me  very quick fast effective gun  not realizing  that 38 caliber was the minimum you needed to carry on job.  I stopped doing armed work  shortly after this. Because I got married.

But before quitting for good I did one ,more guard job for another outfit run by the sheriffs son but think his dad was one with license.
who was an arrogant SOB  and had the contract at one time for big mall thats how I meet him at a scouting event there. I was assigned to a shop n save store in shopping center along route 51 next to the mall. I liked the owner but his wife was a total bitch . One day when my knee went out I had to sit down for a minute and rub it and she told me I was not a real man. I told her to go fuck off  and the owner and told the owner of the company no more of his horse shit either if he was not going to back me up and left .
His dad would leave office a drunken disgrace and make news over it several times because of his drinking and the super market closed after the owners father gambled away all kinds of money and went bankrupt and lost all kinds of property. the guard company no longer in business either. Yes I ran across some real losers as a guard.
The market has re opened  but under new owners and management.

 Let me tell you something had the ADA and OSHA codes been in effect back then there would have been several people in serous trouble because  of what I had run into in my Career as a guard  I got married couple weeks later and gave all my guard stuff to a dearly departed friend Grizzly who worked as a guard in his retirement.

Being the Hotel Bouncer

One of the assignments I worked was from 9 PM to 5AM at the Holiday Inn in West Mifflin across from the old Allegheny county airport   for CPP   from 8 PM-2AM I was the door guy at the lounge making sure people had proper ID  before they entered the lounge. Then  from 2-5 AM I would check the floors and if a driver came in down at Nichols Trucking run down with the hotels suburban and bring them to the hotel. Not a bad job and I got to meet all kind of interesting people .
with more bullshit story's than one ever needs to hear.

Checking ID's was always fun back then people had either a state drivers license with Picture or at one time  the Pa. Liquor Control Board actually issued photo id's for those over 21 with out a license they have been done away with now that state issues non drivers license ID . At one time everyone over 21 who wanted to drink needed the LCB card as drivers liscense dd not have pictures neither did gun carry permits .

Of course even back in 70's there where fake Ids some good most not too god and always some guy or gal trying to sneak in . Some times when busy a girl would show me a fake ID to get in bar  but then the bartenders who where more experienced at checking them out would have me show them the door.  Now remember I was not 21 at the time I was doing this I was 19 .

Then you always had the older guys in business  suits trying to get lucky some times I would deliberately stop them for there ID so they could flirt with a good looking girl It was a fun game  and some girls would fall for it  lets face it we all know why young single women came to this lounge it was no neighborhood dive bar. All as groups like Sebastian 79 played in the lounge

One night while working the door the 2 principals from Connely Skill Center show up at the door . Bellioti and Giovanni Little old for the bar scene are you not ? They said they where there on business to see another person about a criminal matter at the school but did not elaborate asked me to keep it quiet which I did. They where in the lounge about 20 minutes and I had to remove a guest the hard way. that shook them up when they saw that and after talking to a couple of younger ladys they left. Never did ever find out what that was about.

Then you had to love all the story's guys gave girls when they asked what thy did for a living .
I knew a couple where cops and gave phony story's for a reason but the other guys wearing suits where all steel workers or worked at the fisher body plant but up there they where salesman and business owners .

One night late a couple drunk guys walked into lobby looking for an individual he told them they where closed for evening and to check an after hours joint down the street as I see them walking away one had a set of brass knuckles we quickly called west mifflin police who apprehended them and took them for questioning. 

Other than that incident it was quiet and shortly there after it closed when the mills went down and trucking company went out of business as well it was several things including a personnel care home but has now been remodeled and turned back into a Holiday in Express. 

Gun what Gun Working for McGlenon Detective Agency

McGlenon Detective Agency I went to work for part time after leaving CPP heard thru a friend they where nice people to work for and they where I never should have left to go to work for Holmes Protection  when that position came open but Holmes paid much more and looked like a permanent employer. Ya right another Union hack job.
Located in an old office building along Penn Ave in Wilkinsburg it was run by an older retired FBI Agent Robert McGlenon . He had all retail sites we took care of restaurants , drug stores  and such .
My First assignment was Sweet Williams right by where I lived on a late night shift basically to keep an eye on the drunks  nice job and nice people to work with but the Sweet Williams went out of business around Pittsburgh.
Next I worked a Keystone Hardware in E. Liberty which had a notorious reputation for crime. I never had problems there but was suppose to be  an armed guard I had mace and night stick but not a fire arm the supervisor wanted me to carry a gun but since I was not old enough to own one you had to be 21 and they did not provide guns he handed me a BB gun which looked like real thing and he said fake them out. Right I thought store manager never bought it either he said forget the idea  just carry the night stick and mace since I am over 6 ft and 200 pounds no one will bother you. He was right we never had a problem there and couple shoplifters I stopped with no problems. One week I noticed these young black guys all coming in with  pieces of  1/2 "conduit pipe and buying  washers and nuts and screws that fit them. very strange for there size  I thought I told a city cop what was going on good thing I did they where making pipe bombs and where stopped before problems developed.

McGlenon Offices where located on 2nd floor this building

East Liberty Drugstore now a beauty supply

I also guarded 2 chain drug stores one in East liberty and one in Broadhead Manner  which had a very high crime problem but I never had problems either place. In day time these areas where relatively safe but you had to stay on your toes for problems it was after dark when things got bad.
E. Liberty is being redeveloped and turning around slowly and Broad Head manner torn down and section 8 residents relocated.
I also guarded a Winky's hamburger joint in carrick part of the city where I grew up one night 2 idiots I knew came in and started causing problems  and I removed them physically but not before they damaged the place I filed a private criminal complaint against them and magistrate  fined them both and warned them to never go near the place or me again. The good scare they both got lead them to the straight and narrow good thing I am sure by now they both would end up in prison.
I worked a  bunch of McDonalds  as well  mostly Friday and Saturday evenings  to keep kids under control no problems for most part. I worked the McDonald's in McKeesport  in the evenings another high crime area and it was right across from the US Steel tube works. These steel workers I would talk to while things where slow in the place would all tell me I was crazy to start my own business and do electrical and refrigeration work . I should come across the street and put in an application and make $25.00 an hour for doing  nothing. Unfortunately I knew better  I had been at that  Eagle Scout luncheon meeting  at the old Press club downtown  Pittsburgh where David Roderick from US Steel had talked  2 years earlier how jobs would be going overseas shortly. He laid out the whole deal how they would retrain steel workers to take high tech positions   the US would design and develop and 3rd world would produce . I knew this was coming any ways the mills where not spending money on capital improvements to equipment  and that meant they would be gone. No one believed me . I was on duty the night the layoff news  came into the mill at that McDonalds they came in stunned and crying a couple of the guys I knew from there committed suicide it was horrible . The McDonald ended up closing and became the local unemployment office .Its gone now and place was boarded up as arson's, shootings and robbery's go on daily in McKeesport . Dam shame it was a fine town at one time.
One of the last guard shifts I did for McGlenon was at the Drug Store in Broadhead Manor  and the Pharmacist assistant  on duty was telling me how taking a guard job was a bad idea for a young guy trying to find work it says your lazy and worthless  . Really how you suppose to eat while looking for work he said he would rather be on unemployment looking for work than taking a guard or cooking or cleaning job its a loser demeaning job. I disagreed with him lost of people do these jobs as 2nd jobs and fill in till they find permanent work and still do. I ran into him couple years afterwords guess  what he was doing yes that right working as a cleaner as he could not find work and  his benefits ran out he eventually he got hired by a hospital a few years later. where I ran into him again
while being treated for a leg injury.

A couple years after leaving McGlenon   the former supervisor Bob A. called me and asked if I would be interested in doing some detective work for a detective name Don?. I said I was and  took a couple assignments one tailing a divorcee in the south side and another  working undercover at the (unimart) Little general mart  in carrick.  I never directly talked to the detective I supposedly was working for and bob Paid me in cash  . When I started looking further into the matter I could find  no license or any thing  else on this supposed detective. another case of people doing work with out a license. Nothing new around here There was a deputy constable other day involved in a shooting  in home wood who had no carry license  for a weapon

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/04/10/police-investigate-reported-shooting-in-brushton/

The Bank Job / Maintenance Job

While working for CPP one of the places they took over  was the now closed Bank Centre a conglomeration of old Banks on forth street in Downtown Pittsburgh   turned into a shopping mall of high end
shoppes and a movie theater  with 23 stories of offices above .
It spanned  2 blocks of both Smithfield  St and forth street  and was at one time the wall street of Pittsburgh
They kept all the significant features and of course the vaults which some shops where located in.
Because I had to work with snakes and tattletales and fools for partners I always checked them out to see what they where in this case they where tattle tales and assholes who could not be trusted I said a couple things to get a reaction and right away I get a call from a supervisor so it told me I could not trust them .
Knowing this I just kept away from them as far as possible not some one to trust your backside little girls instead of men with balls. We had very few problems in the centre other than making sure homosexual activity was not going on in the mens room and the occasional drunk you showed the door from the disco club called the library . It was a nice place to guard inside and out of the elements.  One day while walking thru the mall  on my regular patrol the head of  Maintenance  Mike M. was working on an AC unit and off handed I mentioned I was graduating from Connelly Skill Center  with a Refrigeration Mechanics certificate in couple of weeks. Really he said where looking for a maintenance man to join our crew put an application in . I said sure in mean time Maurice knew I was graduating from school and looking for full time work in the refrigeration field and all these ass hole guard outfits have this rule they did not like you going to work at a place you guarded. Once again I told Maurice to screw off I was working maintenance  job not as guard for them .
In mean time I had a job interview at Suburban General Hospital now a rehab facility after is was downsized
arranged thru Connelly skill center for similar position as stationary engineer I was suppose to start at $ 5.00 and hour but when it came time to fill out the paper work the screw off in human resources said the job started at minimum wage as I was already making more as a  guard I told him to take a flying *&^ I was promised $5.00 an hour . With that I took the $6.00 an hour offer from The Bank Centre  and told Connelly job councilor how they tried ripping me off at Suburban General they took them off the list of places they referred students for jobs . Connely Skill centre no longer exists  due to poor way they ran that school as well.  Good thing I did not take the  hospital job I heard all kind of story's out of this place and relations they had with employees there. I never should have taken the job at the bank centre either ends up they where a bunch of back stabbers as well working for them. While I was busy doing things  Fred  the Cleaner and  Tom  and Joe they would be off premise shopping or drinking  and not doing there work then I would get blamed for work not completed. They also had this bitch of a union steward who thought she was queen bee for the cleaners one time I stopped the elevator car in transit and told her off and to go tell management I could care less If I lost my job. This point I had built up enough side work I did not need this job . She did and when management called me to office I told them everything going on and  if they did not get it stopped the place would be out of business in couple years exactly what happened. They said they could do nothing about it she was the union steward. Eventually she was fired for stealing when detectives caught  her stealing from offices in the building  and Fred and Tom I caught them red handed at Kaufman's dept store where I was working a detail for CPP who asked If I could come  back and  work part time for them while getting my business going they where hurting for help. I called one of the bank centres owners at home and told them what was going on and he called down to the bank centre and demanded to know where they where and when the phone was not answered they both got written up of course they where union so nothing happened in the end . There where some really nice people I worked with the night engineer and one of the cleaners the rest where mostly snakes and back stabbers.No wonder this place was always advertising for help.
But thats the way many of the employers who where union  shops played the game  and still to this day do.  You worked for 6 months then they always found a way to fire you before you became a union member and unions wonder why I have such a bad taste in my mouth for them. not for the individual hard working individual but for there management.  You can always tell these places when you read the want ads same position comes up twice a year to be filled.I learned to watch and never apply at a place like that in the future.


Because the unions had such a tight squeeze on  The Bank Centre and  they had so many bad employees  they could do nothing about and there was a very bad turn down in the economy  after the mills almost all closed and the place was expensive to keep maintained  they closed and sat empty for  well over a decade.
It now is the Library and offices for Point Park College 
Ironically after I stopped working for CPP I worked part time for McGlenon Detective Agency who had the original contract, for the Bank Centre a much better company to work for.

The Grease Job

One place I will never forget working as a guard where they make vegetable oil and corn syrup products. It  sits on a hill side looking down over the valley  and is a large sprawling  place which consists of plant , boiler house and offices .

You sat in a small guard house at front of plant  which had no heat the radiator in it  never worked you had to bring your own small electric  heater .You would start out with a walk down a long narrow  road way past a large water condenser unit for the ammonia based freezer unit and could  always smell ammonia when you went by it . They had an emergency breathing SCBA unit near by if there was a leak but they never taught guards how to use it if you needed to escape you where just expected to run if you came upon a bad leak. But that was pre OSHA days  after some complaints they changed the units around to a better design. You would then walk down a steep gravel ramp  past some  large oil storage  tanks to the big old brick boiler house which had 2 enormous boilers in them which they expected you to push a red button to restart boilers if they shut off and you saw pressure going low .I told them no way I would never do it and risk an explosion since these where low pressure oil guns on the boilers . In first place no one other than a Qualified Stationary Engineer should have been going any where near or doing anything around these boilers. but these people who owned this place could care less . One early morning the pressure went down and I called plant supervisor and he was all mad I would not start boilers I told him I smelled heavy oil smell he better get down there good thing he did had I hit button  there could have been an explosion the ignition gun had shut off and flooded boiler with oil.  After this incident they no longer had us pushing the button and they eventually put new  boilers in and tore down the old boiler house some years later .
You then went into a rickety old office building looked like something out of the 30's  and door locks where always acting up. One of the workers was a big fitness fanatic he had a treadmill in corner of his office and sweat suits hanging  on a hook next to the machine he wore when working out on the machine . After checking the office building  you climbed up some steps but beside the steps was a open air plant that mixed manure products talk about a smell when it was running   , After climbing the steps you went  across railroad tracks  as they had a siding to bring rail cars full of corn oil into plant. Carnegie at one time had a very busy railroad yard, but no more only a single track goes thru town  now and a train is rarely seen where one time there had been many fatal  accidents with trains and cars at the several crossings you never here that any more .  You would start in the back of plant you checked small hut where sprinkler pipes for fire protection to plant came in to see heater was on in winter time and water pressure was correct then you walked thru the plant and  production lines with pipes going everywhere some of which leaked product  at some of the joints which they caught in buckets .
Even thou we walked thru production area where food products  never had to put on hair nets or booties something you must do today when the line is working or not in most plants which deal with food products  . Then you would walk thru production offices and lab like offices where they worked on making sure product  was pure and  came up with new items.  and back to the booth you went every 2 hours you did this .
One sunny late afternoon I was walking down the ramp  and heard what sounded like a riffle discharge and something hit one of the tanks. I looked across valley and there some one in  white jump suit had a hunting riffle  standing on the old foundations of the transfer facility Browning & Ferris once ran where city of Pittsburgh garbage trucks would off load and B&F would load into bigger trucks to be taken to land fill and  there he was shooting at the tanks I took cover and ran to boiler house luckily there was a phone with outside line to call supervisor I called  Carnegie police who sent an officer immediately to the old transfer plant  but they got away. The officer then came over and took a report from me  as to what all took place. Hair raising to say the least. The CPP Supervisor  Bill ?  a WWII vet came by and took a report as well , I like wild bill as we called him . he often talked about his time in the jungles of  pacific and fighting the Japanese and how he got scar  on his chin from a Japaneses officers sword but was saved by a Sargent who killed the officer. Do not know if any of it was true because most guys I knew who where in WWII rarely ever talked about it. 
including my uncles who served .
But thats the way it was with lots of the guards I worked with all had these big story's what they did makes you wonder what they where doing working as guards unless it was for retirement income.
I remember Maurice got all mad because the one guards a retired army major had a tie clip that looked like a M16  he told Maurice to take take a flying fuck and quit over it. He was only doing the job to fill in some time he had on his hands. Lots of retires work as guards. the final night shift I worked at the plant I ended up saving lives while patrolling I saw smoke and what looked like a small flame near a houses attic  as I got closer my worst fears where realized the house was on fire I called the towns dispatch and they got fire fighters there in time to save the family who where soundly sleeping. The house was torn down and its a vacant lot now.

Off Duty officers as security guards in PA. there have been some problems.

In Pennsylvania there has always been controversy where it comes to law and police officers working off duty as security guards for business.  By law they are suppose to be act 235 certified in addition to Act 120 they must have to be certified as a municipal police officer.
which requires filing a wavier which some have and some have not .


However I see a massive review of all this and new legislation coming about after City of Pittsburgh  Police Chief  Nate Harper was indicted and expected to plead guilty  to funneling funds meant to go to the city coffers  for off duty officers assignments to a slush fund accounts set up in the local FOP  ( Fraternal order of Police) credit union .

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/03/22/harper-indicted-on-public-corruption-failure-to-pay-taxes/

A Sheriff over in Beaver County George David   is in trouble as well for providing sheriffs for football games when the county's charter specifically forbids it.

http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/sheriff-will-continue-outside-security-services/article_f0df1098-354b-5bbf-a4b6-6f517326e937.html

 All in all this could all end up badly for officers state wide once the courts get involved.
 especially in light of several incidents in the past month where off duty Pittsburgh officers are being accused of abuse. 

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/police-look-into-taser-incident-in-south-side-679808/

and Chief Harper is still being looked at over dealings of favoring contracts to the owner of a private security guard outfit which also has a division which provided  police car equipment installations etc.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/plea-from-former-pittsburgh-police-chief-nate-harper-could-quicken-his-trial-680638/

Looks like time will tell as the security game keeps going on in Pennsylvania

There is even a problem going on in the gas fields with a unliscensed company using guards with louisiana sheriff badges

http://www.marcellusprotest.org/node/2464

In the city a strip club formerly known as the Edison hotel now  called Blush is suing the city after it has refused to provide officers off duty

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/blush-strip-club-sues-city-of-pittsburgh-after-cops-barred-from-security-work-681047/

 What a mess but this is politics as usual in Pa. yes its going to be an interesting summer once more as they play the security game here in pa.