Can A Hospital Security Guard Use A Radar Gun To Give “hospital Tickets” To Staff?
The hospital I work for has a security guard who bought his own radar gun and will pull over employees for speeding in the parking lot or for running stop signs. Is this legal? I'm in California. The tickets aren't actual fines, just warnings from the hospital but if you get enough of them you can be suspended.
Please let me know where you get your information from.
Tags: Give, Guard, Hospital..., Radar, Security, Staff, Tickets"
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Some can ticket for parking but running stop signs or speeding…I highly doubt they can.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 am
Too funny. Short answer is yes, as the “security guard” is on private property (hospital) and is only targeting employee parking lots and not a public street.
Here is the kicker: I would not stop for him because he is not a law enforcement officer. So then what does robocop get to do?
Go check with your Human Resources (personnel) office and see what they say about this practice
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:26 am
Sounds like the “rules” of the hospital…we have “rules” where I work too
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
This is usually more of a problem for gated communities then hospitals. Why would that idiot buy a radar unit? I cheapest I have ever seen a law enforcement one is like $550.
Anyways, his stupidity aside. He can do that. However, here is the thing. You don’t really have to stop for him. Any laws having to do with pulling over are only for authorized emergency vehicles and he would not be one. Whats he going to do? Chase you out into the street? He would be breaking the law by attempting to pull you over there.
Personally, I would obey all rules of the hospital. But it might be an issue for HR. In my experience, security guards who do things like this always take it a step too far.
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
The hospital has a right to maintain safety in its parking lots. If there is a persistent problem with people speeding and running stop signs, then the hospital has a duty to do something about it. Ignoring the problem would constitute negligence.
That having been said, there are many ways to enforce safety regulations, and the methods you describe sound very ill-conceived. While there is probably nothing illegal about using radar and writing written safety violation notices, this is very poor from an employee relations perspective. For any safety or security program to be successful, you need the willing cooperation of employees.
The fact that you are asking these questions tells me that hospital administration has not done a very good job of communicating the problem to employees or explaining the preventive measures that are being used to make the parking lots safer.
I’m thinking that this might be an operation put in place by some lower level people in the security department without the knowledge of senior management. You might want to communicate with the leadership of your hospital to see if this is an officially sanctioned activity. or just some rouge operation being carried out by a few security officers.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Sounds like somebody has a serious Napoleon Complex.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:36 am
Yes he can use one. And why is someone speeding or not stopping in a hospital parking lot…. doesn’t sound very safe. And whomever breaks those rules that many times def need to be suspended for putting others in danger.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:52 am
If it is on the hospitals property and the hospital has these rules in place, it is the guards duty to enforce the rules. Guards have the same authority that the owner has. Guards that are hired are told company rules and are hired to enforce those rules as well as to protect persons or property. Since these aren’t actual tickets, it is legal. He can’t however pull you over, and you do not have to stop for him. He can try and get you to stop. Even though you do not have to stop for him, if you are an employee, he can get you when you come back into work, and you would have to answer to the hospital and can get you into more trouble with your employer. Best thing to do is follow company rules.
September 4th, 2009 at 3:00 am
tell him your “pacemaker” starts acting out of control when he points it at you.
September 4th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Its your hospital administration that allows and apparently supports this.
Its their property and business and they can run it anyway they see they fit. I imagine they do this because there are too many “fender benders” there and they are trying to curb it.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
It’s private property. The property owner, in this case the hospital, can enforce any rules any way it chooses. If they don’t want their employees to smoke, the security guard can buy a camera and take pictures of employees smoking as well. Sounds like one gung ho rent a cop there.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
i wouldn’t stop if it wasn’t a cop. and it is private property which means hardly any traffic law could be enforced (like a stop sign on private property) but there are some that can be (parking in a handi cap space, dwi, reckless driving).