Guarded Condition

I was watching an episode of "Perry Mason", and it opened with a cat burglar stealing jewels from some sort of mansion or museum in Russia. The burglar deftly evades the building's guards, who are stationed outside the main gate. It's worth noting that they were dressed in lavish, very elaborate uniforms, and one wonders what they would be able to do if faced with a threat. More evident was what they did in the absence of a threat.

These were the sort of guard that very aggressively passes back and forth across the same five or so yards in front of the entrance. The two of them crossed past each other over and over again, and I have to wonder what that achieves. I can imagine using movement to secure more of the perimeter when you have too few guards, but that would work if they were actually covering more ground than two men can observe. They weren't doing that.

The other thing you see guards doing in movies and TV shows is holding their position at the entrance. The guards at Buckingham Palace are famous for this strategy, seemingly moving only for the changing of the guard. Of course, I don't suppose that anyone expects them to have to turn back any threats, so it's really more a ceremony than anything else. Somebody ought to test them, and let's see if they don't tone it down.

If I ever have some opulent mansion or other such building, I don't know just what I'll do. Cameras would maybe be more useful than security guards, but I still believe in the human element as opposed to putting all my faith in the machines. We must remain the ones in charge, and whether our security guards cross back and forth or stand like statues, at least they shall have hearts, minds and souls. The cameras cannot say the same.