What is a gate guard?

What the post controls

The one point every vehicle passes. At a gated community, the officer recognizes residents, checks visitors against the resident’s authorization, logs contractors and deliveries and stops tailgating. At a construction site, the officer checks deliveries against the schedule, signs in subcontractors and holds unscheduled arrivals for the superintendent. At a yard or a plant, the officer checks driver credentials and paperwork against appointments, logs trailer and seal numbers and controls contractor entry. In every case the gate closes behind each vehicle, and every movement goes in the log.

Why a person and not just a reader

A card reader checks a credential; an officer checks a person. The reader cannot see that the card belongs to someone who moved out, that the visitor’s story does not match the resident’s, or that the truck is empty on the way in and full on the way out. The officer can, and the officer can also help a lost delivery driver, explain a policy and call the manager. Most properties use both: hardware for volume and records, an officer where judgment is needed.

What the log is worth

The gate log is the answer to “who was here” for a missing package, a damaged car, a tool crib short on Monday or a contractor’s disputed invoice. It records name, company, time in, destination and time out where the post sees departures, and it is part of the daily report the client receives.

Setting up a gate post

The property’s access rules are written into the post orders before the first shift: who is a resident, who may authorize a visitor, which contractors are approved and by whom, what happens after hours and who to call when someone does not meet the rule. The gate guard services page describes the post, and the gated community access control article walks a board through the rules.