Security guard vs cop

The differences between security guards and cops can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cop has an average salary of $92,365, which is higher than the $31,983 average annual salary of a security guard.

The top three skills for a security guard include customer service, patrol and ladders. The most important skills for a cop are situational awareness, control systems, and gccs.

Security guard vs cop overview

	Security Guard	Cop
Yearly salary	$31,983	$92,365
Hourly rate	$15.38	$44.41
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	101,728	1,470
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	43	40
Years of experience	-	-

Security guard vs cop salary

Security guards and cops have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Security Guard	Cop
Average salary	$31,983	$92,365
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $40,000	Between $60,000 And $141,000
Highest paying City	Lakewood, WA	-
Highest paying state	Hawaii	-
Best paying company	Basin Electric Power Cooperative	-
Best paying industry	Utilities	-

Differences between security guard and cop education

There are a few differences between a security guard and a cop in terms of educational background:

	Security Guard	Cop
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Business
Most common college	-	-

Security guard vs cop demographics

Here are the differences between security guards' and cops' demographics:

	Security Guard	Cop
Average age	43	40
Gender ratio	Male, 72.0% Female, 28.0%	Male, 69.1% Female, 30.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 3.1% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between security guard and cop duties and responsibilities

Security guard example responsibilities.

Assist employees with any and all concerns regarding payroll issues, insurance and requesting time off.
Certify in fire safety, adult/child CPR with mask and choking, adult/child a, infant CPR w/ mask and choking.
Distribute payroll checks to security officers.
Administer CPR and transport injured personnel to local medical facilities.
Monitor CCTV and other various intrusion detection security equipment for security issues.
Provide relief to other security officers while maintaining punctuality and building moral support.

Cop example responsibilities.

Complete VMWARE infrastructure course lead by certify VMWARE trainer, which cover all aspects of VMWARE installation and support.
Work with AIS systems administrators to maintain and upgrade Unix base servers and GCCS applications.
Assist POs to develop plans and tools relate to business and marketing opportunities.
Deploy to multiple MSCs worldwide to install and to train new users on the proper use of C2PC.
Configure servers base video matrix switches base on engineer specifications.
Provide build system support for release engineering teams which entail automated installations of Java build engines and Linux server system management.

Security guard vs cop skills

Common security guard skills

Customer Service, 25%
Patrol, 17%
Ladders, 16%
Security Services, 6%
Emergency Situations, 4%
CPR, 3%

Common cop skills

Situational Awareness, 32%
Control Systems, 29%
Gccs, 19%
Climate, 8%
Windows, 7%
Law Enforcement, 6%