Valley Protective Service

I will say this to all you who complain against VPS (Dave) or Terry. You probley were the worst employees of them all. I was with VPS for Two years and even though I left. It had nothing to do with VPS; I still regret leaving and hope one day VPS will open up shop where I live now. Because I would jump ship at where I am now and go back working for them. I was officer #991 if you know my old badge number you know who I am. If not, find out. I see all the BS you all say about VPS, but I will say you all probley did not make it past 6 months. Do to you never took the initiative to make yourself stand out. I had bad uniforms in the being, but I fixed it myself. I believe in what VPS does they want to see if you?re worth the money to get you better uniforms, if you can?t hack it then there is the door. Why waste money on people who are not going to do the job or complain about pay. I will say this I started out at $9.00 dollars that?s even in today standers nationwide more money than most security companies. Go to Texas and work security you will be lucky to make $7.75 an hour. I never had Police make fun of me or any other employee of VPS at the time I worked for them. The police I worked with when I was with VPS all ways had the utmost respect for us. VPS is the best security company I ever had the privilege of working with. Thank you Dave for all you did for me and all the true employees that work for you past and present. Pros: Best pay I ever had with a security company. more

I have worked for VPS for just over 15 months. It has been my observation that this job, as any other job, is what you make of it. Had I gone to a different security company in the area, I would have made less money, and probably no arrests. Other companies offer little training, and it is very seldom that you see a supervisor, and even then he/she won't work with you and train you to be better. I enjoy the proactive setting that I was placed in from day one. I worked in a couple of Maryvale communities, and was given opportunity to learn and grow. Any danger I've been in since my start with the company has been a result of my own actions. No one told me that I was required to arrest people. All they've asked is that I write good paperwork and ride my bicycle. It's easy, but there is challenge for those who want to excel. If you want to sit you're lumpy A** in your car at some construction site and eat filiberto's, try another company. This one will help you learn a great deal about the A.R.S. and probably a great deal about yourself. If you want training, you cannot beat VPS. They even offer martial arts training for a fraction of the cost you would pay if you were a walk-in ( training is conducted at RITC). I am convinced that VPS is a superior company to seek employment with if you are the type of person that takes pride in what you do. If you are self motivated and have integrity, the doors are wide open to people like you. If you're trying to be a sloppy rent-a-cop, don't bother applying. If for some reason, you managed to get through the hiring / field training process, you'll end up getting fired like all the other underqualified persons ( many of whom posted blogs on this site ). I don't regret working here. I have learned a lot and met a lot of good people. Pros: Exciting, Good for ""life-long learners"", excellent if you are trying to be a cop Cons: Not for everybody. They make you do your job. Not a welfare system. more

I have worked at VPS for awhile now. And while I will say VPS has another approach to disipline, most employees will not have problems because they can rub three brain cells together. more

This is my very first review of Valley Protective Services and I like some of these reviews that I have read and some actually made some sense but I do however disagree with a lot of these reviews. I do agree however if you intend on entering private security as a career or something long term that you should be open minded, with that being said I'll offer my opinion on this company and based on my observations of it so far since I just applied for VPS: they do appear to be very competitive as compared to other companies but they in my opinion do offer decent wages to it's employees and help equip officers if they do not possess certain tools needed to help do their jobs, and they do provide some good training to potential applicants and veteran officers who wish to excel at their career/jobs as security officers which is crucially important. I've observed some officers demeanor as well as office staff at the Main Office in Chandler as well as some of their 400 duty posts that they have and found that thesy have this somewhat of a welcoming family type of attitude towards new applicants and other security guards, maybe it's just me but.... I don't know. But, I will say this: Yeah you may have some guard agencies that have incompetents for security guards and you may have business people that engage in questionable business practices and you might hire a guard agency that has 5 or 6 lawsuits against them, but I would rather work for a guard agency who took a proactive approach to at least keeping their clients protected and safe rather than working for a guard agency who's sole purpose is to hang their security guards up at a post like a scarecrow for command presence and pay lousy wages with no benefits and never have stepped inside a courtroom. I offer this advice to potential clients who want to hire a private security force: 1) Research your information before making a decision, 2) Specify details on what your looking for and how you want things handled. Pros: Very Professional, Proactive, Easy Going People Cons: One too many lawsuits, somewhat bad reputation by other employees and guard agencies more

wow. thanks for the heads up. i'm glad i read this site because i'm looking for a guard Pros: didnt see any Cons: jerks more

Be sure to keep an open mind when reading the 20-something reviews. Most of them appear to have been written by disgruntled employees. However, many of them are actually true in their facts. So, pay attention to the facts rather than the tone. more

I worked for VPS for a short time as a dispatch operator. In that time my training and instruction for this position was minimal at best. They handed me my radio, phone, and computer and expected me to perform as if I'd been working there for years. I am a professional, I am hard working and did my job to the best of my ability. The communication equipment used by dispatch and officers in the field is old and in deplorable condition and did not work correctly most of the time. The noise level in the dispatch office was overly obnoxious for most of my shifts so that it was impossible to hear customers or officers when they called for service or information. Loyalty was never a question, as I was dedicated to learning all that I could to support those officers in the field and to be of help to my co-workers and customers. In the time I spent at VPS, I learned how others, mostly officers in the field, are treated. They are gossiped about, insulted and made fun of behind their backs. For the most part, the officers in the field are hard working, dedicated individuals and do not deserve that kind of attitude from those they must rely on to do their jobs effectively. If you are expected to be loyal to a company, that company should at least be deserving of it. In my opinion, VPS does not deserve it. Most of the lower ranking employees, officers and office personnel alike, are not respected at all. They are made a joke of and their efforts are disparaged by their supervisors and higher ranking members of their team. I have never written a negative article or spoken out against any employer before, whether they may have deserved it or not. This time, however, I felt compelled to speak up. I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of a supposedly reputable company. If this review saves one person from the indignity many have suffered while employed with Valley Protective Services, my responsibilty to the employment seeking public has been served. more

I have been employed in Public Safety as a Paramedic for 15 years when I moved to Phoenix and couldn't find a decent job. I saw an ad for VPS and it looked like good experience to get my foot in the door for one of the local Police agencies. All in all I worked there about 4 months, full-time with my regular properties being La Palma, Cortina, The Boulevard and Monte Viejo. I found the experience very rewarding and fun. Of course I ran into the occasional drug-dealer or car theft in progress but 99% of the residents / visitors I made contact with were very friendly and happy to see me there. I made a few good friends. Pros: Good training. Fun job. Get paid to exercise! Chicks dig a guy in uniform. LOL Cons: No direct deposit until 1 year of service. Have to drive paperwork to main office every week. more

I have been employed with Valley Protective Service for approximately five years. Prior to that I floated from company to company for eleven years. I was never able to find a company that fit my personality and abilities until I found Valley Protective Services, Inc. I have always found that Security Companies are nothing but scare crows attempting to deter crime through presence. This doesn't work, VPS empowers their officers to use discretion, common sense, and ability, to deter crime. They are the only company that I have found that will monitor their officers behaviors and hold their feet to the fire. I am tired of being embarassed by the lazy guards that exist out there. They always wine and complain that they work to hard or are scared to talk to people. I feel blessed to make a difference in the communities VPS serves and would recommend them to anyone. more

I am currently employed by VPS. I read the other reviews and laugh. Yes, you get paid out at minimum wage if you quit without notice. It's an easy job. You ride a bike, talk to people and write it in a report. If you sleep in your car or do something else stupid, then yes, you get paid that day at minimum wage. It's all told to you up front and you sign a form saying you understand it and won't do it. It seems pretty cut and dry to me. I don't know about the office politics, show me and employer that doesn't have them....I stay out of it and do my job and I haven't had any trouble. I haven't been there very long, but when I've had questions, Sgt. Smith has come to my site in person on more than one occassion and helped me. I've also been in some of his training classes and found his instruction to be great, I learned a lot of things that have helped me do my job better. After reading the grammer and spelling (or lack there of) in some of the other posts about this company, no wonder the guys got minimum wage. If I turned in a report like spelled like that, I'd be mortified and expect to get fired. This is a great place to work and I've found the office staff in the day and the supervisors at night to be very helpful. I haven't been told to do anything dangerous or felt threatened yet. I think that from the training I've received, should that happen, I'll either be able to handle it, or I'll at least be able to recognized that I'm in over my head and just call the police. I hear a lot of guys on the radio every night making arrests, and they also seem to be very happy working here. If you're looking for a security job, this is a great one. I can only assume that some of the other posts are just sour grapes. If you want a real idea of what this or any company is about, ask someone who still works there, not someone who got fired. Pros: I can work all the overtime I can handle Cons: Sometimes my OT shifts are 10-15 miles from home more

My management company hired VPS to patrol our community for four hours a night for seven days a week. The contract stated that I should receive a courtesy patrol report every night. This happened twice in the two months that my community hired VPS. I have requested to have the same officer or two officers only. This did not happened. Twice I have caught the officer sleeping in the car and one fluirting with residents when they should have been patroling. Two of my residents complainted about harassment from the officers. Pros: they have a somewhat decent reputation Cons: they do not live up to their stated standards of conduct or service more