Chicago

My name is Teresa Sanchez and I've been a security officer at the same building for 10 years. In that time, I've gained the experience to respond appropriately to emergencies and I've been able to prevent others.

Once when I was patrolling the building, I found insulation burning near the boiler. Because I was there and knew what to look for, I was able to help stop the fire before it caused any damage or hurt anyone. That's why well-trained, competent security officers are so important to keeping downtown buildings safe.

But keeping my building safe just got harder. Our security staff was downsized and now we don't have any rovers, who are the officers who are free to patrol the building. Without the rovers, it could take us as much as 10 minutes to respond to an emergency in the building across the street that we are also responsible for. The potential for problems scares me. If I hadn't been able to patrol the building the day I found the fire near the boiler, who knows what would have happened.

We are also stretched thin because those of us with experience, like me, are expected to train new officers while we do our regular jobs. Training is crucial because people's lives could be at stake in an emergency. Training should be more thought out than learning on the job from your coworkers. I make an effort to try to prepare people because I know how important it is, but no one is making sure that happens consistently.

Because of my experience, I've been promoted to a lead position where I train and supervise other officers. Many of my coworkers are having trouble making ends meet. My coworkers try to work a lot of overtime to get by because several of them are caring for their parents and one is caring for his grandmother too. One of my coworkers can't work overtime because he doesn't have childcare so he has an even tougher time.

This just doesn't make sense. We are expected to know how to protect the public and the buildings where we work - which is a lot of responsibility - but we are struggling to get by unless we work extra hours. How can Chicago expect to keep good officers who take their jobs seriously if we don't reward them equal to their responsibility?