detective

armed security officer

veterinarian

canine handler

scheduler

Allied Universal Enhanced Protection Services

MSA is a good place to start to get your foot in the k9 world. Management is a joke and the majority of upper management including the CEO have little to no canine experience. They dont understand what it actually takes to train and handle a dog and dont care, as long as it gets them more money and they get their bonuses. They lie to their handlers and clients on the dogs abilities and what they are trained for just to secure more contracts. Many trainers dont know how to train a dog and just want to get in and work the dog as fast as possible and leave work early. There's poor communication between trainers and instructors which results in dogs going out that arent ready or getting returned for simple issues easily fixable. 

MSA refuses to put in their own kennel resulting in the dogs being kenneled in a public kennel, constantly picking up kennel cough and other viruses and parasites that could have been avoidable. Trainers often spend extra time cleaning kennels and dogs that sit in their own feces for hours because the kennel staff (while amazing for the most part) are too busy overseeing the pets in their care. Personal kennel staff with high drive dog experience should be hired just to oversee MSAs dogs. There were many nights I would go in at midnight to check on sick dogs and end up staying an extra hour or two cleaning them all up.

The entire company basically runs on lies and it's only a matter of time before they come to surface. Management makes a ton of money and makes sure to hire their friends in positions they're not qualified for, making 20k more than everyone else, just because they were a trooper. Meanwhile they have hard working trainers hardly making ends meet still making entry level salaries even though they've worked there for years.

Their values are seriously misconstrued and their turnover rate is high because there is no support to the ones that actually keep the company running. Industry standards for trainers are 6 dogs a day, many trainers will train anywhere from 3 to over 15 dogs a day depending on the demand. More dogs keep getting purchased and pushed on the trainers with little regard or care for how many dogs are already in circulation and how overworked the majority of trainers already are.

The managers do not provide uniforms in a timely manner, and if you are flex Officer they might not give you an uniform from their site at all.  The managers may be responsive at any time, but it is really difficult to get work scheduled as well as get working radios and charged phones. The managers may not give part time hours to flex especially not consistently, and might hire flex officers for a minor reason like to cover last minute call offs. Some sites can't keep contracts for a period of six months or longer. The managers really make or break a place, and I have worked at sites with better management than the ones I am assigned to. Some managers do not schedule people in a consistent manner with always changing posts, job hours, and changing officers. Some sites have different flex officers covering their posts every day. Flex officers are mostly working a 24/7 pretty much 100% of a time on call position with little to no interaction with the manager. Some managers will cancel scheduled shifts off of officers' schedule without warning. Some supervisors talk bad behind officers backs to management in order to get officers reassigned or transferred to another site, and some managers will open meritless investigations based on supervisors incorrect input into an officer they do not like.  Manager are quick to dispose of officers without helping the officers find options prior to termination at the site, and may not help at all in reassignment process. 

The training you get is decent however if you perform your job correctly and by the book you get frowned upon and banned at multiple sites. They hold your dog against you and if the dog is taken away, you gotta drive 2hrs to retrieve your dog as well as figure out how to clean him after they mistreat him at the Kennel. Supervisors don't do their jobs of checking on the handlers at the site but instead they will go "out of sight, out of mind" and then falsify reports. The national average pay for an EDC handler is $40 an hour. MSA pays $26 an hour and is not enough to cover the cost of living in NYC. Scheduling is horrible. you have to confirm your days on an app and if you decline a day, you'll get a threatening call from the director and be forced to doing the day you dont want to work. As far as a steady site location, youre bounced around. They will not reimburse you for tolls and gas even after they tell you that you will. The monthly stipend of 450 dollars does not cover the cost of your pet. I had the pleasure of meeting great clients and working with other handlers at various locations. MSA as a whole needs to fix themselves from the top office on down and start treating the handlers with respect. at this point they have a terrible turnaround rate and in my short time of being at MSA they fired over 15 people over petty stuff.. anything as small as not working the weekend because a handler has a baby to supervisors who worked at the company for years being fired for nothing.....

Trust me on this one. -- DON'T DO IT! I worked here part time for 2.5 years. It started okay but got very frustrating over the first year. Trust me when I say management does not care about their handlers which reflects in their lower then average payrate and terrible attitude. They say your hours will increase but they wont, and their bottom line is THEIR end of year bonus. Management only cares about their bonuses and the CEO tries to physically intimidate handlers if their views are different than his. He is a suit with no experience in law enforcement or military who tried to block our union from starting. I will say this on a positive note -- they kept true to their word and let me keep my dog after he reached retirement age. For that I am truly GRATEFUL and say thank you always. I will not sit here and say they are good people because all good management has left or was let go for speaking their mind. I also wasn't allowed an exit interview...I WONDER WHY?? Live and learn people. Roll the dice if you don't believe the majority of these reviews but don't say we didn't warn you.
God bless and  stay safe.

You get paid well, opportunity to get a lot of hours is there. Management will tell you to come in on your days off to train with very little heads up and no care to your personal life. They’re always short staffed because the turnover rate is through the roof. The trainers are condescending and are the kind of people that are never wrong. They also get annoyed when you ask a lot of questions. Upper management will listen to complaints but nothing ever changes and for the most part handlers are scared to say something because they don’t want a target painted on their backs. Complaints to HR are shared with the very people the complaints are about. It’s honestly a great job with a lot of great people (fellow handlers) but the working environment and upper management is the most toxic and hostile I’ve ever experienced. Do yourself a favor and pass on this headache of a job. 

* My typical day at work consists of watching the door doing searches and making sure no weapons get into the establishment

* I have learned to keep safety first, to work as a team, and to respect every person that i come into contact with.

* My supervisors are more like brothers and sisters we all watch over each other the supervisors do not have a problem helping with the workload and are fair with me.

* My coworkers are often giving me tips on how to stay safe and keep me updated on the latest gear and equipment.

* The hardest part of the job is having to restrain people who cause trouble. I have to remember they are a threat and could jeopardize the safety of others. 

* The most enjoyable part of my job is when people thank me for my services.

I currently work going on for 2 years, pay is weekly managers are great as long as you do your job and don’t cause issues. As for career advancement it’s fairly easy to move up if you put in the work and show them you know what you are doing. They recognize employees monthly and also the pay is weekly but pay difference is client based until you get into the main office such as account manager ops managers then it’s allied that pays you.  The health insurance could be better but there are a lot of other perks and benefits that make it worth it to work at the company. It’s easy if you need to request a day off but it has to be 2 weeks in advanced however, the managers will try there
best to work with you if you need to go to a doctors appointment or anything else. 

I enjoyed working at MSA getting to work with a dog is the best. The supervisors I had on the west coast were amazing. I thought the management had my back but they did not even try to help me when I needed some help. In my termination letter they gave me flack for taking time off when my daughter was born, even though I came back early from that leave to help them. I just felt like I did so much to help cover them and they did nothing to help cover me. So one day I showed up for work and they took my partner of 3+ years. The president only ever came out when there was a union vote, to try and persuade us from voting for the union. The other handlers are amazing to work with. Miss all you mf's. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The only thing good about it was that I made a paycheck

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part was getting let go unexpectedly while I was doing my job right. And I voiced my concern about an unsafe situation and got a false hope response from leadership an it all turned out opposite of what I thought it would.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment was challenging to say the least, with co-workers having favoritism and doing their job unprofessionally, and still keeping their jobs is a complete joke. With management doing things behind employees' backs and discussing it unprofessionally with individuals outside of leadership is a joke as well.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They hire veterans and there is available shifts.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management does not care about your days off. if someone drops out and they call you are expected to show up regardless if you have a day off or not. You will be scrutinized for refusing to fill someone else's shift and get pushback when asking for days off even when you are entitled to them.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I had no issues with most of the people I work with. However it is a company that doesn't seem to consider their workers.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
That would depend on the roll that is filled.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Detective 62 salaries reported	$31.39 per hour
Armed security officer 4 salaries reported	$28.51 per hour
Veterinarian 1 salary reported	$160,000 per year
Canine handler 15 salaries reported	$29.44 per hour
Scheduler 6 salaries reported	$61,200 per year

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