Employees would exit the main gate en masse during the lunch period and again at the end of the work day and had to be frisked to insure they was no contraband being taken in their bags or their persons. The sergeant of the guard on duty was required to frisk the men and a Vietnamese police woman would arrive at mid day and end of work day to frisk the women. A line of women would start to form just before the lunch period and near end of work day to wait for the police woman to show. Meantime, the sergeant of the guard would be frisking the men and checking any bags they might be carrying. Men’s bags and containers were inspected but were not normally frisked unless they appeared suspicious.
The women would enter a closet-like screening room big enough for myself, the Vietnamese policewoman and the worker being cleared. I would check their bags and containers while observing the policewoman frisking the women to be certain they were not stealing anything. I don’t recall a single incident during my guard shifts when any Vietnamese woman ever tried to steal anything. The practice was designed as a deterrent more so than anything.
The Vietnamese policewoman was not much punctual often arriving well after the women were already lined up to go home. During these delays, the Vietnamese women in line would be bickering and complaining “Where policewoman? Why she no come? We have go home cook. Why she no come?” The lines would get longer, tempers more flared. Sometimes the policewoman might finally arrive, and she would be hurrying the process while getting yelled at by most of the Vietnamese women who were in a hurry to go home.
There were times when the policewoman would not show up at all, and I would be left there with fifteen or twenty women complaining to me. “Why policewoman no come?”
I would just smile and tell them, “Sinh loi. Have to wait.”
After one particularly long wait and women becoming increasingly more hostile, an older Vietnamese woman suggested “You check us. No problem. We have go home. Don’t want wait more.”
One of the other sergeants of the guard would frisk the women himself in the absence of the policewoman then brag about his 'touching'. The other sergeant would not frisk them at all and let them out the gate. I could not just let them leave unchecked, and I was not about to start frisking these women myself. I made a command decision and asked one of the older Vietnamese women to accompany me into the screening room. She worked as a cook in our mess hall, so I was familiar with her more so than the others. She was not well liked by the other women because she was too bossy and outspoken which made her an even better candidate for the backup frisker. I asked her if she was willing to do the frisking while I observed. “Yes, no problem. I do for you,” she said. So we began a process which worked well anytime the policewoman showed up late or failed to show.
When a couple of the women objected to being frisked by one of their own, I gave them the choice of frisking them myself. They never again objected. I arranged with the mess hall sergeant to allow my backup Vietnamese frisker to leave early whenever I called for her. This system worked well and continued even after I left my guard position for other assignments within the team. I petitioned the admin captain to adjust my frisker’s pay to compensate her for her frisking duty. I never learned the amount of her increase, but she thanked me many times for her pay increase.
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