When
Image Interferes with Safety
By
Cameron
Dopler
CD Security & Safety Training, 2016
I
recently returned from a trip to Cape Breton to the Whycobah First Nation on
behalf of a client. All of the candidates on the course had no prior training
and no experience in the industry. Some of them had the belief that due to
their small stature they simply felt they were not capable of repelling a
spontaneous assault. Their employer's policy being that they were not to get
themselves involved in a physical confrontation, call the police. Personally, I
feel this is a very good policy, however is it enough?
Another
interesting thing my client mentioned was that the vast majority of his staff
do not carry duty gear, such as handcuffs or batons, even though many are
trained and qualified, because his clients "Don't want that in their
stores they don't want the security guard making arrests they want the police
to handle that". “We don’t want to intimidate our customers”. While I can respect a store owner wishing to preserve an
"image" and create a friendly atmosphere for his or her customers,
where do we draw the line between image and safety? How can we thwart the negative
attitudes towards our duty equipment or even our profession for that matter?
Better yet how can we allow a customer or even a person outside of our
industry, one with no knowledge, training or experience dictate policy?
The
answers is education; promoting understanding, giving those customers who are
forking over those thousands of dollars a year for a security guard the
knowledge, training, and experience. Take a police officer for example. Look at
the amount of equipment they carry to work, handcuffs, radio, baton, OC spray,
baton, Tazer®, sidearm, ammunition, body armor... Why does a Police Officer
carry SO MUCH equipment? Well under the law as Peace Officers they have a very
heavy mandate, and a serious obligation to public safety. At the same time they
too must always consider their own safety. What good is a seriously injured or
dead cop? Not much. So then why doesn't that apply to a security worker? Sure
we don't have the same mandate or responsibility of a police officer... or do
we?
Private Security means just that... PRIVATE. Most of the time you see a
security guard is because a private business has hired them. Regardless of the
threat level, it is high enough to require someone to deter it. Security
workers have made arrests, have used force within their workplaces, and
areas of responsibility, whether it be to effect an arrest or for their
own self-defence. While the police are present for the preservation of the
pubic peace, a security worker is there for the preservation of the private
business and the pubic who frequent or attend that business, and we must be
just as equally prepared.
Security
workers, often times, face the same dangers as police officers, this harsh
reality is shown in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Case R. v. A.J.D. where
a teenager single handily stabbed and severely wounded 4 security workers in a
matter of a few moments at the Halifax Forum in 2007. Prior to this incident
there no warnings and no perception of threats from the defendant. While the
security workers began to remove one patron the crowd became a mob and started
yelling and shouting against the security workers who were simply doing their
jobs. A.J.D. after ingesting about 10-20 pills of valium and about a pint of
tequila entered what was later described as an agitated and excited state of
mind. He viciously attacked 3 of the security workers, one who became mortally
wounded after receiving a slash through the abdomen. A.J.D. sustained several
strikes with ASP Batons, however he then proceeded to chase the third security
worker who was attempting to talk him down. A.J.D. simply replied “You don’t
get it, I’m going to kill you” the crowd appallingly chanted for A.J.D. to
“finish them off” (security workers) it was only at the sound of police sirens
in the distance that A.J.D. took flight. When asked later why he targeted
the security workers he simply replied "because they were security, I
wanted to make a name for myself". At the time of this incident A.D.J. was
sixteen years old.
There are two
things I have noticed during my time in the private sector:
1)
The public is UNEDUCATED! Generally speaking the public always believes they
are the "experts", they know what is best when it comes to protecting
their own property or businesses, this is sometimes the case, however in most cases
it is not. Fifteen years ago many private security guards were simply
"doorman"... today I don't think there is a single moment when I step
into the city that I do not see one. Most of the time I see more
"Security" patrol cars then I do Police cruisers, what is wrong with
this picture? Business is clearly booming and a security guard costs half as
much as a police officer and often times offers the same level of deterrent.
2)
Security Workers are UNEDUCATED! Now I do not mean public education, I'm
speaking about workplace education, knowing your job, what your duties and
responsibilities are. I myself when I first started was simply told "put
on this uniform and just stand there, look mean and scary" until I arrived
at the store and was warned about a customer who frequently comes in with a
Louisville slugger to steal drugs... really? Even after teaching for the last
almost 5 years I still find that workers do not know what their limitations
are, where they draw their powers under the law, the difference between being a
security guard and a peace officer, or even have the ability to articulate
their actions during training let alone and actual real life event.
We
have an obligation both as employers and educators to ensure not only that our
staff are educated and aware but also that our clients are made aware of the
dangers that security workers face. The Nova Scotia Department of Justice is
the only province in the Maritimes which allows security staff to carry handcuffs
and batons, these are TOOLS NOT WEAPONS. Criminals and those who would break
the law will use weapons against us, a weapon is not limited to a knife, an
object, or firearm. Weapons could also include a person’s own body, fists,
legs, knees, elbows. In today's world of MMA everyone is a potential fighter,
much of the training I provide and have received is based on mixed martial arts
and can be found in many disciplines such as Muay Tai, Jujitsu, and Boxing.
Training videos from famous UFC fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Bas Rutten, and
GSP all have training videos, YouTube® is flooded with training videos in
fighting, grappling, takedowns, and so on. Why is it we have to WAIT for a
serious incident to occur before we invite change? Why can we not be the wise
men and learn from the mistakes or hard lessons from others before we welcome
change?
This
was one of the main concerns during my time working in the health care system.
When the subject was brought up, many people would say things like "Why
would we/you possibly need that, you deal with children, what could possibly go
wrong at a children's hospital". Little did some of these people realize
that it wasn't the "little Billy's" we were being called to deal
with. I remember one patient standing 6'0, 175lbs, and requiring a minimum of 5
- 6 staff members to simply keep them restrained with little or sense of pain; or
the 5'6" 140lbs girl who had become routinely violent that physical and
"soft" restraints along with inter-muscular injections became
the SOP however in most cases “approval” had to be given so we were left to
physically restrain this person for up to 30-40 min.
 |
Las Vegas Police Officer utilizes ground control tactics
to control a larger and stronger subject
|
I
have always been a firm believer in preparation. One of the best things my
instructor trainer Kelly Keith, a 20 Year police veteran and internationally
recognized expert in use of force training, said to me was “if you see it
fought, you’ll see it taught”. His firm belief was that if it’s seen on the
cruiser videos, then it’s something we all should prepare and train for. This
idea is something that I have burned into my own training methods, much of the
scenario and reality based training I subject my students to, are examples of
the situations and incidents that I and my peers have faced previously. The
truth is many of us as security workers will not find ourselves in these
extreme of circumstances, statistics have shown that 97% of all police encounters have
been dealt with verbally with only 3% of incidents requiring the use of force.
Regardless of the statistics we have to train for that 3%.
This
is the mindset that we as trainers, educators and employers need to focus on in
the private sector. It is never a matter of IF something will happen it’s
always a matter of WHAT IF something happens, it’s about being prepared and
ready so Murphy’s Law doesn’t catch us with our pants down, because then people
get seriously hurt or die and there is no price tag on life. It is important
for employers to educate their clients on the liabilities of the work their
staff perform. In the end it is the security person that everyone will be
looking to for help, for the answers to daily problems and these security
persons need to be properly equipped and trained for the dangers, not that they
might face, but for what they could, and eventually will, face.
