(Excerpt from: THE ROLE OF THE SECURITY
OFFICER)
By Michael Jaquish
International Security Consultant
Security Training Services International
www.countrycopbooks.com
Workplace violence happens
every hour of every day in America. Whether you
are a police officer or a security guard
assigned to duties in an office building or
department store, it is likely that you will be
called upon to respond to such a situation at
some point in your career. When that happens,
it is crucial that you take the call very
seriously. Such situations often erupt when an
employee is dismissed or disciplined for an
event, or in a manner in which they feel is
unjust or unfair. Expect a heated exchange to
be taking place between two or more employees
when you respond to the scene and be prepared
to do what you can to calm the situation and if
necessary, separate the individuals who are
involved in the confrontation. But each
workplace violence event is different so try to
adapt your approach in a way that will
neutralize the threat and lower the emotion.
Recently, violence in the
workplace has received considerable attention
in the popular press and among safety and
health professionals. Much of the reason for
this attention is the reporting of data by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) and others regarding the
magnitude of this problem in U.S. workplaces.
Unfortunately, sensational acts of coworker
violence (which form only a small part of the
problem) are often emphasized by the media to
the exclusion of the almost daily killings of
taxicab drivers, convenience store clerks and
other retail workers, security guards, and
police officers. These deaths often go
virtually unnoticed, yet their numbers are
staggering: 1,071 workplace homicides occurred
in 1994. These homicides included 179
supervisors or proprietors in retail sales, 105
cashiers, 86 taxicab drivers, 49 managers in
restaurants or hotels, 70 police officers or
detectives, and 76 security guards [BLS 1995].
An additional 1 million workers were assaulted
each year. These figures indicate that an
average of 20 workers are murdered and 18,000
are assaulted each week while at work or on
duty. Death or injury should not be an
inevitable result of one's chosen occupation,
nor should these staggering figures be accepted
as a cost of doing business in our society.
The following suggestions
may be of assistance in dealing with the
situation:
-
Get as much information
as possible prior to responding to the scene
and ask the manager/complainant exactly what
it is they want you to do;
-
Do not respond alone.
Take a manager or another security officer
(preferably a supervisor) with you or call
for back up as you respond;
-
Expect a very volatile
situation. Shouting and anger are common. If
the situation is calm initially, be prepared
for it to escalate when you appear on the
scene;
-
Greet everyone politely
but project an image of authority that will
show that you are prepared to use whatever
force necessary to prevent any exercise of
violence;
-
Follow the lead of the
manager if he/she is the person who requested
your presence;
-
If you are asked to
escort the individual from the premises, do
so politely but firmly, taking the most
direct route out of the building and off the
property without allowing the individual to
make any stops along the way or return to the
scene;
-
Once outside the
building, remain in view, watching the
individual until they have walked or driven
away from the building. Continue to be
watchful for the remainder of the shift and
for the next few days in case the individual
decides to return;
-
If an actual assault has
occurred or is anticipated, call the police
immediately;
-
If an assault has
occurred, it may be necessary to take the
individual into custody and detain them for
the police;
-
Always act within the
law regarding citizen’s arrest and detention
and use the minimum amount of force necessary
to control or detain the individual; and,
-
Remember; all your
actions must be reasonable and necessary.
The Facts
Workplace murder is the
leading killer of working females, (35% of
their fatal work injuries) and the second
leading killer of males. The problem is
especially acute in service sector industries
such as retail establishments, taxi and
limousine, police and security services.
According to the figures released on August 3,
1995, by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
(1), 1,071 workers were murdered in the
workplace in 1994, a slight decrease from 1,074
the previous year. According to the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
(2), the following factors may increase
workers' risk of homicide.
Risk Factors
A number of factors may
increase a worker's risk for workplace assault,
and they have been described in previous
research [Collins and Cox 1987; Davis 1987;
Davis et al. 1987; Kraus 1987; Lynch 1987;
NIOSH 1993; Castillo and Jenkins 1994]. These
factors include the following:
• Contact with
the public;
• Exchange of
money;
• Delivery of
passengers, goods, or services;
• Having a
mobile workplace such as a taxicab or police
cruiser;
• Working with
unstable or volatile persons in health care,
social service, or
criminal justice
settings;
• Working alone
or in small numbers;
• Working late
at night or during early morning hours;
• Working in
high-crime areas;
• Guarding
valuable property or possessions; and,
• Working in
community-based settings
Three Prevention
Strategies
Environmental
Designs
Commonly implemented
cash-handling policies in retail settings
include procedures such as using locked drop
safes, carrying small amounts of cash, and
posting signs and printing notices that limited
cash is available. It may also be useful to
explore the feasibility of cashless
transactions in taxicabs and retail settings
through the use of machines that accommodate
automatic teller account cards or debit cards.
These approaches could be used in any setting
where cash is currently exchanged between
workers and customers.
Physical separation of
workers from customers, clients, and the
general public through the use of
bullet-resistant barriers or enclosures has
been proposed for retail settings such as gas
stations and convenience stores, hospital
emergency departments, and social service
agency claims areas. The height and depth of
counters (with or without bullet-resistant
barriers) are also important considerations in
protecting workers, since they introduce
physical distance between workers and potential
attackers. Consideration must nonetheless be
given to the continued ease of conducting
business; a safety device that increases
frustration for workers or for customers,
clients, or patients may be self-defeating.
Visibility and lighting
are also important environmental design
considerations. Making high-risk areas visible
to more people and installing good external
lighting should decrease the risk of workplace
assaults [NIOSH 1993].
Access to and egress from
the workplace are also important areas to
assess. The number of entrances and exits, the
ease with which non-employees can gain access
to work areas because doors are unlocked, and
the number of areas where potential attackers
can hide are issues that should be addressed.
This issue has implications for the design of
buildings and parking areas, landscaping, and
the placement of garbage areas, outdoor
refrigeration areas, and other storage
facilities that workers must use during a work
shift.
Numerous security devices
may reduce the risk for assaults against
workers and facilitate the identification and
apprehension of perpetrators. These include
closed-circuit cameras, alarms, two-way
mirrors, card-key access systems, panic-bar
doors locked from the outside only, and trouble
lights or geographic locating devices in
taxicabs and other mobile workplaces.
Personal protective
equipment such as body armor has been used
effectively by public safety personnel to
mitigate the effects of workplace violence. For
example, the lives of more than 1,800 police
officers have been saved by Kevlar® vests [Brierley
1996].
Administrative
Controls
Staffing plans and work
practices (such as escorting patients and
prohibiting unsupervised movement within and
between clinic areas) are included in the
California Occupational Safety and Health
Administration Guidelines for the Security and
Safety of Health Care and Community Service
Workers [State of California 1993]. Increasing
the number of staff on duty may also be
appropriate in any number of service and retail
settings. The use of security guards or
receptionists to screen persons entering the
workplace and controlling access to actual work
areas has also been suggested by security
experts.
Work practices and
staffing patterns during the opening and
closing of establishments and during money
drops and pickups should be carefully reviewed
for the increased risk of assault they pose to
workers. These practices include having workers
take out garbage, dispose of grease, store food
or other items in external storage areas, and
transport or store money.
Policies and procedures
for assessing and reporting threats allow
employers to track and assess threats and
violent incidents in the workplace. Such
policies clearly indicate a zero tolerance of
workplace violence and provide mechanisms by
which incidents can be reported and handled. In
addition, such information allows employers to
assess whether prevention strategies are
appropriate and effective. These policies
should also include guidance on recognizing the
potential for violence, methods for defusing or
de-escalating potentially violent situations,
and instruction about the use of security
devices and protective equipment. Procedures
for obtaining medical care and psychological
support following violent incidents should also
be addressed. Training and education efforts
are clearly needed to accompany such policies.
Behavioral
Strategies
Training employees in
nonviolent response and conflict resolution has
been suggested to reduce the risk that volatile
situations will escalate to physical violence.
Also critical is training that addresses
hazards associated with specific tasks or
worksites and relevant prevention strategies.
Training should not be regarded as the sole
prevention strategy but as a component in a
comprehensive approach to reducing workplace
violence. To increase vigilance and compliance
with stated violence prevention policies,
training should emphasize the appropriate use
and maintenance of protective equipment,
adherence to administrative controls, and
increased knowledge and awareness of the risk
of workplace violence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Jaquish is a
journalist and the author of several books
(Tales of a Country Cop in Africa, Time Loves a
Hero, Surviving the Darkness, A Life Well
Traveled, A Novel Life and The Role of the
Security Officer (a training manual). He has
degrees in Business Administration and Law
Enforcement and retired as The Chief of Police
in Okanogan, Washington, after thirteen years
in law enforcement. In 1989 he traveled to West
Africa. He spent the next seven years
conducting security & intelligence operations
for the US Embassy, NASA, USAID, Voice of
America, United Nations, European Union and a
variety of other government and private
companies. Michael’s duties carried him to
Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Morocco
and he often worked in the midst of civil war
and political unrest. In the fall of 1997 he
returned to the United States where he has
worked primarily as a Private Investigator,
trainer and consultant for security companies
such as BRINK’S, Incorporated, Blackwater USA,
Firearms Academy of Hawaii, Pierce County
Security and various fugitive recovery
operations. Since the terrorist attacks on
America on September 11, 2001, Michael has been
deeply committed to raising the bar for
professionalism within the private security
industry. He writes, teaches firearms and
street survival and works as a private
investigator in the Pacific Northwest. He also
makes timely postings about current global and
domestic politics and events on his blog,
Stranger in a Strange Land, which can be viewed
on his web site.
Michael Jaquish is
available for domestic and international
security training, consulting, private
investigations, expert witness testimony or
other assignments and can be contacted at (253)
265-3561, or at
starborn1@yahoo.com. Web site is
www.countrycopbooks.com and Washington
State LLC Company is STSI (Security Training
Services International).
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