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Hello all. Boy it's been a long long time since posting here. I do have a question about whether or not I made the right decision.
So yesterday at work, we had two customers that were involved in a mutual combat fight outside of the building, near an exit. The fight started as an argument inside our building but was agreed on by both parties to take it outside.
I was called by our security desk of an argument between two customers. By the time I arrived, both parties were in postures of fighting and were arguing. I attempted to deescalate the situation by talking to them, but unfortunately they were hell hent on fighting.
As I was waiting for back up to arrive, both customers began exchanging blows and eventually ended up fighting on the ground. All I could do is clear the area and try and talk them out of fighting.
Eventually the fight broke up and both parties left the property. When the lead guard reviewed the footage of the fight, he said that it didn't look good for me because I didn't jump in and attempt to physically break them up. It was an incredibly stupid comment on his part because A. Both customers outweighed me by 30-40 lbs easily. and B. It was just me and one other female guard. Back up took way too long.
I told my lead that his comments were inappropriate, and no one in their right mind would ever jump into a mutual fight, unprepared and without help, and attempt to break them up. I plan on bringing this up with my supervisor, but first I wanted to make sure I made the right call.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm not putting myself needlessly into harm's way because of two knuckle heads wanting to punch each other out. My security lead disagrees and says it's my job to prevent them from injuring each other.
Number 1. We are not trained in dealing with those types of physical confrontations. Yes, we occasionally do get into scuffles, but some things are unavoidable. I'm not going out looking for fights. I've got kids and want to go home to them every night.
Number 2. We are not given any equipment to deal with those kind of situations. We do not have OC spray, handcuffs or anything.
Number 3. We are currently dealing with a shortage of staff.
Also, no where in our policy does it state that we are required to jump in on those situations. We can jump in, if we feel safe doing so. In the situation described above, I definitely did not feel safe doing so.
So I'm just curious to see what others here would have done on this situation. Did I do the wrong thing?
So yesterday at work, we had two customers that were involved in a mutual combat fight outside of the building, near an exit. The fight started as an argument inside our building but was agreed on by both parties to take it outside.
I was called by our security desk of an argument between two customers. By the time I arrived, both parties were in postures of fighting and were arguing. I attempted to deescalate the situation by talking to them, but unfortunately they were hell hent on fighting.
As I was waiting for back up to arrive, both customers began exchanging blows and eventually ended up fighting on the ground. All I could do is clear the area and try and talk them out of fighting.
Eventually the fight broke up and both parties left the property. When the lead guard reviewed the footage of the fight, he said that it didn't look good for me because I didn't jump in and attempt to physically break them up. It was an incredibly stupid comment on his part because A. Both customers outweighed me by 30-40 lbs easily. and B. It was just me and one other female guard. Back up took way too long.
I told my lead that his comments were inappropriate, and no one in their right mind would ever jump into a mutual fight, unprepared and without help, and attempt to break them up. I plan on bringing this up with my supervisor, but first I wanted to make sure I made the right call.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm not putting myself needlessly into harm's way because of two knuckle heads wanting to punch each other out. My security lead disagrees and says it's my job to prevent them from injuring each other.
Number 1. We are not trained in dealing with those types of physical confrontations. Yes, we occasionally do get into scuffles, but some things are unavoidable. I'm not going out looking for fights. I've got kids and want to go home to them every night.
Number 2. We are not given any equipment to deal with those kind of situations. We do not have OC spray, handcuffs or anything.
Number 3. We are currently dealing with a shortage of staff.
Also, no where in our policy does it state that we are required to jump in on those situations. We can jump in, if we feel safe doing so. In the situation described above, I definitely did not feel safe doing so.
So I'm just curious to see what others here would have done on this situation. Did I do the wrong thing?
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