Security guard stabs homeless man

[Condo Guard]

https://www.q13fox.com/news/seattle-...ing-trespasser

This is "breaking news." I suspect there is more to the story. My first guess would be a severe lack of training and possibly an inadequate backround check. I'd be curious if these two have had previous encounters - where I work, about the half the people you deal with are repeat offenders and "frequent flyers." You do get a bit angry after dealing with the same mouthy scum 20 times or more.

That having been said, it seems odd it escalated the way it did - if the suspect wasn't actively engaged in assault or serious property damage, why not walk away to a safe monitoring distance? It is about all you can do with a 3 hour response time from Seattle Police.

On a cynical note, I'll be curious if they do the usual "catch and release" with this guard, or if they'll throw the book at him because he a) has an address, and b) has an income to pay fines, court costs, etc.

[The Night Rider]

This is one of those write a book or say nothing topics.

Where I'm at the homeless people tend to move from one Camp to the next every so often because after a while The Police become aware that Joey the Scuumbag's residence is the homeless camp south of Fillmore. So Joey the Scumbag moves on down the road to the homeless camp under the bypass. And 6 months or so later he's back.

So I had regulars that I saw and then I didn't see them then I did.

I also had run-ins with almost people who would walk up to the front gate of my site and ask if Stupid Jean-Baptiste has working tonight? Well that tells me that Stupid Jean-Baptiste was letting them in to use the bathroom or get washed up or whatever even though it was a closed site and no one was supposed to be there.

I also had a co-worker downtown who I'm fairly certain was homeless himself. He did three 12-hour shifts a week and his sole Duty was to do continuous Patrols of the parking garage for 12 hours. BUT well I was doing my 8 hour shifts of patrol the parking garage, pattrol the bank building, Patrol the parking garage, patrol the bank building, patrol the parking garage I never ran into him doing his patrols in the parking garage. Or if I did he was sitting in one of the smoking areas sharing a cigarette with another homeless person or sitting in his station wagon which was packed to the gills with what looked like everything he owned eating pizza. Or buying pizza for the homeless people. And then I ran into the issue of I would run into a homeless person on my patrol and tell them to leave and they're automatic immediate response was "Well, Chuck said I could hang out here." Which of course made my job harder because I had to get rid of them.

So I said all that to say that if you're working in an environment when your other guards aren't doing their job it leads to an entitlement mentality among the homeless people that you're trying to trespass off the property.

Add your management putting you alone on a site where you're not allowed to carry any kind of defensive weaponry and you got a recipe for conflict.

[Condo Guard]

Add to that you have to have clear policies - our team does not engage physically with anyone unless there is a "clear and present danger" to the safety of staff and customers. If we are going hands on, we are only doing so to make a citizen's arrest and hold for the police. I think you are right, Night Rider, about the defensive equipment. The fact that he pulled out his knife tells me he had no other options.

You are also right about inconsistent enforcement. You can be kind but firm. The minute you start giving them money or bending the rules, you've lost all authority. In this day and age, no guard should be working alone on a busy site for safety reasons - but it also reduces to temptation to slack off, or worse, "look the other way" when rules violations or actual crimes are taking place.

Right or wrong, stuff like this just sours me on the whole industry. At a time when security could be stepping up and helping with public safety, it appears to be business as usual. Yes, the pay in major cities has gone up, but I don't see the quality of personnel as having improved. If I were a business owner I'd invest a lot in physical security measures, and not rely an a guard service to protect my premises if at all possible.

[The Night Rider]

I think you are right, Night Rider,

it's a fairly frequent occurrence

[Soper]

it's a fairly frequent occurrence

Only in your mind.

[The Night Rider]

Only in your mind.

Spork! What's up buddy? I haven't heard from you in a while. I was getting worried.

[The Enforcer]

Guard's only error was denying & lying about stabbing the bum

Given the age difference he could've probably articulated self-defense in fear of serious injury or death

Gotta stop empowering the dirtbags & side w/the peacekeepers 4 a change; that's probably what caused the guy 2 fib

[copelandamuffy]

Every blue moon I am grateful I work at a chemical factory Our biggest problem are skunks and out on patrols

[The Night Rider]

Every blue moon I am grateful I work at a chemical factory Our biggest problem are skunks and out on patrols

I worked at a FedEx shipping hub for 3 years. For part of that time FedEx had moved their facility to the other side of town and I was guarding an empty Warehouse. I was the only person there for the entirety of my shift and I loved it