Homework Responses Wk 2

Hello Classmates and Professor,

When viewing the guards' video reaction to the beating, I am initially struck by the lack of involvement. There was not much of a reaction at all. They seemed to pay little attention at first even though it appears the victim tried to alert them or at least use them as a deterrent to the attacker before the beating started. To me, this goes against the quintessential role of security personnel. One security guard did seem to attempt to deter the attacker, but it appears that minimal effort or care was used.

Judging by the security personnel's body language, it appears that they did not have much desire to act. However, it could be argued that this is from restrictions in the contract. For instance, if they were expressly told that they were to operate in an observe and report capacity only. Despite this, there are specific ethical responsibilities by which we, as security personnel, must abide. One of which is when someone comes to us, obviously looking for help, you try to help them as best you can without compromising your assignment. Standing by as someone gets beat by a group of people goes against these responsibilities. This example is why it is crucial to have the proper wording in a contractual agreement. Suppose the security personnel are instructed only to observe and report in this situation. In that case, they could easily face an ethical dilemma of risking their job and protecting someone who needs help. (Spadunata, 2010)

It would be ideal for the guards to be able to react to the situation per their contract. However, this would require specific considerations in guard qualifications and training. These requirements vary from state to state. (securityguard-license.org, n.d.) If companies want guards to be armed, there are usually more requirements, but there is still no national standard. Perhaps in this example of the Seattle security team, a better wording in the contract would be "observe and report, however in the event of a life-threatening event, officers can use the appropriate action in order de-escalate the event." Ideally, this would enable the officers to respond to events within the law and their ethical responsibility. Obviously, with this additional responsibility would come individual training requirements like understanding the law (which is already a requirement for unarmed guards in most states), conflict resolution, and emergency response training. (Brownyard, 2011)

Thank you for reading,

Tyson Houchens

 

 

Security Guard License Requirements. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2020, from https://securityguard-license.org/

Brownyard, T., et al. (2011, June 28). Observe and Report: Does it Work? Retrieved from https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/82148-observe-and-report-does-it-work

Spadanuta, L. (2010, July 1). Is “Observe and Report” Good Policy? ASIS. https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2010/07/is-observe-and-report-good-policy/