People in glass houses...
Image from The Age Nov 12, 2019

People in glass houses...

It is an alarming state of affairs when a person can casually state that “verbal abuse, threatening behaviour, and physical assaults are simply part of the job” without even a slight change of tone during the conversation. Sadly that same verbiage is used by Police, Healthcare Workers, Ambulance Personnel, Security Personnel, Corrective Services and other frontline workers who also have sexual & racial harassment and spitting sitting squarely on their regular risk landscape.


With staggering increases in the number of assaults occurring on these people who so selflessly serve and support communities, what is truly being done to help keep “safe and well” the people we desperately rely on to keep us “safe and well”? It's also important to remember these first responders and frontline workers who often have to work in extremely volatile environments under the public eye dealing with people on potentially the worst days of their lives are community members as well.


On top of not receiving elements of the needed support and not receiving enough reality-based training necessary to further help reduce the chance of being “bashed or bitten”, they also often have to deal with "armchair academics" sharing uninformed emotive reviews of how they respond to situations based on seeing a select 5-second mobile phone video of a portion of their actions (These armchair academics have also highly likely viewed a range of Jason Bourne or James Bond movies therefore are obviously well-versed use of force experts).


It’s time for a change. It’s time for us to issue every one of the abovementioned roles with body-worn cameras and then freely open up the opportunity to share the footage of all of the lead-up actions of others before that 5 second Instagram video. Members of the general public will have their "select" video content up onto Facebook, Insta and YouTube in a flash and the sensationalistic comment carnage commences concurrently with the post. If we are truly wanting to reduce antisocial behaviour and any subsequent aggression and violence rather than just bolster our social media feeds, why wouldn't this be supported?

"Anonymity breeds bravado" and this is exponentially enhanced with groups suffering from a mob mentality so let's help level the playing field and work towards a solution that broadens the security and safety sphere of influence.

It would help reduce the crime, it would help educate others and it would be a damn good start. Is this where we share Matthew 7: 1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged”.

Darren Horsburgh

Good Dog Handlers aren’t Cheap & Cheap Handlers aren’t Good.

4 年

There are some Interesting points coming from this post by a number of People with very nice job titles. Will this lead to Real change for a front line security officer/guard. As a Dog Handler i always wear my own Body Camera and it has made the difference when the Police arrive on site. There first reaction is to blame the Guard, until they See the footage. Better standards across the Industry are required. RTO,s can’t just pump out guards like a sausages. Companies must value staff and Provide real life ongoing training . Client,s must understand cheap rates only gets cheap service. Have contract standards and all parties must stick to them. State Governments must set a real standard with a properly managed governance, not just a place to Dump semi retired Cops that no station wants. Then rip money out of the lowest earning person in the chain the Security Guard. A professional golfer uses 14 clubs to play. This industry needs to find a lot of solutions to get better.

John Donoghue GSM L.I.O.N

President at H.F.H.SECURITY SERVICES. INC. Private investigator.

4 年

This is a great post and a great insight into the way change needs to start, unfortunately in my experience there also needs to be a change at the top level, too many security companies are still making money while employing warm bodies to fill contracts. The whole licensing and training needs to be looked at, as a 40 hour online course is not good enough in todays society with more and more mental health issues arising.

Bruno Corica

Personal Security & Public Safety Consultant/Trainer/Educator

4 年

??Scott Taylor CPP? ??I agree with the other comments. We cannot consider body worn cameras to be a panacea for ending violence against police and first responders.

Richard James

RIVICA Investigations & Covert Solutions - “We find the piece of evidence to give you the peace of mind!” Private Investigator, Surveillance Specialist, the Fox FM “Catch them if you can!” PI

4 年

100% agree with you Scott that cameras have their place and are needed to see the truth of the event and not just what someone gabs on their phone. I don't think that cameras will deter the aggressor however the camera will provide the front line responder with supporting evidence for the reason and justification of their actions and show an independant person the impact factors that the wearer waa experiencing. Unfortunately these days in a situation where there is a public incident where the majority of persons present are present for the same purpose, you are unlikely to find a witness with an unbiased perception of what occurred. Too much emphasise is based on what peoples views are and not the facts of the matter. This is where body worn cameras will assist. I also strongly believe that social media platforms need to step up here and should take more responsibility for what is posted on their platforms as most of what I see is purely to incite more aggression or to gain support for a particular position.

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Simon Grieves

My thoughts and opinion are my own and do not represent my employer

4 年

Scott Taylor CPP you're gaining some input & feedback now as you hoped for. I would suggest taking this to another forum before it becomes cumbersome to manage and loses momentum and direction. Just a thought.

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