Enhanced Non-Lethal Security Blog

(Police Foundation Vice President, Jim Burch, moderated the briefing)

Guardian 8 was invited to speak at a briefing last week in Washington D.C for the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Law Enforcement Caucus as part of a discussion about alternative, non-lethal, and less-lethal use of force options in law enforcement. The featured speakers at the briefing included the caucus co-chairs, Congressman Reichert (R-WA) and Congressman Pascrell (D-NJ), myself (Guardian 8's Training Headmaster), two senior NYPD command staff members, a Washington State SWAT officer, and one other less-lethal technology company representative. 

The debate between deploying ARMED and UNARMED private security officers is seemingly timeless.

While cost, liability, and client expectations are all part of the decision making process, NOTHING (in our opinion) is more important than the safety of the officers standing guard.

To that point, a recent story out of Florida caught our attention. It appears to be a unique situation where an armed AND unarmed guard confront two shoplifting subjects.

Read the story by clicking the link below and consider the answers to the questions we pose in the following section.

http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/armed-security-guard-used-gun-raises-legal-questions-25058.shtml

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ stance on weapon use in hospitals is clear:  the use of weapons in the application of restraint, or even seclusion for that matter, is inappropriate for any healthcare intervention. On the other hand, a weapon may be used as part of a law enforcement action, not a healthcare intervention, to protect people from harm. Inasmuch as a patient has the right to a safe environment for their care, a clinician has the same right to provide that care in a safe environment. As security officers enlisted to help and serve others, part of our job is to ensure that people do not harm themselves or others.

In a 2014 survey, almost 80 percent of nurses reported being attacked on the job within the past year. Health-care workers experience the most nonfatal workplace violence compared to other professions by a wide margin. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, incidents of patients hitting, kicking, scratching, biting, threatening or harassing staff accounting for almost 70 percent of all nonfatal workplace assaults causing days away from work in the U.S.

Understanding CMS’ "use of weapons" rule can have profound impacts when it comes to determining which risk mitigation and response strategies are right for your hospital.

This post was originally published on LinkedIn.

Wherever you go, they’re there. You may not pay much attention to them, but they are on the job protecting the public in shopping malls, stadiums, hospitals, schools and many more places.

Security guards are among America's unsung heroes.  Saturday, April 11, is National Security Guard Day.  It's a chance to stop and recognize the service security professionals provide every day across the country to help keep the public safe.