Security Guards for Workplace Violence Concerns
When someone has said what they will do, an officer at the door who knows the name, the face and the plan, for as long as the threat lasts.
Request a proposalThe situation
What a workplace deals with after a threat
A named threat
A terminated employee who said he would be back. A customer who threatened a clerk. A domestic partner of an employee who has a protective order and knows where she works. The threat has a name, a face and often a car, and the workplace has an open door.
The open door
Offices, clinics, stores and plants are built to let people in. A receptionist, a clerk or a nurse is the first person a threat meets, and none of them are trained or paid to stop it.
The employee at the center
The person the threat is aimed at has to come to work, park, walk in, sit at a desk near a window and leave at five. They are frightened, and their colleagues know it.
Duration and the police
A threat does not have a date. The police take a report and may not be able to do more until something happens. The workplace has to decide how long to hold a presence and what the presence is for.
A threat with a name
Workplace violence security starts with a threat that has been made: by a former employee, a customer, a patient, or the domestic partner of someone who works there. The threat has a name, a face, a vehicle and usually a police report. Price Protection’s post is built around those facts: an officer at the door with the photograph and the plan, the no-contact list and any protective order applied at the entrance, the employee at the center escorted, and the police briefed with the case number before anything happens.
The door
The workplace’s open door is the problem, and the officer becomes the door. Visitors are greeted and signed in, side and dock doors are locked and checked, the lot is watched on the cameras and the named person is not admitted under any circumstances. If they appear, the officer keeps the door, calls the police with the case number, tells HR, speaks calmly if spoken to and records everything verbatim. Force is used only to defend someone from harm, within Texas Penal Code chapter 9, and the police handle the rest. This is a summary, not legal advice.
The employee at the center
The person the threat is aimed at is introduced to the officer, told where the officer will be, escorted to and from the lot and, where the plan directs, moved to a different parking space, entrance or hours. Their colleagues see the arrangement and are reassured by it. Their reports of calls or messages are recorded verbatim for counsel.
Armed, unarmed and how long
Many workplaces start with an unarmed officer at the door. Where HR, counsel and the police have assessed a specific, credible threat, a commissioned officer holds the entrance under post orders written with them. Coverage lasts as long as the client decides; the daily report shows what has happened, and HR and counsel reduce or end it from the record.
Calling
Dispatch takes the details from HR or the security manager: the threat, the name and the description, the police case number, the building and its doors, the employee at the center and the hours wanted. An unarmed officer can typically be at the door within hours and the supervisor writes the post orders with HR the same day.
How we cover it
Every service, applied to this post.
- Unarmed security guards
An unarmed officer at the entrance or the front desk for business hours and the hours the plan sets, with the name, the photograph, the vehicle and the plan, greeting visitors, holding the door against the named person, escorting the employee at the center to and from the lot and walking the building on rounds.
- Armed security guards
Where the threat is specific and HR, counsel and the police have assessed it, a commissioned officer holds the entrance under post orders written with them, positioned so the threat sees it and the staff feel it, with observe-and-report the default and the police briefed in advance.
- Access control
The no-contact list and any protective order applied at the door, visitor sign-in tightened, side and dock doors secured and checked, the employee's parking moved as the plan directs and the front desk given a photograph and a script.
- Camera monitoring
The building's cameras on the lot, the entrances and the lobby watched from the desk between arrivals, with the officer walking to what the camera shows and clips preserved for counsel and the police.
- Incident reporting
A daily confidential report to HR, the security manager and counsel: coverage hours, visitors of note, any appearance, contact or call by the named person recorded verbatim with times, escorts provided, doors checked and police contact.
A typical post
What a shift looks like here.
The officer meets the HR director and the security manager before the office opens: the name and photograph of the former employee who made the threat, his truck and plate, the protective order the employee at the center holds, the front desk's script, the side doors that will be locked from today, the police case number and the officer who took the report. The employee at the center is introduced and told where the officer will be.
Through the day the officer is at the desk, greets visitors, tightens sign-in, walks the side doors and the dock on the hour and watches the lot on the cameras. At two a truck matching the description parks across the street; the plate is confirmed, the police are called with the case number, HR is told and the truck leaves before the police arrive. It is logged with the time and the clip preserved.
At five the officer walks the employee to a car now parked by the front door, watches her leave and checks the lot before locking up with the office manager. The report to HR and counsel records the truck, the police call, the escort and the doors, and the coverage continues tomorrow.
Reporting
What the daily report covers here
Every client receives a written report each day, and officer performance is reviewed and documented daily. This is what the report records on this kind of post.
- Coverage hours and the officer's position
- Appearances, contacts, calls or messages by the named person, recorded verbatim with times
- Police calls with the case number, response and outcome
- Escorts provided to the employee at the center, with times
- Visitors of note and sign-in refusals
- Side doors, dock and lot checks
- Camera observations acted on and clips preserved
How fast can an officer be at our workplace after a threat?
An unarmed officer can typically be at the door within hours. Dispatch takes the details from HR or the security manager, the officer is briefed on arrival and the supervisor writes the post orders with HR the same day.
Armed or unarmed for a threat?
It depends on the threat. Many workplaces start with an unarmed officer at the door with the name, the face and the plan. Where HR, counsel and the police have assessed a specific, credible threat, a commissioned officer holds the entrance. The company advises and the client decides.
What does the officer do if the person shows up?
Does not admit them, keeps the door, calls the police with the case number, tells HR, speaks calmly if the person speaks and does not engage beyond that, and records everything verbatim. Force is used only to defend someone from harm, within Texas Penal Code chapter 9.
Can you escort the employee at the center?
Yes, to and from the lot, and the plan can move their parking, change their entrance and their hours. The employee is told where the officer will be and has dispatch's number.
How long does coverage continue?
As long as the client decides. Many threats fade in days; some last weeks. The reports show what has happened, and HR and counsel decide when to reduce or end the coverage.
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Request a proposal for workplace violence response.
Two short steps. Dispatch reviews every request and calls you back about coverage. For urgent unarmed coverage we can typically staff most sites within hours.
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