Mental Person (5150) last night, what would you have done?

[Roses]

From the original poster:my58vw

[I proceded to calm him down and build some trust between us at that paint and when he was distracted I was able to call for backup over the radio.

To make a long story short backup arrived, one being a former police officer looking for a job locally and another individual]


I just wanted to make sure those of you who take the time to read this clearly understand that the backup was not currently employed Law Enforcement Officers.

IMO as a non leo, I think you did a nice job and glad it turned out the way it did, that no one was injured. You informed the local police department whom at that time became aware of the situation.

This is only an opinion and I'm sure that the Law Enforcement Officers that are members of this site well direct and guide you to the proper procedures that should be followed.

I am not disagreeing with any of the advice you that you have already received.

I think this is a nice example of the definition of discretion:
The quality of being discreet; tactful; prudence, Freedom or power to make one's own judgements.

Just my thoughts

Rose

[darrell]

I can't drive this point home enough.

Don't turn away back up when dealing with peole like that. Trust is good but SAFETY is always more important.

[michiganstud]

I just wanted to make sure those of you who take the time to read this clearly understand that the backup was not currently employed Law Enforcement Officers.
Rose

Why would his backup not be LEO's? How would they have gotten the call?

If they weren't LEO's, they had no business being there.

Something isn't right here.


AND STILL..............LEO's should have been called for.

[my58vw]

I did not turn down police, they were not called. They were not called until after the guy left and I got his information. I did not tell LEOs what to do or not too do and I did not turn down backup, I got backup. I relized that this was not a situation in which I could handle alone so I called for the other security officers with more training to come and help me with the situation. I was never close enough for the person to grab anything from me and I never actually got away from the bike so escape was possible.

When the other secuirity officers came on scene I told the guy that they were not cops after he freaked out. I also made some more distance from myself and the person at that time.

Thank You for all the comments, we had this discussion last night with all the secuity personel working (6 officers last night) and discussed what they would have done. Our "unwritten" policy is to call the cops and for backup from the other security officers when a situation like this. The problem is that we are seen as quazi police in our communities and I have to constently tell people we are not police officers.

When the senior security officer arrived on scene I let him take over. Like I said, I have only been doing this job for about 3.5 months and some of the other security officers have been on the job for sometime longer. The senior officer in truth should have call the police when arriving on scene as he knew the policy that was not stated to me in the minimal department training that I have had. All the training I have been through has been in areas of arrests and officer survuval, weapons handling, etc. We never have been trained on handling situations like these. We are in a new situation in the communities that we work in. This incident was really a wake up call in the fact that policy needs to be make more clear in the department and better training is needed. If the homeowner association tells the police to stay out of the gated communities and to have security do patrols then they should give us training to handle situations and not run from them.

As police officers I am sure that you are trained to handle situations as they come up in the line of duty. Certain situations that we come into in the context of employment we can not just run from.

Once again thank you for your input and I think this incident will make me better at my job.

Thank You

[acreature]

I think this is a nice example of the definition of discretion:
The quality of being discreet; tactful; prudence, Freedom or power to make one's own judgements............Rose

There is discretion in writing traffic violations, and discretion in whethere I write a ticket or haul persons to jail for misdemeanors.

There is NO discretion when dealing with persons that make statements of bodily harm to themselves or others; mentally unstable.

Most State Laws are worded the same: where there is discretion, its worded as "May". Where discretion is negated, it's worded as, "Shall" When dealing with Mentally Unstable people, our laws are, "Shall".

[my58vw]

That is true that you can run from anything. I just think that you can back off until backup or PD comes and I am not afraid to back off. There are just situations that are easier to do that then others. I agree the most important thing is going home at the end of the day.

[michiganstud]

There is NO discretion when dealing with persons that make statements of bodily harm to themselves or others; mentally unstable.

Exactly right!

But no one thinks you aren't a great person for wanting to help this guy out. It shows that you are dedicated and i'm sure you'll be a good cop.

But a word of advice. Work like you are going to be sued.

What I mean is always think that you must do the right thing to avoid liability. What if the guy went home and showered with the blow dryer or ate a 12 gage and people find out that you didn't take action and call for LEO assistance? What if you only saved his life for 30 minutes? What if he killed someone in the process?

WHAT IF??? You already have enough liabilities as a security officer, don't add to them.