Private Officer International Calls For Mandatory Use of Force Training For Security Officers
Charlotte NC March 17, 2023
Gone are the days when most security officers sat in a booth at the entrance of a business and logged people in or walked a pathway through a cold, dark, and empty industrial plant clicking keys into a watchman’s clock.
The fact is that more than ninety-five percent of all security officers today work with the public in many different environments including those that require up close and personal interactions with a person who may be violating a property rule or a criminal law.
Firearms are often involved in these contacts.
Sometimes it’s the security officer carrying the weapon, other times it’s a person causing a problem and now, more than ever, it’s both.
Each year, dozens of on-duty security officers are charged with aggravated assault, manslaughter, and murder while trying to defend themselves, conduct an apprehension or while trying to enforce the rules and regulations of their employer or client.
Nationwide, the average security officer receives less than six hours of Use of Force training even when licensed to carry a firearm by a regulatory agency.
It’s time that changes.
Private Officer International is recommending the benchmark standard be 40 Hours of “Use of Force” training which should include:
Intensive De-escalation Techniques Training
Types of Mental Health and Mental Health Assessment
Constitutional Rights
Enforcing Property Rules VS Criminal Laws
Legal Force When Detaining a Person
Evaluating If Force Should be Used and What Level
This training must combine both classroom and scenario-based, roleplaying to evaluate each person being certified.
A written exam should also be administered at the end of the training block.
The increased training and mandatory annual in-service training will keep security officers safer, prevent criminal prosecutions of the security employee and decrease civil lawsuits against contract security companies and their clients.
Rick McCann MS/CLEI Police Chief/Firefighter II-Medic
Founder-CEO
Private Officer International
