Using verbal Judo, as a Security Officer

1. TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS
FOR SECURITY OFFICERS
(VERBAL JUDO)
- JEFFERY MARTIN

2. OBJECTIVES
1. Officer safety: Officers are taught to use words to prevent
confrontations from becoming physically violent.
2. Enhanced professionalism: Officers recognize the impact of their
words on the public, and use language appropriate to each encounter.
3. Reduced vicarious liability: Officers who handle citizen encounters
more skillfully are less likely to generate complaints and lawsuits, and will
also be more articulate in describing their reasoning and actions.

3. YOUR ROLE AS A SECURITY
OFFICER

4. REPRESENTATIVE
As a Security Officer, you are acting as a representative for the
company that you work for and/or the property that contracted your
company.
When you put on your uniform and clock in, you are no longer “you”.
At home, I am “Jeff”. At work, I am “Officer Martin”.
Officer Martin is the person that is in uniform, walking around enforcing
rules.
When I make contact with someone , it is “Officer Martin”, a
representative of ______ Security, that they meet; not “Jeff”.
When They get angry because I told them that we do not allow
solicitors, they are angry at Officer Martin; not Jeff.
The crazy homeless guy isn’t calling Jeff an a##hole. He is insulting
Officer Martin.
When Officer Martin goes off-duty, Jeff re-appears; and Jeff doesn’t
worry too much about what happened to Officer Martin at work;
because Jeff wasn’t really involved.

5. YOUR GOALS AS A SECURITY
OFFICER

6. Enforce property policies, rules, and regulation; as well as
enforcing the laws of the state, and the city you work in.
The best way to do this is to gain VOLUNTARY compliance.

7. THE THREE KINDS OF PEOPLE

8. “NICE” PEOPLE
“Nice” people are going to do exactly what they are told;
regardless of how they are told to do it.
They respect your authority.
They won’t argue with you.
They don’t complain.
* If they feel you are rude, they will not say anything about it,
but you will lose their support.

9. “DIFFICULT” PEOPLE
Security/Police Officers tend to fall into this category; as does a
large portion of the population.
They will likely not do what they are told; until they have been
given a reason.
They are ready to argue.
They will want to know “Why?”.
Telling them why is usually not going to help.
In order to gain compliance from a difficult person, you need to
explain to them what they can gain from complying.
* AFTER you have tried to explain what they have to GAIN, if they
still won’t comply, you can then explain to them what it is that they
have to LOSE by failing to comply.

10. DIFFICULT PEOPLE
(CONT.)
INCORRECT
“If you don’t leave, I am going
to call the Police and have you
criminal trespassed/arrested.”
“Do you wanna go home, or
do you wanna go to jail?”
CORRECT
“If you leave now, there will be
no need for me to contact
anyone, and you can go home
and relax.”
If you cooperate, we will be
able to get this over with
quickly, and you can go home
and relax, or hang out with
your friends, or do whatever
else you want to do.

11. “WHIMPS”
A “Whimp” will act like a nice person, but they do not like being
told what to do; and they hate people having authority over them.
They will do what you say but, if they think you are rude, they will
complain to anyone and everyone; including your leadership.

12. UNDER THE INFLUENCE

13. PEOPLE LIVING UNDER
THE INFLUENCE
When we think about people that are “under the influence”, we
immediately think of drugs and alcohol; however you also have to
include other things that may influence a person’s behavior.
These things include stress, depression, anger, fear,
embarrassment, etc.

14. HANDLING VERBAL ABUSE

15. REMEMBER YOUR
ROLE
Remember that the person is not insulting you. They are insulting
who and what you represent; as a Security Officer.
Instead of responding with your natural reaction to an insult;
deflect the insult, and redirect the conversation.

16. DEFLECTION
You can use different phrases to deflect things that are said to you , and
keep the conversation on track.
This allows you to control the situation; rather than reacting to the
comment.
Some example might be along the line of “I understand that.”, “I heard
that.”, “I got that.”, etc.

17. REASONS TO USE
DEFLECTION
1: It makes you feel good, because it allows you to maintain
control.
2: It is a springboard-focus technique. (It gets the conversation
back on track.)
*Every word, after the word “but”, must be professional
language directed at obtaining the goal.
3: It disempowers the subject; by not allowing them to distract you
from your goal.
4: It sounds good.

18. EXAMPLE OF
DEFLECTION &
REDIRECTION
Subject: “ What the hell? My laptop was stolen! I called for Security 20
minutes ago, and you are just now showing up? “
Officer: “ I understand that, but the sooner we get started, the more likely
we are to find your computer. If you can give me the approximate time it
went missing, we can go ahead and get started reviewing the footage. ”

19. SHOW THEM RESPECT
Listen to what they have to say.
Remember that there is a difference between listening and “waiting to
interrupt”.
Look them in the eyes.
At key points, show minimal encouragers; such as “uh huh”, “yea”,
“gotcha”, etc., to show that you are paying attention.
Ask clarifying questions, to show that you care about what they are
saying.

20. WATCH YOUR TONE
Tone is a particular quality, way of sounding, modulation, or intonation of
the voice as expressive of some meaning, feeling, spirit, etc.
When speaking, speak slowly and clearly.
Try not to sound sarcastic, condescending, or bored.

21. WATCH YOUR FACIAL
EXPRESSIONS
Your facial expressions say a lot about how you feel, and what
you are thinking.
Try not to appear bored, nervous or angry.
Look them in the eyes, and nod your head ocassionaly.

22. WATCH YOUR
PHRASING
THINGS TO NEVER
SAY
Calm Down.
What’s your problem?
You people…
Come here.
I’m not going to tell you again.
Because these are the rules.
TACTICAL PEACEFUL
PHRASES
Excuse me; can I talk to you?
For your safety and mine…
Could I ask you?
Would you assist me?
Can you work with me?
You look like a reasonable
person.
What’s the matter?
What can I do to help?

23. SHOW EMPATHY
Empathy is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive
to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of
another of either the past or present without having the feelings,
thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit
manner.
Try to show the person that you care about what they have to say, and
that you can understand how they feel.

24. YOUR APPROACH

25. INITIAL APPROACH
Approach people in a friendly way, and try not to appear aggressive or
threatening.
When you threaten someone, it is basically a challenge.
They may feel that they NEED to disregard your orders; in order to save
face, and prove to you, as well as to themselves, that you are not above
them.

26. PERSONAL SPACE
Remember Officer safety, but try to be close enough that you can
communicate with each other, without having to shout.
Do not encroach on their personal space, and do not allow them to
encroach on yours.
If the other person gets too close; ask them to back up a little, or you can
take a couple of steps back yourself.

27. THE TACTICAL 8-STEP
1. Use an appropriate greeting. (“Hello.”, “Good afternoon.”, etc.)
2. Identify yourself and the department you work for.
3. Explain why you are making contact.
4. Ask if there is a justifiable reason for whatever it is that they are doing.
5. Ask for identification.
6. Gather any additional information.
7. Decide how to handle the situation. (Tactical 5-Step)
8. Use an appropriate closing statement. (“Drive Safe.”, “Have a good
day.”, etc.)

28. THE TACTICAL 5-STEP
1. Ask: “Sir, I need to ask you leave, because…”
2. Set context (explain): “ ….this area is only for employees and
customers. ”
3. Give options: “If you leave now, there won’t be any further hassle,
and you can just go on about your day; as if we never even met.” .
If he is still refusing to leave, this would be the time to explain what
will happen if he doesn’t leave. (“Sir, if you do not leave, I will have to
call the Police and have you criminally trespassed.”)*
4. Confirm compliance/non-compliance: Is he leaving or not?
5. Act: If he is leaving, you would continue your regular duties; if the
person is still not complying, or has become aggressive, respond
with the next level of force and/or call the Police.

29. L.E.A.P.S. CONCEPT
Listen: Listen to what is being said openly, and without bias.
Empathize: Try to understand the situation from their perspective.
Ask: Ask questions to help you understand what they are trying to tell
you.
Paraphrase: Re-word what is said into your own words, so that both of
you are able to understand.
Summarize: Summarize what was told to ensure that you understand all
parts of the information that was relayed to you.

30. THE 3 TACTICAL
PRINCIPLES

31. PRINCIPLE 1 (SAY)
“Say what you want; do as I say.”
Allow the subject to say whatever he/she wants, as long as they are
doing what you have told them to do; unless you are prepared to go to
court and prove that the words they are using presents a threat to
yourself and others.
* The fighting words doctrine, in United States constitutional law, is a
limitation to freedom of speech as protected by the First Amendment to
the United States Constitution.
In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court established the doctrine by a 9–0
decision in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. It held that "insulting or
'fighting words,' those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to
incite an immediate breach of the peace" are among the "well-defined
and narrowly limited classes of speech the prevention and punishment of
[which] … have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem."

32. PRINCIPLE 2 (ACT VS.
WORD)
“I’ve got the last act; I will give you the last word.”
Many fights are caused by taking someone’s “face” away.
Allowing the subject to speak his mind and “have the last word”, allows
him to “save face”.
• As long as you are in the right, and are acting within the authority that
has been granted to you, the subject will have to do what you say;
whether he likes it or not. Any insults he may throw your way are futile,
and hold no power.

33. PRINCIPLE 3
(RESPECT)
“Treat the subject the same way you would want to
be treated; if you were in their position.”
The majority of conflicts come from someone feeling that they are being
disrespected.
“Disrespect is “dissin”, and “dissin” is dead.”
*You do not have to FEEL respect for the person, but SHOWING respect
for the person will likely help diffuse the situation.

34. THE 5 UNIVERSAL
TRUTHS

35. Whether you are on or off-duty, there are 5
“universal truths” for interacting with people.

36. THE 5 TRUTHS
1: All people want to be treated with dignity and respect.
2: All people want to be asked; rather than told to do something
3: All people want to be told why they are being asked to do something.
4: All people want to be given options; rather than threats.
5: All people want a second chance.