Twenty Minutes Until Backup
It is 22:40 on a -25°C night in a downtown Edmonton office tower lobby. A man has spread his bags and bedding across the marble floor, is shouting that the security desk stole his backpack, and has just knocked over a brass stanchion. Three building staff are behind the desk; two tenants are waiting at the elevator. He is not touching anyone and has not threatened anyone directly, but he picks up the stanchion and sets it down again while he shouts. Police ETA is 20 minutes on a busy night. You have a partner in the building and a radio.
1. Script your first 60 seconds: what you do before you speak, what you say, and what you deliberately do not say.
Read the worked answer
Before you speak (5 seconds)
- Radio first: brief the partner, ask them to come to the lobby and stay back as cover, and tell the desk staff to move the two tenants away from the elevator.
- Position: stay at an angle rather than square-on, roughly two arm-lengths away, never between him and the exit, and keep the stanchion out of the triangle between you. Do not stand over him.
- One voice: your partner does not join in. Two people talking at a shouting man doubles the stimulation.
Your opening
"Hi - my name's Dan, I'm building security. I'm not going to touch your stuff. I want to hear what happened with the bag."
Then stop talking and let him speak. Use his name once you have it. Reflect content before you correct anything: "So you're saying your pack went missing while you were at the desk." Acknowledgement is not agreement. Offer one real, small choice - "You can sit on the bench over here while I check with the desk, or I can call my supervisor down" - because choices restore control and lower volume.
What not to say
- "Calm down" - it tells him his reaction is the problem and it never works.
- "You have to leave right now" as an opener - it converts a complaint into a confrontation before you know the facts.
- Any diagnosis: "you're drunk," "you're high," "you're off your meds."
- Threats you will not carry out, and promises you cannot keep ("I'll get your bag back").
And the practical thing: it is -25°C. If policy allows him a warm corner while you sort this out, say so. It is honest, it is humane, and it buys you the 20 minutes.
2. He stops shouting, then picks up the stanchion and swings it at a potted plant, smashing it. What options do you have, in order, and when may you put hands on him?
Read the worked answer
The ladder, in order
- Distance and cover. Back the staff away, keep furniture between you, keep the exit open for him.
- Clear, single instruction with a stated consequence you can actually deliver: "Put the stanchion down and step away from it, or I will call police and you'll be trespassed from the building. Put it down." Repeat verbatim, calmly, once more.
- Time. He has now shown he damages property but has not moved toward a person. Waiting 20 minutes for police is frustrating but lawful and is usually the best outcome.
- Withdrawal. If he moves off down the street, that is a win, not a loss.
When force becomes available
- Criminal Code s. 27 permits as much force as is reasonably necessary to prevent the commission of an offence that would be likely to cause immediate and serious injury to a person or property, where that offence is one for which arrest without warrant is available. A swinging metal pole near people can meet that.
- s. 25 caps the force at reasonable and no more than necessary; s. 26 makes excessive force an offence. s. 35 covers defence of property, but never in defence of a potted plant.
- Trespass to Property Act supports removing or arresting a person found committing an offence under that Act, with reasonable force.
- The test is the person, not the plant. If he turns toward the desk with the stanchion, the calculus changes instantly. If he keeps hitting furniture, your role is containment, a clear witness account and video preservation.
If you do act: two of you, one voice, control the pole hand first, minimum restraint, stop the moment resistance stops, no strikes to the head, no neck restraint, and hand over to police on arrival.
3. Write the radio transmission you would make at the moment the stanchion is swung, and explain what you leave out.
Read the worked answer
Transmission
"Control, Security Two, main lobby. One male, swinging a metal stanchion, no weapon seen, no injuries, staff clear of him, requesting EPS. He is a male about 40, grey jacket, dark toque. I am at the north side of the lobby. Partner en route. Over."
What that does: location first, then what is happening, then weapons and injuries, then what you need, then a description and your own position so nobody walks in blind. Plain language, no codes unless everyone on the channel uses the same ones.
What you leave out
- Diagnosis - "he's drunk," "he's mental," "he's a known problem." Those are opinions, they travel on an open channel, and they contaminate every responding officer before they arrive.
- Names and personal details of staff, tenants or the man. Personal information under PIPA does not belong on a shared frequency.
- Medical information about anyone present.
- Speculation about motive - "he's trying to get arrested," "he's a thief." Say what you see.
Good radio discipline after the first call: short updates only on change - "stanchion is on the floor, he's sitting down," "he's moving to the east doors." Do not narrate. Keep the channel clear so the responding units can reach you, and do not step out of earshot of the radio to manage the man; ask your partner to hold the radio if you must close distance.