Communication, Report Writing, Evidence and Emergency Response
Communication
The communication process
Every message runs through a sender, a message, a medium, a receiver and feedback. Barriers include noise, jargon, language, emotion, assumptions and status differences. Security work fails most often at the feedback stage - the guard spoke, but nobody confirmed understanding.
Non-verbal matters more than you think
Body language, posture, distance (proxemics), tone and pace carry much of the meaning. Keep a safe distance, stand angled rather than square-on, keep your hands visible and your exit route open. Never touch a person to make a point.
Verbal skills
Use active listening: paraphrase, ask clarifying questions, summarise. Open questions ('Tell me what happened') gather facts; closed questions ('Did you see the man run?') confirm them. Speak calmly and slowly, use the person's name, give clear instructions and check compliance. Explain what you are doing and why.
De-escalation
De-escalation is not surrender. It means lowering the emotional temperature so the facts can be resolved: acknowledge the concern, keep your voice low and even, offer choices, avoid arguing, avoid phrases like 'calm down', and set clear limits with consequences. Be assertive, not aggressive. Escalate to police when words stop working or safety is threatened.
Professional conduct
Stay impartial, respectful and confidential. Follow the Alberta Human Rights Act - accommodate disability or language barriers, and use an interpreter rather than a family member where possible. Radio traffic is not private: give facts, not opinions.
Traps: paralanguage (tone, pitch, pace) is not the words themselves; silence is a communication tool, not a failure; promising confidentiality you cannot keep is a common ethics question.
Rule of thumb: listen at least as long as you speak, say what you will do, do it, then confirm understanding.
Report Writing
Why reports matter
Your notebook and report may be the only record of an incident. They are read by supervisors, clients, police and lawyers, used to refresh memory, and used to support or challenge evidence in court. Notes must be made at the time or as soon as practicable, kept secure, and never altered or rewritten - later additions should be dated and initialled, not erased.
What a good report contains
Answer who, what, when, where, why and how, in chronological order, using 24-hour times. Identify everyone by full name and role and describe people by objective features. Record exactly what was said in quotation marks, exactly what you saw ('I saw'), and exactly what you did. Distinguish clearly between what you observed, what you were told and what you inferred.
Write in first person, past tense and short factual sentences, in plain language rather than slang, jargon or police codes. Avoid opinions, conclusions, guesses and loaded adverbs such as 'obviously' or 'confrontational' - describe behaviour instead. Be accurate, complete, concise, clear, factual, objective and legible. Correct errors properly: never use correction fluid, never leave blank space, never write on the back of a page, never tear out a sheet.
Traps exam questions use
- Subjective versus objective: 'He was angry' is a conclusion; 'He shouted and struck the desk' is a fact.
- Complete does not mean long - it means all relevant facts, including negative facts (what was not seen or did not happen).
- A report is evidence; producing a tidier second version to replace the original destroys the first.
- Include notifications made (police, supervisor, EMS), times and a signature.
Rule of thumb: write it so a stranger who was not there can see exactly what happened and in what order.
Worked example: instead of 'The patron was drunk and aggressive', write 'At 22:14 the patron's speech was slurred and he swayed when standing; he raised his voice and struck the counter twice with his hand.'
Evidence and Emergency Response
Evidence
Evidence must be relevant, and relevant evidence may still be excluded (for example hearsay, or evidence obtained in breach of the Charter). Know the difference between direct evidence (a witness describes what they saw) and circumstantial evidence (facts from which a conclusion is drawn). Real evidence is a physical object; documentary evidence is a record; testimonial evidence comes from a witness.
Your job is to preserve, not to analyse. Record the item, where and when it was found, and by whom, then hand it to police; keep an unbroken chain of custody. Do not handle items more than necessary, do not taste or test unknown substances, and do not leave property unsecured. Notes should be contemporaneous because memory fades and credibility depends on accuracy. Confidentiality applies: personal information is protected under PIPA, and incidents are not discussed with media or outsiders.
Emergency response
Emergencies follow a cycle: prevent, prepare, respond, recover. Before an incident, know the post orders, fire plan, exits, alarm panels, extinguisher locations, first aid kit and who to call. On discovery: assess the scene for your own safety first, raise the alarm, call 911, evacuate or shelter as directed, account for people, secure the perimeter and preserve the scene.
For fire, remember RACE (Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Evacuate or Extinguish) and PASS for extinguishers (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep) - only for small fires, only if trained, and only with an exit behind you. For medical emergencies, call EMS, do not move an injured person unless there is immediate danger, and give first aid within your training. Write the report immediately afterwards.
Traps: a guard never self-deploys into an unsafe scene, never re-enters a burning building, and treats a bomb threat as a report-and-evacuate matter, not an investigation.
Rule of thumb: protect yourself first, then others, then the evidence.