Part of all front-line security training is a unit dealing with conflict management. This generally is part of the second phase of training, after legal and theoretical matters have been covered and the practicalities of security management become relevant. Part of the concept of conflict management is the Physical Intervention side of things. It is a clichéd idea that security professionals – or “bouncers” according to the nickname that has become accepted shorthand for the role – are in place purely to provide some muscle up front, scare some people into behaving, and take physical action against those who don’t get the message. The longer that time goes on, the less truth there is in this cliché. The use of force is a last resort in conflict management, and SIA training emphasises even when resorted to it must be reasonable force, only the necessary degree to prevent conflict.

The idea that, for example, a Door Supervisor can hand out a slap or two to a misbehaving individual to make them calm down is wildly off the mark. The use of physical intervention is an accepted part of conflict management in this day and age, but the importance falls on your interpretation of the term “physical intervention”. It is entirely possible to intervene physically in a conflict without making a single aggressive movement. This is vitally important. Nobody in today’s society is above the law, including officers of the law themselves, and there are numerous laws governing physical intervention and conflict management. While there are differences between physical intervention in one’s home and in one’s place of work, centring mostly one what considers reasonable force, the law can and will be used where unreasonable force has been used.

The legal niceties of physical intervention are a major consideration of the regulated training process in conflict management. The first thing to take account of is the meaning of the term itself. While it is true that a punch constitutes “physical intervention”, the term is so broad that it can also apply to something as simple as disengagement, where violence is prevented by a simple change in position. This is best used when aggressive behaviour has not yet reached physical expression. An individual seeking to pick a fight by “fronting up” to a security professional may be best stopped in their tracks by the professional taking a step back and adopting a non-aggressive stance, thereby taking the wind out of the individual's sails.

Physical Intervention may also take the form of simple restraining actions. If violence is clearly imminent, a security worker can take hold of the person about to commit the violence and lightly maintain this hold. This is an essentially non-aggressive action – although it does require some force – but it gives the person who may have become violent some time to think regarding what they were about to do. It may well be the case that, after a moment in a hold, they have no desire to continue their action, and had just flared up on the spur of the moment. There is some element of individual judgement required on the professional’s part here, as it may be necessary to read the individual’s reaction after they are released. The key to this form of intervention is that no pain need be caused.

In extreme circumstances it may be necessary for the security professional to physically eject someone from the premises. The subject of this action may be behaving extremely aggressively, however a trained professional will be aware that they cannot respond in kind. Restraining behaviour should be the first response, and if this is insufficient to stop the subject, backup should be requested. Once the subject is fully restrained, a decision needs to be taken as to whether they be ejected, or held until the police arrive. Under no circumstances should aggression be met with aggression.

The only time when an act of physical aggression on the part of the security professional can ever be considered legitimate is when it is a case of “them or you”. If an individual is armed, for example, and will not be restrained or reasoned with, sufficient physical force may be used to subdue them to the point where they can be disarmed. If this physical force results in injury to the subject, then any case brought against the security professional can be answered with a defence of “reasonable force”, where the options to the security professional were limited by his attacker.

Whatever the impression that may still persist in some people’s minds, the use of physical intervention in a conflict management capacity is closely regulated within SIA training, and any professional who exceeds the boundaries laid down in law will be looking not only at criminal charges, but also at losing their job.

Our approved level 3 physical intervention course for trainers will enable you to comply with the new (QCF) SIA Door Supervisor trainer requirements

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This course is offered on a regular basis at our nationwide venues,

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