{"id":3893,"date":"2017-05-08T12:34:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T12:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2025-05-16T13:02:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:02:24","slug":"effective-ways-for-security-guards-and-door-supervisors-to-handle-aggressive-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/effective-ways-for-security-guards-and-door-supervisors-to-handle-aggressive-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Handling Aggressive Behaviour: A Guide For Security Professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ask any security industry worker,<\/strong> and they will tell you that dealing with threatening behaviour is a part of the job; in fact, verbal and violent conduct towards security staff is reported to occur regularly in night-time economies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While dealing with aggressive behaviour is part of the job of a door supervisor or security guard, it is important to know different approaches to handle aggressive behaviour to protect yourself and the public effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stages of Aggression<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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To effectively handle aggressive behaviour, it\u2019s important first to understand the different stages of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Provocation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Provocation, action or speech that makes someone angry can be caused by either security staff or the aggressor. Be mindful of how you interact with customers; being unsympathetic, rude or threatening towards a customer could cause them to react aggressively. Remember, as security staff, it is your job to diffuse potentially violent confrontations, not create them, even if you are having a bad day or the customer you are dealing with has rubbed you the wrong way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Escalation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Maybe someone has forgotten their ID or had too much to drink, so you\u2019ve told them to come back another night. Maybe that person has pleaded with you for a while and finally realises no means no. When a person realises your decision is final, they might transition from an argumentative attitude to physical aggression in an effort to enforce their point or simply because they are angry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confrontation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The confrontation itself is when one expresses his or her feelings of anger towards the other party. This can be either verbally or physically. During this stage, door supervisors and security guards need to use appropriate skills to diffuse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When It\u2019s Verbal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While appreciating that the situation of every confrontation will be different and the way you handle one individual\u2019s aggressive behaviour may be different from the next, all door supervisors and security guards should take a communicative approach when dealing with any altercation and physical approach only as a last resort. Security industry operatives can use the pneumonic REACT as a guide as to how to communicate during an altercation (3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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