11 Roles of Unarmed Security Officers in Active Assailant Incidents
Unarmed campus security officers can be a tremendous asset during an active killer, active shooter or active assailant attack.
Many incidents have shown that unarmed security officers might be able to stop an attack before police officers can get on scene.
The traditional advice given to unarmed security officers who encounter active killer, active shooter or active assailant incidents has been to get out and let armed officers handle it.
Unfortunately, this approach ignores the fact that security personnel, armed or unarmed, are likely to be among the first targets in an attack. In addition, it results in poor resource management and reduced ability to manage a complex incident.
However, security professionals can be a tremendous asset during an active killer incident when they perform the right roles. Numerous incidents have already shown that security officers might be able to stop an attack, even when unarmed, before police officers can get on scene.
Here are eleven roles they can perform during these incidents.
- Protect Self
- Warn and Direct
- Monitor and Communicate
- Help Injured/Trapped
- Provide Information for Investigations
- Liaison with Police
- High Visibility
- Traffic Control
- Rescue Teams
- Security Sweeps
- Incident Command
Stephen Lopez is the former Chief of Police at New Mexico State University. He has been in law enforcement for 29 years, and holds bachelor degrees in criminal justice and psychology, a masters in strategic planning for critical infrastructure, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. This article was originally published in 2018, and the practices listed still apply.
If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
About the Author
Stephen Lopez
Stephen Lopez is the Chief of Police at New Mexico State University. He has been in law enforcement for 29 years, and holds bachelor degrees in criminal justice and psychology, a masters in strategic planning for critical infrastructure, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Related Content
Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century
This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!
Why not just have a campus police department with highly trained armed personnel. Then you wouldn’t have to wait for the Police why people are trying to kill you. Unarmed security guard??? Is he serious? What a waste of resources. You will get what you pay for!! I highly disagree with the author. It’s almost as though he is saying unarmed guards are good enough to protect your kids. He should have said do not hire unarmed guards!! Armed guards are barely qualified to handle an armed intruder… And I mean barley!! Why doesn’t his University transition to all unarmed guards then they could wait for the real police to save them? I doubt he would suggest that. Unarmed guards.. WOW. Do not hire unarmed guards for our schools. The police do not rely on them at all in fact they are ridiculed by police officers. Just my rant… Sorry
Also remember that many security officers are former and sometimes current law-enforcement individuals trained in many of the same areas as current LEOs.
Unarmed security provide many other duties throughout the days and years unrelated to “active shooter” scenarios. That is why you keep a core group of unarmed security.
Mr. Thomas, I’m an armed security officer. I’ve been through a 40 hour P.O.S.T. (Police Officer Standards and Training) firearms course, multiple active shooter drills, crisis intervention training, arrest control, advanced firearms training including how to shoot through glass… so tell me again how I’m barely qualified to deal with an armed intruder?
Tim, what branch of law enforcement are you in? By your response I would guess former bullied now highly over qualified cop? Bitter much? Our police rely on us a lot actually. Due to budget cuts theres just not enough cops patrolling the streets. Just last night I was involved in an incident that would have ended horrible if we had to wait for a squad to get there. I was able to diffuse the situation before it got totally out of control and two people still ended up getting arrested. Took close to 40 minutes for a responding officers to show up. And guess whos statement did the take first? You got it! Mine! And am glad i was there because the female involved was to afraid to make a statement against the man involved. Pretty sure they wont be charged because she wont file charges against them but it would have been a whole lot worse if i wasn’t involved. Taking on an active shooter is a totally different story. If cops were so highly questioned and experienced we would not have any of them falling in the line of duty genius!!! Lol ignorance at its finest!
Hi Timothy,
I appreciate your perspective. I am not advocating for using unarmed security officers anywhere in this article. However, many schools (and a number of smaller colleges/universities) refuse to arm their personnel, despite many being retired police officers who still have all of their knowledge and skills. For those who are in this unfortunate position, they should know how to protect themselves, and how they can still contribute during an active threat/killer incident. It is true that some will still encounter resistance when it comes to working with local law enforcement, but I have seen a large number start bridging this gap (especially those who used to work for the local law enforcement agencies). Just like we are starting to integrate fire and EMS personnel (usually unarmed) into our rescue task forces, I think we have an opportunity to evaluate how we can integrate security personnel into our responses rather than discounting them outright.
The class was interesting. Everything evolves around training.
Why don’t unarmed security officers wear or carry body armor like the ones offered by Citizenarmor.com ?
It’s easy to make a declaratory statement that things should or should not exist and sit back and feel like you “handled it”. While not the ideal situation, the fact is that some schools, Colleges, and Universities DO have unarmed security personnel. These officers are not ridiculed by professional police officers. They work together within their individual roles. This writer expertly explores that issue and provide some good advice and best practices on how best to utilize unarmed security personnel most effectively and safely.
I am a armed security guard at a Jr. college .I was trained by the local police years ago, i was a armed reserve police officer from 85 to 95, 10 years. you don’t ever forget the training.
If I was in any of those situations, I would want to have the safety of a security officer. I’d be sure that they were properly trained. There are many situations that could arise so it would be best to be prepared for it.
I have high respect over unarmed security officers not only that they can’t defend their self from any fight or commotions but they have a calm mind in dealing with such situations.
The Role of Unarmed Security in Active Shooter Defense is not designed to train security to attack an active shooter or terrorist. It is designed to help prevent these attacks through proper positioning and drastically improve response through awareness.
Thanks for sharing very informative post for me,
I think having security officers roaming around the vicinity from time to time is the best idea. It is better to have a security presence in each area for the safety of the community.
Security sweeps by unarmed security during or after an active shooter scenario???? What happens when they FIND a threat?
I’m a Marine Infantry veteran very well trained and qualified to handle any situation with confidence. As a Public Safety Officer (unarmed), the biggest problem I’m experiencing is that the school district in which I work isn’t willing or insightful enough to train for an appropriate response and pay for training that is ABSOLUTELY necessary to better facilitate safety for our officers , Staff and students.
Thanks for sharing it’s really helpful for me
You’re doing a fantastic process Man, Keep it up.
I really appreciate this blog and found it so helpful regarding safety and security of the public.
Unarmed Security Officer here. Although we are transitioning to armed through the Florida Guardian Training. I am the eyes and ears for my SRO and Administration. As a retired FIrst Responder I have 30 years of experience in not only de-escalation, but also early recognition of developing potential situations. I have developed relationships with my staff and students so that in the event of an active assailant I can more effectively direct their actions to remain as safe as possible until the crisis is averted. I acquire and share intelligence with the SRO and vice versa. While not yet able to actually fend off an armed intruder, I am quite capable of “Handling the crowd” while the SRO deals directly with the threat.