Bomb scares and events

L

littlewoman

Longterm Registered User
I'm sure we all know how to react to suspicious bags and actual definite threats of someone phoning up and saying they have planted a bomb in the venue. But how about those more tricky situations?

Here's the scenario.

You're at a festival dealing with an irate customer who is complaining about the mud and demanding a refund. You direct them to the office but they refuse to go through the mud and demand you get an organiser there. They then start saying things like. "What would you do if I said I had a bomb, you'd take notice then wouldn't you."

How far down the scale of suggestions and threats such as this does it has to go before you switch from treating that person as irate customer to serious problem? What consideration would you give to possible fears of other customers even if you believe the threat isn't real?
 
Pursue the suggestion.
yes I would take notice as that would be a threat to the lives of all here.
unlike the natural phenomena of mud.
So Have you got a bomb ?
 
littlewoman said:
I'm sure we all know how to react to suspicious bags and actual definite threats of someone phoning up and saying they have planted a bomb in the venue. But how about those more tricky situations?

Here's the scenario.

You're at a festival dealing with an irate customer who is complaining about the mud and demanding a refund. You direct them to the office but they refuse to go through the mud and demand you get an organiser there. They then start saying things like. "What would you do if I said I had a bomb, you'd take notice then wouldn't you."

How far down the scale of suggestions and threats such as this does it has to go before you switch from treating that person as irate customer to serious problem? What consideration would you give to possible fears of other customers even if you believe the threat isn't real?
Click to expand...

I openly doubt that many know how to identify what constitutes a suspicious package much less how to deal. Never mind phone calls "What is your name? Where do you live?" Riiiight...

As for the pseudo-threat of taking notice if someone said they had a bomb just call their bluff. Like OJ says. But I'd just drop all other lines of enquiry and repeat the question for as long as it takes "Do you have a bomb?" nothing more, nothing less until the reaction drives home the gravity and stupidity of the statement they just made.
 
Oddjob said:
Pursue the suggestion.
yes I would take notice as that would be a threat to the lives of all here.
unlike the natural phenomena of mud.
So Have you got a bomb ?
Click to expand...
I can see that working in some circumstances, but when I had this happen I felt she was only saying it to try and get attention and so felt it better not to give her more attention for saying it, I felt that may make her go further down the route of a more specific threat.

However, my question is more about what exactly do they have to say before you treat it more seriously, there's many ways something similar could be phrased. What if she said "Right OK, so you're not going to get the organisers are you. How about I go back to my tent and make a bomb with my gas stove, will that get you to do something." Or how about they just say "Right I have a bomb, now what are you going to do." or "Either I get the organisers here now or I'm going to blow the place up."

What if they make some similar remark and then walk off, how serious does it have to be before you feel you need to arrest them just in case they do go and do something stupid. (Thankfully my situation didn't escalate with more worrying wording, had it done, I had the added problem that she had two small children with her and was carrying the baby - your normal control and restraint tactics don't teach you how to deal with that.)
 
If they say they have a bomb they are saying they have a weapon. The is an indictable offence and so arresting them is an option. That will ruin there day :)
 
the likely hood is they dont have a bomb..but you never know, however if they said they had one, continued to be an arse, when asked "do you have one" they respond "i might well do, only time will tell". Then id put them one the floor face down in that lovely mud, star fish them so "they cant press any buttons"

they want to be a tit, treat them like a tit


however though, I would point out that you are not able to issue refunds, the organiser doesnt carry around cash to give out refunds, and they shouldnt have gone to an event/festival without expecting a bit of mud. As a member of security you need to be doing security work first, customer service second, your instructions are to patrol your area, not wander off to the office. If they wish to get a refund then they need to go to the office themselves or if they are scared of a little mud, wait untill they are home and write an email of complaint requesting a refund
 
I would think that they were really amusing a s call their bluff. As I was trying to help them resolve the original issues they had and they are throwing it back in my face I would just pass it straight to the police. I've wasted enough time with the idiot, it's the polices responsibility to co-ordinate any efforts utilising the staffing levels of the security. If it is a hoax it has now back fired and they have to answer up for their actions. I can resume my duties to my employer deployed as appropriate.
 
Pyrene said:
however though, I would point out that you are not able to issue refunds, the organiser doesnt carry around cash to give out refunds, and they shouldnt have gone to an event/festival without expecting a bit of mud. As a member of security you need to be doing security work first, customer service second, your instructions are to patrol your area, not wander off to the office. If they wish to get a refund then they need to go to the office themselves or if they are scared of a little mud, wait untill they are home and write an email of complaint requesting a refund
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I just told them where the office was, I wasn't going to escort them. In many positions at festivals, security is there to deal with the customers who start getting unreasonable so that the stewards aren't dealing with conflict. Its so that the stewards aren't seen to be doing what might be considered an licensable role. Unfortunately the festival had issued a statement earlier in the week saying that the drainage on site was so good there wouldn't be much mud!! It was at least knee deep, even for normal sized people. :)
 
littlewoman,

If someone at a festival said to me, They have a bomb!
They get a free ride in a police car kids or no kids. Keep the person there until the police arrive by any means.
The tent and belongings would go into a skip at the end of the festival, with all the other uncollected rubbish.

regards

premier
 
premier said:
littlewoman,

If someone at a festival said to me, They have a bomb!
They get a free ride in a police car kids or no kids. Keep the person there until the police arrive by any means.
The tent and belongings would go into a skip at the end of the festival, with all the other uncollected rubbish.

regards

premier
Click to expand...
If its as worded as definitely as that, yes I would be calling the police and probably restraining them. However, its the vaguer wording such as "what would you do if I had a bomb" that makes it a little more tricky.

This one had the added complication of her having a baby in her arms. If you have to restrain someone you're pretty limited in the techniques you can use in that sort of circumstance. Anyone want to suggest anything?

What I actually did was to call the response team so that if her threats escalated we would have been able to keep her there without having to wrestle her to the ground. It also meant more witnesses to anything she actually said.
 
love it.
and get any stewards near by to join in a loud chorus of

VIVA LA REVOLUTION, ayyh chijauja. (in a mexican accent.

some poor fat cleaner used to come on a sunday morning to clean the green spy palace at Vauxhall to be greeted by a chorus of
"FAT SPY" from a 900 strong queue waiting to get into Sunny Side Up Session at09:00 in our club over in the arches.
nothing like a well trained chorus to get thr message home. (of course i would never prompt, count in or encourage such childish nonsense)
 
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