 | Man Intrudes And Disrupts During Church Serviceposted by Glen Evans, Insider AccessThursday, April 1st 2010 @ 11:14 PM (not yet rated) |
An outside intruder who disrupts a church service is scary enough. However, when things become violent it is important those who are dealing with the incident know how to de-escalate a situation if possible with verbal tactics.
In the situation described in the video, a man entered a Sunday service while the minister was leading worship. The pastor attempted to have a fellow minister serve the man, but he was later found in a balcony area where he became violent.
Two people were reportedly injured in the scuffle and taken to the emergency room.
The man was reportedly familiar to the church, and they had assisted him in times past. It was unknown why he became violent.
Past behavior is not an indicator of future behavior, especially when dealing with people. Often times, due to stress, drugs or mental illness, people can become violent quickly and without warning.
Understanding how to de-escalate a situation with verbal tactics may help your church security team avoid unnecessary violence, as well as potential liability.
It is important to note that this is not a judgement on how this particular church handled this situation. There is a lot of information not available in the video, and each person who handles a potentially violent may experience, perceive, and feel danger differently than another person.
What is important is to attempt to deflect and de-escalate (as this church did well), and contact local law enforcement before a situation escalates to violence, if possible.
