Journeys, November 2015, Seeking Ideas
Seeking Ideas to Improve Personal Security
Mollie Hester, executive director of Travelers Aid of Greater Birmingham, has posed a question seeking suggestions from other agencies.
Mollie writes: As a small, all-female staff we’ve always been very aware of our personal safety while working with transients, walk-ins and other clients who are unknown to us. Over the years we’ve had a few incidents with clients who “crossed the line” in expressing their displeasure, frustration, etc… But all in all those were really few and far between. I always credited it to the skill sets of staff in being able to diffuse those situations.
Recently though we seem to have a rash of especially volatile clients. We’ve had to summon the police 3 times in a 2 week span. Some may be due to our new location, but we’ve been here over 18 months and these incidents have all been fairly recent.
I’m wondering what policies/precautions other TA agencies have in place to ensure the safety/protection of their staff. Maybe there are some things we could be doing that we are not already. Please write to Mollie.