TASER Guns: Self-Defense for Defenders of Property

While going through their training, security guards often learn about a force continuum, which is a way to understand the appropriate levels of force that must be used when suspected intruders trespass or attempt to trespass a protected area. In the simplest terms, as a situation intensifies, the level of force needed to keep a situation safe from a suspect increases as well. The force continuum also describes specific details of suspect behaviors that warrant the various forms of forceful treatment. Most of the concepts that outline force continuums offer the security guard trainee six levels of force to apply in tense situations:

• The two lowest levels of the force continuum ask the security guard merely to make his or her presence known, using verbal and non-verbal communication to send a message to potential or actual intruders.
• Mid-level force requires the guard to use physical restraints or holds, or even chemical aids like pepper spray to control a suspect.
• The highest levels of force, levels five and six, necessitate temporary incapacitation and possibly, deadly force when a suspect is particularly violent and danger appears imminent.

At the top two levels, a self-defense device like the TASER gun can assist a security guard during an extreme crime situation.

Interestingly, batons are mentioned for self-defense purposes rather early in the force continuum. Batons may be used on a violent suspect before the need for chemical agents arises, if a suspect cannot be held by physical moves intended to restrain the suspect. If the situation intensifies and the suspect’s behaviors grow even more violent, it appears that the baton may not be enough to keep the security guard, and the area he or she is protecting, safe. Later in the force continuum, devices like the TASER gun are positively recommended to keep the suspect from becoming even more violent and dangerous.

The use of TASER guns at those higher levels makes perfect sense. After all, TASER guns emit electrical charges that only temporarily incapacitate individuals but they incapacitate them quite thoroughly at the moment of contact. If a suspect is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or in emotional distress, the TASER gun will subdue him or her successfully without causing permanent injury. When deadly force may not be necessary, it simply makes sense to have an option between physical strength, which is finite, and a bullet, which is fatal.

TASER guns also ensure that a suspect is not prematurely punished with a severe injury or death, both of which are possible with firearms. Thanks to the temporary effect of a TASER gun, a suspect will be able to defend themselves to the police when they arrive to assist the security guard. When the police arrive to apprehend the suspect, he or she will have a chance to explain their actions because the effects of a TASER gun are not enduring, unlike that of a deadly bullet.

Security guards put themselves in the face of danger every shift they work. Though their job description does not require them to make arrests, it does ask that the security guards do everything in their power to keep their post criminal-free. Though training for security guards is rigorous and physical fitness is of utmost importance, sometimes a protective device like the TASER gun is what it takes to keep all parties involved safe.