Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McDonalds ... _0222.html

I'm glad the young man took action to stop a woman from being beaten. I wish he wouldn't have been shot by the convicted felon he ejected from the McDonald's where he worked. McDonald's is denying his workman's comp claim, stating the injuries from being shot multiple times did not occur during the course of his normal duties.

So, read the story, think about it, and let's discuss the trouble with getting involved.

What could have been done differently?

We need to understand something about violence and its two natural states:

• You don't see it coming[/*:m:a46pjym6]
  
• You see the event building and have time to prepare[/*:m:a46pjym6]

If you don't see it coming, there's a different set of rules to apply. There is no opportunity to de-escalate the event.

If you see it coming you have a chance to engage your brain. There's a chance to avoid violence through various means of de-escalation. This event falls into this category. Other examples include what Rory Miller calls the "Monkey Dance".

In a violent encounter, even if you "win" (read: survive) there's still a price to pay. Perhaps it's hospital bills and severe injury as in this case. Maybe it's legal trouble if you use excessive force in dealing with the threat. Perhaps it's the psychological effects of the attack and its aftermath. Violence should always be the last option on the table.

In all the accounts I've read on this, nowhere does it make mention of anyone calling 911. This should have been the first action taken. It could have been the store employees or another patron.

Secondly, there were no attempts made to de-escalate the situation. Any sort of verbal engagement would buy time for the police to arrive. The McDonald's employee placed himself directly into a violent situation, with potentially unknown weapons, without trying any verbal tactics first.

Third, he followed the person outside. This was unnecessary -- the threat had disengaged the victim and left the immediate area. However, the convicted felon went to his vehicle and obtained a firearm. Had the felon returned inside the restaurant with the firearm there could be a much larger victim count. The business could have went into a lock-down mode, and secured the facility until the police arrived. The only reason I can think of to follow the attacker would be to obtain vehicle information if they left the scene -- make, model, color, tag number, direction of travel -- to pass along to the police.


Questions this brings up:

• Are you familiar with various ways to de-escalate a potential situation?[/*:m:a46pjym6]
  
• How would you respond given the situation above? It could as a patron or an employee.[/*:m:a46pjym6]
  
• What sort of policies does your employer have regarding violence? Are you opening yourself to problems with your employer by responding to a situation?[/*:m:a46pjym6]
  
• Does your employer have any sort of incident response protocol?[/*:m:a46pjym6]

Another thing to do after a situation like this is to have everyone write down what they saw, with as much detail as possible about the individuals and events, and not to talk to each other. If people start talking about it, people's perceptions will change about the event. By writing it down as soon as possible, the mind doesn't have much time to alter details.

Kyle Sloan wrote:Are you familiar with various ways to de-escalate a potential situation?

I would have to say no I am not. I usually follow my instincts in these sort of situations. I typically would pose non threatening body language and try to open a dialogue. But situations dictate what kind of response I would give. If I felt someone was in intimate danger I would most likely act first by redirecting their anger towards me and dealing with the situation. If it was not a direct assault I would probably try to defuse the situation.

Kyle Sloan wrote:What sort of policies does your employer have regarding violence? Are you opening yourself to problems with your employer by responding to a situation?

As an employer I would not fire or reprimand my employees for breaking up a physical altercation. In fact I would be disappointed if they let someone get assaulted in my office and took absolutely no action. (the action could be simply calling the police, vehicle info, etc.) If, however, my employees persued the attacker off the premises, that would fall outside of my protection as an employer. It would also be grounds for termination or reprimand. This is because I feel once the threat has left the building, if you still feel threatened, lock the door and call the police. In the case above it is not clear why the man stood at the door. I am sure if I could have seen the video it would help.

Kyle Sloan wrote:Does your employer have any sort of incident response protocol?

I do have an incident response protocol, it is basically if anything happens, shut the front door, lock it, retreat to my office and call 911. If you can't shut the front door, get away and outside and into one of the neighboring offices asap, call 911. It's very simple I know, but I don't think complicated works in a situation like this.

One of the things I find interesting about this case is the reactions of both of the parties involved. The employee used violence to stop violence. I wasn't there but I am assuming the slapping of the woman was more than a burst of anger. In which case I would not have a problem with using violence to stop violence. I assume this because the attacker got a gun and shot the employee. This makes me believe that the attacker was not stable mentally. Insane would be a better word. I can't say how I would have reacted. I would like to think I would have been the hero, but I most likely would have called 911 and reported the plates on the car. I definitely would have attended any victims.