Crime prevention series

Terminating client contact

Published in:
Protecting counter and interviewing staff from client agression
Bruce Swanton and Daryl Webber
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990
ISBN 0 642 14974 7 ; ISSN 1031-5330
(Crime prevention series) ; pp. 49-53

Public contact officers occasionally encounter clients who manifest aggression as defined in this book, and agency procedures prescribe the appropriate action to be taken by officers. Those procedures are partly universal and partly determined by local circumstances. Advice offered here cannot take into account unique circumstances and thus constitutes only a general guide to staff protection.

Declining to commence an interview

When a client presents for an interview in an unacceptably aggressive mood, for example, argumentatively drunk or apparently in a psychotic condition, it is unwise to proceed with an interview. A counter or interviewing officer should refer such a matter to the supervisor for decision. Decisions not to commence interviews should be the subject of an incident report. Such clients should be asked to leave the premises. In the event of their refusing to leave, they should either be accompanied to the exit by a security guard (provided one is employed and policy permits) or police called.

Terminating ongoing interview

Interviewing officers occasionally find themselves getting out of their depth in the course of complex interviews. Rather than bluffing and guessing and thereby risking irritating clients (quite apart from the poor service that must result) interviewing officers should call on an experienced colleague or a supervisor for assistance. Supervisors should ensure interviewing officers feel free to call on such assistance rather than soldiering on so as not to risk being thought incompetent.

In situations in which interviewing officers find the climate of an interview reducing for no apparent reason, they may find it necessary to caution their client. If no improvement is achieved, interviewing officers might then find it necessary to consult their supervisor with a view to terminating an interview. It might even be necessary to advise a client that police will be called if they persist with their aggression. Supervisors will exercise their judgment whether to terminate an interview immediately or persevere. It is sometimes found that an additional person, such as a supervisor, participating in a stressful interview will have a calming effect on aggressive clients. All interviews terminated by a supervisor should be the subject of an incident report.

Interviewing officers are sometimes faced with clients who refuse to exit an interview even though all information has been provided to them and nothing constructive remains to be done. In such cases, a supervisor should be summoned, the situation further explained to the client and, if appropriate, the supervisor should inform the client that the interview is terminated. See "Directing clients to leave premises", should a client still refuse to leave.

Should a stage be reached at which interviewing officers fear for their safety or are physically or orally abused, they should activate their duress alarm, promptly remove themselves from the client and seek assistance. Police should be called if the aggression inflicted by a client is thought to amount to an offence. All interviews terminated in this manner should be the subject of an incident report.

Care should be taken in respect of clients manifesting severe neurotic or psychotic symptoms during the course of an interview. Of course, an interview should not be started if such symptoms are apparent prior to commencement. Extra patience will be necessary. Sometimes there will be a staff member with the ability to manage particular clients. Police, and possibly paramedic attendance will be necessary in most cases of violence. Employees should not normally use physical force other than to defend themselves.

Counter and interviewing officers should be extremely careful not to give needless offence to clients and thereby provide fuel for their aggression. Regrettably, such is sometimes the case. Supervisors called to intervene in counter and interviewing officer-client interactions need to be aware of such a possibility. Should an employee or, office procedures or fixtures, be established as the reasonable cause of a client's wrath, suitable apologies must be made to the client. Considerable diplomacy may be necessary in such cases as it is undesirable to destroy an employee's confidence however much remedial counselling or training which may subsequently be required. Thought should also be paid to possible deficiencies of management in failing to ensure proper training, selection, planning and so on.

Decisions to request police attendance should be guided by office/agency procedures. Discretion to call police may be delegated to individual officers, security officers, supervisors, office managers, regional managers or the senior person present at the time of an incident.

Mutual support

There is need for mutual support to be exercised among public contact officers. Thus, interviewing officers working at a counter should keep a peripheral eye on their adjacent colleagues. Should one appear to be getting into difficulty with a client, assistance should be offered. Assistance can be offered by either walking up to the officer in question and offering help or advising that the officer is required to take a telephone call elsewhere in the building. Once an officer is away from his interviewing station he can be offered advice.

Alternatively, the officer in trouble can be telephoned and asked if assistance is needed. Normally, the question will be phrased in such a way that it requires only a "yes" or "no" response. Often personal intrusion is the preferred option as the mere physical presence of another is often sufficient to cool a heated interaction. Of course, should an officer who is in the process of an interview decide to assist a colleague in such a way, proper provision needs to be made for the officer's own client.

Interviews conducted in interview rooms are less susceptible to view by colleagues. Thus, it is a sound practice for staff, whether or not they be interviewing officers, to glance through the observation window of occupied interview rooms when passing by.

Supervisors must be careful that interviewing officers conducting interviews that extend past office closing hours are not left without support. Interviewing officers, who, during the course of an interview, form the opinion it is likely to go past closing time should alert their supervisor by the telephone that should be positioned in every interviewing station. Interviews conducted in interviewing rooms are those most likely to be forgotten should they go over time. Ideally, all interviewing rooms should have an "occupied" sign by staff entrances. The signs should be on the outside so that passers by are aware that an interview is in process.

Action on activation of duress alarms

As explained previously, duress alarms provide visual and audible signals at an alarm panel situated at a nearby location, normally one that is constantly staffed. Alarm panels also indicate the source of an alarm. Staff should be trained to respond promptly to such alarms in pairs, whether or not a supervisor is present.

In situations in which a number of interview rooms are adjacent it is helpful if lights, capable of being activated by duress alarm switches, are affixed to each room. Thus, staff arriving in response to an alarm can easily identify the room in which assistance is required.

On arrival at the point of origin of an alarm, responding officers should assess the situation and, if a supervisor is present, comply with his or her directions. If no supervisor is present, officers should act on their own initiative.

Ideally, alarms should be activated before significant aggression occurs so that responding officers are not presented with a serious situation. Such is not always the case, of course, although it should be emphasised that the number of duress alarm activations in relation to the total number of interviews conducted around the country is extremely small.

However, taking a worst case scenario, responding officers should be prepared, without endangering themselves, to:

• ensure safety of activating officer;
• render first aid;
• summon police/ambulance;
• await arrival of police/ambulance;
• collect names and addresses of witnesses; and
• submit incident report.

A list of such immediate actions should be posted next to each alarm panel.

Directing clients to leave premises

When a client's behaviour is unacceptably aggressive, the client should be asked to leave. As a general rule, force should not be used to effect this aim. In the event of a client, or other person on the premises, refusing to depart when directed to do so, police should be called to remove the person.

Procedures prescribed in individual offices determine how such events are handled. As a general rule, however, the most senior person present or some other person exercising a delegated authority, such as a security officer, should handle the problem.

Local police are sometimes unsure of their power to remove persons from Federal Government property or property leased by the Federal Government. Section 12 (2)(c) Public Order (Protection of Persons and Property) Act 1971 empowers local police officers to direct persons to quit Commonwealth property.