On the topic of violence in the office, “people are in denial,” says one security management consultant. “They can’t believe it’s going to happen.”
But it does happen, and it comes from a lot of sources – unhappy clients, unhappy employees, employees’ unhappy spouses, and even from outsiders wandering in. In one office in North Carolina, for example, a client’s husband was distraught over the outcome of a family law matter “and came in and killed the attorney and then killed himself.”
Every firm needs a violence response plan, says Felix P. Nater of Nater Associates in Concord, NC, a specialist in workplace violence prevention. People panic when violence erupts. And they do so because they don’t know what to do. As a result, “there’s no way to defend the office.”
But with a plan in place, everybody knows how to quash the violence – an sometimes save lives.
Count up all the dangers
Every legal office is different, so the firm has to design its own plan.
It doesn’t have to be elaborate, Nater says. Just take “a common sense, practical approach.”
Identify the people who might present violence – clients, clients’ spouses, employees, employees’ spouses, and so on.
Identify the office’s weak spots – unsecured doors or areas where people can get cornered by an intruder.
Identify the types of violence that could occur. And then decide what protective measures to take in each area and how to respond to each type of violence. The plan needs to cover safety in the facility itself plus education for staff and attorneys on what to do in each possible situation.
The physical safety measures
Outer ring, inner ring
In planning for safety, look at both the outer ring and the inner ring of the office, Nater says.
The outer ring is the security that protects the entire office.
The inner ring is the security within the office’s doors.
A locked front door
For the most part, the outer ring is the door.
And the protection is simple: keep it locked.
The easiest approach, he says, is to have reinforced glass on the door plus buzzer control with an intercom. The receptionist greets visitors via the intercom and buzzes them in.
The employees have a code to open the door. But no one else – including the clients – gets the code.
The locked door won’t harm business. “Rarely do new clients walk in off the street.” But it does allow the receptionist to control who comes in.
The death trap
The inner ring of security covers the interior of the office, and an area that almost always needs attention is the individual offices.”Most of them are death traps,” says Nater.
They are set up so visitors walk through the door and see the attorney sitting in front of a wall. In the middle is a desk plus several chairs, which means that in a hostile situation, “there’s no speedy access to that door.”
And it’s in that risky setting that the attorney often tells a client “I have some bad news.”
Don’t let the furniture arrangement make it easy for outsiders to corner people in their own offices, he says. Move the desk to a position where there’s a clear and short path to the door. Place the chairs so a visitor is not in a position of blocking the way. And make sure there are no trash cans or telephone lines “that could impede escape.” Otherwise, “the bad guy has control of the office.”
The weapons on the desk
Another safety measure is to keep the potential weapons out of sight.
“Weapons are lying about in any office,” says Nater. “Within easy grasp of the client who is now upset is a plethora of deadly weapons – scissors, stapler, picture frames.”
Any heavy object such as a pencil sharpener or three-hole punch or paperweight can be used as a deadly missile or as an instrument to smash somebody’s head or hand.
Put the stabbers such as scissors and letter openers in a drawer. Do the same with the potential missiles. As for the pictures, keep them in a bookcase so they can’t be easily grabbed up and thrown.
I think there’s a monitor watching me
Nater suggests that there’s safety to be had just from the appearance of security.
Put up camera monitors, and install them in places where visitors will see them so they know their behavior is being watched.
The monitors aren’t appropriate for personal offices, but for conference rooms, hallways, and public areas they are.
“Monitors work whether they are live or just dummies,” says Nater. They put people on notice that they can be seen and also that the office is watched 24 hours a day.
Code words for bad, worse, and worst
Another essential safety item is a system of code words to alert the rest of the office to danger and also to make a call for help.
Decide on a basic code word or phrase to indicate low-level trouble with added words to indicate the severity of the trouble.
The words themselves can be anything the office wants, from “I need a cup of coffee” to “who’s going out to lunch to day” to “oh by the way, I need your help.”
For example, the receptionist might have a code of “it’s hot out here” to indicate simply a difficult situation, and the office might set a standard response that other staff come out and calm the situation by asking the visitor “may I help you?”
On down the line, “it’s really hot out here” might be a signal to call 911. And “it’s entirely too hot out here” might be a signal to evacuate the office.
The codes are said “as calmly as possible” so as not to agitate the potentially dangerous person.
There are three levels to cover, though the office can add more if it wants.
Code 1: I have an aggressive situation, not violent.
Code 2: I have an aggressive situation, violent. Please come quickly.
Code 3: Person with gun or weapon or I’m being attacked.
A safe harbor down the hall
Set up a safe harbor room.
That’s any closet or area that can provide temporary protection behind a closed door from a violent person, Nater says.
The door should lock from the inside, and it doesn’t have to be an expensive lock. “It just has to slow the person down” and give the police time to get there.
If the room has a hollow door, replace it with a solid wood door and a reinforced frame. The door doesn’t have to be bullet-proof, but like the lock, it should slow an intruder down.
Inside the room, put up barriers such as file cabinets on the wall beside the door that people can hide behind. Do that because in most situations, says Nater, “the gunman comes in and finds the person he’s looking for and does him in. The objective isn’t to take everybody else out.” Give everybody a place to hide.
In addition, he says, choose a room that has a window people can use for escape.
But consider the safe harbor room as a last resort. When there’s real and immediate danger, the first effort should be to evacuate the office. Then if that’s not possible, go to the room.
The behavior safety measures
Hello, I’m in control here
A professional office is apt to see violence, because any setting where somebody has to talk to an expert can be intimidating, Nater says. Diplomas and verifications of accomplishments are everywhere, and an unschooled client often reads them as “Look at all my awards. You don’t know what you’re talking about, but I do.”
Thus, safety has to be a consideration right from the time a client or visitor walks into the office.
The attorney or administrator should not be seated behind the desk. Stand up and walk to the door. Greet the person with a firm handshake and a positive tone. Then indicate a specific place to sit.
Right away, the visitor sees that the other person is in an authoritative position and is in control.
The angry client at the door
What if someone appears at the administrator’s door already angry?
Stand up.
Then be firm and be positive. Greet the person as usual, and offer a seat.
“Keep standing and pretend to have a dialogue with the visitor,” says Nater. “But do it with an eye toward the door.”
Don’t give any indication of being frightened. And don’t give any commands such as “calm down” or “sit down.”
Instead, make eye contact and try for reassurance with remarks such as “I hear you” and “I understand” and “I want to help you” and “let’s try to solve this.” That makes the speaker less of a threat and more somebody who is listening and will help.
If the tension doesn’t cool, say “I have an idea. Let’s call in So-and-So. I think he can help us here.”
Call in So-and-So, and now there’s another person to help calm the person down.
More, now it’s two against one.
However, if the situation looks really dangerous, say “I’ll go get So-and-So now” and leave and get help or call 911.
Beware the signs of aggression
Finally, Nater says, everybody needs to be aware of the signs of aggression. They are the precursors to violence and need to be dealt with. They are
- yelling
- leaning over somebody’s desk
- pounding on a desk
- berating remarks
- finger pointing
- declarations of what the firm should be doing
- violations of personal space
- assertions such as “you don’t know who I am” or “you’d better watch out.”
- blocking someone’s passage
- negative remarks about the attorney or the firm
A few more rules of behavior
If someone seated across the desk pounds on the desktop, don’t remain seated. Stand up. That shows “I am in control of this situation.”
Never shout. If the other person’s voice raises, don’t respond in kind. This isn’t the time to establish who’s more important or stronger or more authoritative; it’s the time to establish rapport.
Don’t respond to anger with negative remarks. They will only roil the person. Never say, for example:
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
I can’t do anything about it. That’s the way it is.
I told you about this at the beginning, and you have known all along that it might happen.
And never say “calm down.” The response will invariably be “What do you mean calm down? I’m the one who has the problem to deal with. YOU calm down!”
Don’t let everybody talk at once. Keep the talking to a minimum. Suppose one attorney calls for help and two others come in. Their presence alone is enough to dominate the situation. “But,” warns Nater, “if all three start talking at the same time, there’s no control.”
The best way to calm the situation is for one to do the talking and the others to stand there in agreement.
Whenever there’s concern about how someone will act, have a third person present from the start. It doesn’t matter who it is. “Just having someone else present enhances the sense of professionalism,” says Nater, “and the client is less likely to do anything.”
