1 Pro V2 + 1 Calm Security Officer = 0 Hands-on Conflict

I was fortunate to see and hear the captured video and audio from the Pro V2 with my own eyes and ears.

It is a rare event for any of us who work at Guardian 8 because most clients deploy the Pro V2 in their hospitals, schools, or in the field and don’t consider contacting us to share stories about how the Pro V2 is helping to deter and de-escalate real-world incidents.

In this situation, however, a healthcare client contacted us to inquire about a service request. It turned out that I was in the area and able to personally visit the hospital to handle the request. The director of security and I struck up a conversation about how the Pro V2 was changing his officers’ approach to handling situations. Like many healthcare facilities, this sites’ officers were used to going hands-on when verbal commands failed. The security director told me that he wanted to show me an incident that happened just days before. As he pulled up the audio and video that was recovered from the Pro V2, he explained how this incident would have resulted in a hands-on encounter with the officers and that someone would have likely been hurt. He mentioned that the subject was intoxicated and being disruptive in the emergency room waiting area. When initially contacted by security, he began moving toward the officers as if he was “looking for a fight.”

Of course, I was chomping at the bit to see the footage…

When the video started, I could clearly see the subject facing the security officer who was holding the Pro V2. I was struck by how quickly the subject froze in place and ceased his advance on the officer as soon as the video began. The officer calmly informed the subject that he was being recorded as the laser spotter danced across the subject’s chest. He methodically explained that the subject was intoxicated, that his behavior was inappropriate, and that he needed to follow the officer outside so that he could arrange for a ride home. I marveled at how the officer controlled his tone while speaking with the subject, and I was certainly pleased to see that he was leveraging the non-lethal Pro V2 appropriately.

There was no doubt in my mind that the intoxicated subject was sizing up the security officer. He was demonstrating the classic “thousand-yard stare,” which I recognized immediately given my experience as a former law enforcement officer. I also knew that intoxicated subjects tend to make irrational decisions, so I was happy to hear the officer repeat his instructions over and over again.

As I watched, you could almost see the brief moment of clarity flash across the subject’s eyes. He recognized that the officer was targeting him and likely spent that brief moment weighing his options. His thousand-yard stare began to dissipate and he very slowly began moving toward the elevator while the security officer kept the Pro V2 trained on his chest. He did not say anything confrontational or make any additional aggressive movements while the security officer escorted him outside of the facility and into the passenger seat of a family member’s vehicle.

The professional security officer, armed with a Pro V2, took a situation that would have resulted in a hands-on encounter and successfully de-escalated and documented the incident while protecting himself and the facility from liability and reducing his chances of being injured on the job. I can’t think of a better outcome and real-world proof that the Pro V2 does what it was designed to do. I felt fortunate to see the footage from the actual incident, and I was thrilled to witness the security officer using the Pro V2 exactly as he was trained to deploy it.