6.1 Crime Incidents, Police Handoff & Scene Protection

Classify the response, not the person

A security guard often sees only part of an event. The immediate task is not to declare guilt; it is to identify danger, protect people, obtain the correct help, preserve facts, and enforce lawful property rules. A crime is an offense defined by law. A civil dispute concerns private rights or obligations. A code-of-conduct violation breaks a site rule and may support denial of entry or a direction to leave even when it is not a crime. One event can move between categories—for example, a customer complaint may be civil until someone threatens assault or refuses a lawful direction to leave.

Ask in order: Is anyone in immediate danger? Is emergency medical care needed? Is a suspected crime active, imminent, or completed? What did the guard personally observe? What site rule applies? Does any specific statute permit detention? Which supervisor or public responder is required? When facts are uncertain, do not manufacture certainty through restraint or search.

Robbery and crimes against people

Robbery involves property and force or threatened force, so life safety controls. A guard who sees a weapon, assault, abduction, sexual offense, or credible threat should call 911 as soon as safely possible, transmit the location first, and avoid action that exposes victims or bystanders merely to recover property. Follow the site's duress-alarm procedure, but do not make a sudden movement toward an alarm when that action would create a greater danger.

Observe without staring or challenging: number and description of offenders, exact words, weapons, injuries, property, direction, companions, vehicle, and time. Do not chase into traffic or an unknown location. When the offender leaves, lock or control the affected boundary if safe, prevent unnecessary entry, request emergency medical service, and preserve video and witness information. Never delay care to complete an inventory.

If a fight or assault is active, use distance, barriers, clear stop directions, backup, and police. Protective force is governed by the separate Delaware justification statutes and ends when the necessity ends. A guard should not select a side because one participant is an employee, nor use a later interview as a reason to keep everyone in unsupported custody. Ask witnesses to remain or provide contact information; do not falsely say they are legally required to stay.

Burglary, theft, and property scenes

Possible burglary indicators include forced doors or windows, broken locks, disturbed interiors, alarms, or an unexpected person inside a closed facility. Do not enter alone to clear the building. Move to safety, call police and supervision, note people or vehicles leaving, protect likely exits from observation, and keep employees or cleaners from entering. Give responders keys, floor plans, alarm zones, and camera access without walking through the scene.

For ordinary theft, preserve the observation sequence and follow loss-prevention policy. Delaware's merchant provision applies only when its elements are met; it is not general authority to detain a suspected burglar, employee, companion, or person later found with property. Record serial numbers or ownership information from approved records. Do not conduct an unauthorized locker, vehicle, phone, or bag search to prove the case.

Found or mislaid property should be handled through the site property process. Record where, when, and by whom it was discovered; minimize handling; identify the container or seal; and transfer it with a receipt or log. Do not browse a phone, open a wallet for curiosity, keep cash unrecorded, or announce valuable property publicly. A suspicious package follows the distance-and-notification procedure instead.

Suspected drugs, weapons, and juveniles

Powder, pills, needles, or paraphernalia can present exposure and evidence hazards. Do not taste, smell closely, field-test, pocket, flush, or handle an item unnecessarily. Isolate the immediate area, use personal protective equipment only within training, call police or emergency medical service according to the facts, and report symptoms or a suspected overdose without making a chemical identification. A person's unusual behavior may be medical, mental-health, disability-related, or substance-related; respond to observable condition and danger.

Treat juveniles calmly and objectively. Age does not create guard authority, and a minor's refusal or presence is not automatically criminal. Follow the site's guardian, school, missing-child, and law-enforcement notification plan. Do not question coercively, transport privately, publish an image, or promise confidentiality. Immediate danger, abuse, abandonment, or a missing child requires prompt use of the appropriate emergency and safeguarding process.

Preserve the scene

After urgent care, establish a boundary that protects people and evidence. Begin an entry log. Keep people from touching, moving, cleaning, eating, smoking, or using facilities inside the protected area. If an item must move for rescue, note its original position, who moved it, when, why, and where it went. Preserve original video, access events, alarms, messages, photographs, and recordings through approved systems.

Witnesses should prepare independent accounts. Separate them when practical without claiming detention authority, ask them not to discuss details, and give police their names and locations. Do not tell them what another person reported or rehearse a common story.

Police handoff

A concise handoff answers:

State what was personally seen, what came from a witness or system, and what remains unknown. Follow lawful police instructions and record the officer's identity, agency, transfer time, evidence received, and case number when provided. The reliable sequence is protect life—notify—observe—preserve—handoff—report.