Hero Security Guard @ Sainsburys

[James Barber]

I'll second that.

With more Sam behaviour we wouldn't have anywhere near as much fear of crime.

[Lishyloo]

randombloke Wro

Well done to Sam but do you really think sainsburys will give a dam for what he did for them? No doubt the police will want to speak to him too for assaulting the thug. Get well soon.

-------------------------------------------------------

> I do despair when I read people moralising about

> things like this. Fathers of small children who

> wouldn't thank him for getting killed? Why didn't

> he get stuck in a bit earlier? PLEASE do me a

> favour.

>

> What matters here is that a vile, violent thug

> assaulted a man (Sam)doing his job. That he was

> beaten to the ground and then kicked in the head

> shows what a thug the man was. Hopefully Sam is

> ok, and suffered no lasting damage. Sam may have

> been foolhardy but he had noble intentions and

> acted with courage and selflessness. Absolutely

> Sainsburys should have more than one guard but 99%

> of the time they don't need them, this was the 1%

> when they did. I'm no expert but I suspect that we

> all have our own way of dealing with these sort of

> things in the heat of the moment. I've stood by

> and watched in the past and I've also chased after

> and apprehended a thief when my girlfriends

> handbag was snatched. I'd hope if I saw someone

> being viciously assaulted I'd have the balls to

> intervene and stop it happening. I don't have

> small children, I have a grown up one but I'd

> still want to look him in the eye and be able to

> say I did something and didn't stand back, I think

> he'd respect me more if I did. I'd hope he'd

> intervene too.

>

> There's a story sbout Nikita Kruschev addressing a

> meeting and a lone voice said "You saw what Stalin

> was doing, why didn't you try to stop him?",

> Kruschev quietly asked, "Who said that?" to which

> there was a resounding silence. "So, now you know

> why"was his withering response.

[pk]

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'll second that.

> With more Sam behaviour we wouldn't have anywhere

> near as much fear of crime.

but Sam was a private security guard defending the property of his employer, and i doubt that those who have a 'fear of crime' are particularly scared about people stealing stuff from Sainsbury's

i agree that Sam was brave, but also a little bit foolish - getting a serious kicking defending someone's person may well be worth it, but getting one that could be avoided whilst defending sainsbury's property seems to me to be not worth it - i wonder what Sam thinks now?

[Sue]

pk Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> i agree that Sam was brave, but also a little bit

> foolish - getting a serious kicking defending

> someone's person may well be worth it, but getting

> one that could be avoided whilst defending

> sainsbury's property seems to me to be not worth

> it - i wonder what Sam thinks now?

xxxxxxx

Agree with all that, also agree with KK (and said before) that none of us knows what we'd do when faced with a particular situation, whether it's our job or not.

[sophiesofa]

Sue Wrote:

--

> The theft would have been on CCTV. The thief would

> have been caught and dealt with anyway. That's how

> society deals with thieves.

This comment has made me think. I have always been under the impression that thieves generally get away with it. I thought the quality of cctv is often grainy or the thief has a hood up, therefore cannot be identified etc. I can only guess I've got this from watching cops with cameras etc. as I have no facts or knowledge on this.

Such great news that Sam will be OK. I also vote for him as hero of the month!

[ratty]

Hero! Nothing more to be said!

[LadyDeliah]

If you break it down, I would imagine that grabbing the guy by his collar when he first left the shop would have just been the usual action of a security guard on duty when spotting a theif.

After that, when the guy did the unexpected and turned violent, I would think Sam reacted to being assaulted by fighting back. Some people's instinctive reaction is to freeze when attacked, other people instinctively fight back.

Part of what happened after the attack started may have been mainly down to Sam's instincts of self-preservation which ate different to your instincts, Sue so it's not really useful to say his action was stupid. People react to attack in different ways.

[northlondoner]

LadyDeliah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If you break it down, I would imagine that

> grabbing the guy by his collar when he first left

> the shop would have just been the usual action of

> a security guard on duty when spotting a theif.

>

> After that, when the guy did the unexpected and

> turned violent, I would think Sam reacted to being

> assaulted by fighting back. Some people's

Correct analysis. Sam probably reacted out of instinct and pride. Economic cost benefit analysis probably didn't cone into it. Good luck to the fella. Ill will to the thug.

> instinctive reaction is to freeze when attacked,

> other people instinctively fight back.

>

> Part of what happened after the attack started may

> have been mainly down to Sam's instincts of

> self-preservation which ate different to your

> instincts, Sue so it's not really useful to say

> his action was stupid. People react to attack in

> different ways.

[randombloke]

Absolutely agree with KK's post, one thing about I find exascerbating about the EDF is when people start pontificating about things they have no idea or experience about. I wonder how likely it is that the demographic of people posting here will show that they are comfortable, well-educated, middle-class, white, liberal and late twenties to mid fifties?

How many of us work in a job where we are going to be exposed to violence? I doubt I am when I put my suit on in the city and go to the plush offices of the huge corporate clients I see everyday. Were I a policeman or a traffic warden or a soldier, then I am fairly sure I could expect it on a daily basis. A security guard is a special case, I talk to a lot of them and 90% of the job is probably boring, dull repetitive drudgery. But at times they will have to act to deal with the potentially dangerous or violent.

Push comes to shove, Sam did an heroic thing, the thug reacted in an extreme way and who of us is to say what went through Sam's mind bofore, during or after.

In my experience of violent behaviour, (having been assaulted,witnessing a close relative being assaulted) you just react, you don't have time to think or consider the ramifications of your actions. Something primal takes over. That reaction might be to stand and fight, or to capitulate, or to be frozen with fear. The man who assaulted Sam reacted in a primal way, and Sam did so as well. So we can bang our gums and moralise from the safety of our keyboards as long as we like. We weren't there, we weren't the person who made the split second decision to apprehend a thief, whether that was part of his job-description or personal pride or whatever and we weren't then turned upon in a vicious way. Sam was.

Sam acted heroically and that should be recognised. @James Barber, if you have any influence here please use it.

Danny Baker tweeted a great tweet the other day about a guy buying a coffee on the train being told "you have to have a lid, it's health and safety". His response "I'm just back from Afghanistan, I think I'll risk it". There you have the difference between the safe and predictable mindset where the danger of spilling a hot liquid could result in the vendor being sued and the mindset of someone who has probably had to both look deep into his own psyche and morality and also to stare death in the face.

Who are we to tell them what to do?

[Senor Chevalier]

pk wrote:

"but Sam was a private security guard defending the property of his employer, and i doubt that those who have a 'fear of crime' are particularly scared about people stealing stuff from Sainsbury's "

____________

Thin end of the wedge. If society stood together and refused to tolerate behaviour that is clearly wrong (rather than cowering and turning a blind eye) then we would be living in a better place. Now as many have said, you cannot know how you might react in a particular set of circumstances. I like to think I would step up and try to help, but who knows, I might bottle it in the heat of the moment. But those that do stand their ground are doing the right thing and are acting on behalf of society. They should be supported not criticised.

[lilolil]

At Tesco Old Kent Road last night, (Saturday), someone was being chased by a security guard closely followed by another guard and member of staff. They were joined by members of the public who helped to catch and restrain him. A great community spirit, different races coming together with a strong message to thieves.

Its great they showed a united front eh?

[Pugwash]

When I had my bag stolen from my car in Sainsburys, I just jumped out and ran to the thief's car and tried to grab my bag back. I punched him on the face and hung onto the steering wheelto try and prevent him getting away - yelling at the top of my voice. He and the bag got away. The police asked me why I punched him, said I was furious that anyone could take my property and I did it instictively.They were amused at my reaction and when they drove me home, in my car, as I had gashed my head on the tarmac where I fell after the car had sped away, told my husband that not many 60 year old women would retaliate and that I was 'brave'. I do not think I was brave - I was just mad.

[northlondoner]

Randombloke has nailed it . Official.