We could be heroes, just for one day. So sang David Bowie. But could we? Security industry bodies each year mark acts of bravery. What makes someone do something remarkably brave? Is it too dangerous for anyone to aim for?
A category in the British Security Industry Associationโs annual security officer awards, announced at the annual luncheon on July 16 at the London Hilton, Park Lane, is for ‘outstanding act’. To take an example from last year’s awards, from Dublin-based Federal Security Services. Susan Porter and Peter Lachanudis were contract security staff who disarmed a man at Stormont, while the Northern Ireland Assembly was meeting, in November 2006. The man, Michael Stone, was on trial in June 2008; his defence was that he was doing ‘performance art’. Susan and Peter were honoured in 2007 at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards; and Susan Porter won last year’s Sheriffs’ award, an initiative of the now Worshipful Company of Security Professionals. Incidentally WcoSP seeks nominations are from the UK’s public, security and emergency services and from armed forces for those who have displayed selfless determination, bravery, courage and initiative in protecting people, property or liberty. A winner gets a cheque for £2,000 and their name on a scroll inserted in a ‘book of honour’ on permanent display at The Old Bailey. For the nomination forms, visit www.professionalsecurity.co.uk/company or email Trevor Vaughan MBE, who chairs the Sheriffs Award Committee: Trevor.cosp@gmail.com<br> <br>The first Sheriffsโ Award in 2006 went to Muhammad Khalil, of G4S Security Services (UK), who on July 7, 2005 was on duty close to Kings Cross station. Briefly, he entered the tunnel, assisted passengers to escape, gave first aid and remained in the tunnel for more than seven hours working with other emergency workers. Yet one of his comments afterwards was: "I just did my job." When such people say they are ‘just’ doing their job, are they being modest, or is there a deeper truth, that acting selflessly when necessary is something they take for granted? So is heroism something beyond training, you have or you haven’t? What if a security officer is largely, usually in a passive role? How easy is it to switch, suddenly and unexpectedly, to action? And to do the right action, not something that makes the situation worse? Can we identify what makes someone a hero? Is it the way you are brought up, to care about what happens to another person, and not caring so much about what becomes of yourself? Or is heroism a wrong trait to look for – do we above all not want dead heroes? <br><br>To do something we would generally recognise as heroic – such as pull an injured person to safety from a train track – requires action. You must not be passive. Psychologists suggest that the more people there are around, the longer that the norm is to stand around, and wait for someone else to do something. The more passivity becomes the norm, so the more difficult it becomes for someone to act. So said the psychology programme All in the Mind on Radio 4 on June 3. Interviewed was psychologist Prof Philip Zimbardo said: "Anybody can be a hero … a hero does not have a special personality."<br><br>Kev Brear is a former City of London Police (CoLP) man, now Business Continuity Manager at the Information & Security Group Practice Protection at Deloitte. <br><br>He featured in Professional Security last year for his research into the business continuity ‘lessons’ of 7-7. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he heard of one security officer who – to be fair, a relief officer not familiar with the site – by his acts made a building evacuation worse.
That were lots of acts of bravery and acts of compassion on 7-7 and many were publicly acknowledged. I’m a bit unsure about the term heroism and I believe that it’s one of those things in life where if you win, you can be a hero, and if you lose, you’re a reckless individual. During my police days, I did things that were described as heroic, but with the benefit of hindsight were actually very poor risk-based decisions. In my time, I’ve dealt with a number of people being โbraveโ, who have under-estimated their abilities or the situation and then exacerbated an already fraught situation and become a burden upon the stretched rescue resources or attempted to.
For example, once whilst dealing with a damage only vehicle fire on a motorway, an articulated lorry driver stopped 20 foot from the very old camper van which was on fire to offer me the use of his fire extinguisher. Very helpful, apart from the fact that his tractor unit happened to be towing a fully laden petrol bowser. I politely declined his offer and offered some advice on travel and speed. When I was the Force EPO [emergency planning officer] responsible for health and safety in major incidents, I trained my colleagues to do whatever they could to assist without harming themselves and increasing the burden on the other rescuers. I believe that security officers should apply the same logic. I used to instruct the security officers that passed through the CoLP’s Griffin training to that effect. I believe that people have to do all they can, but still behave responsibly, and even if people don’t โhave a goโ they can still inform the emergency services. <br><br>Del Hunter is a director of recruitment consultancy SSR Personnel. <br><br>I was talking to Dr Raj Persuad [media psychiatrist ] a few months back and he mentioned some US research on this very subject that showed women were more likely to be heroic than men (which to me, suggests that job role has nothing to do with the role being linked to the potential to be heroic). <br><br>There is also a cognitive shift that takes place by being passive at the place of an incident, eg you talk yourself into doing nothing or worse, (scare yourself with self-talk of risk) which incapacitates. One needs to define what is an heroic act? To some, shouting at a bully in school is heroic whereas for others, they must tackle an armed robber or bomber? Soldiers for instance, are often considered heroic but why (evidence shows they are seldom defending their country, but they will/do defend their comrades – sometimes to the death and most certainly through periods of intense high risk)? So is motivation a factor (eg do we want heroes)?<br><br>When considering heroism in the context of selection, I would suggest that Quantifying the threat is the first issue, then the desired reaction (fight or flight) then the cognitive steps (what action is required)? This was something the Army tried to quantify in World War Two, when they developed selection centres to choose potential leaders and no longer relying on the old boy network (interestingly they used much information gleamed from German selection methods).<br><br>Take for example a common situation we often face without thinking about it – flying off on holiday: As a passenger you are advised that should the plane suddenly lose air pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down, put it over you first and then over your baby?" Sounds simple, but if you are faced with this situation what would you do? Some psychologists argue that, depending on how illogical you are, would determine the outcome (eg try and save the baby first and you might both die in the process) others would argue that, depending on your primary modality (which of your senses is strongest) would determine if you froze with fear or were galvanised with adrenaline. <br><br>One thing that is empirical, if you are conditioned (trained) to respond in a certain way, then you are more likely to react in the learned way. Hence soldiers, policemen and others do the most amazing things, they often don’t think because they are conditioned to reacting in that way – it is not a heroic act but a conditioned response. So, is learning style relevant? If we return to the flying scenario, we are all being given the nearest thing to training every time we fly (passenger briefing, by video, spoken word and in written format). So, training is likely to be more effective than trying to select heroes.<br><br>ArmorGroup International plc reports that Terry Goodman has been awarded the Royal Humane Societyโs Silver Medal. <br><br>Itโs for his rescue of a wounded colleague in Iraq while under sustained insurgent fire and while he was seriously injured himself. Terry, 31, a former British Army soldier from Essex, was a vehicle commander in a three vehicle ArmorGroup protective security detail (PSD) team operating in southern Iraq, in June 2007. The colleague he rescued was Darryl Lowery, a former Australian soldier, the commander of one of the other vehicles in the team. The team was returning from a mission near Basrah when a roadside Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated against the left hand side of the Darrylโs vehicle, immobilising it. Darryl was badly injured, with multiple shrapnel wounds to both legs and his right foot, while his Iraqi driver was killed. The team came under sustained and heavy small arms fire and Terryโs vehicle was also struck by three rocket-propelled grenades from the side of the road.<br><br>Terry moved his vehicle up alongside Darrylโs disabled vehicle with the intention of recovering the team members and extracting them to safety. As Terryโs vehicle moved alongside Darrylโs a second IED was detonated against Terryโs vehicle, which killed Terryโs Iraqi driver and his other Iraqi operator. Terry suffered a fractured skull and shrapnel wounds to his left arm and right shoulder in the explosion but was able to extract himself from the vehicle and made his way, under heavy and sustained fire from insurgents on both sides, to Darrylโs vehicle to try and help extract him. Barely conscious and with no thought for his own safety Terry managed to pull Darryl from his vehicle: initially he attempted to smash a window with a crow bar but eventually managed to prize a door open with brute force. He then dragged Darryl out of the vehicle and applied effective first aid to stem his loss of blood – thereby preserving Darrylโs life. Terry continued to lay down covering fire and providing close protection to Darryl until they were rescued from continuing small arms and mortar fire by the third ArmorGroup team.<br><br>Noel Philp, ArmorGroupโs Chief Operating Officer, said: &quot;Without Terry Goodmanโs personal bravery under sustained fire in a highly exposed location and while seriously wounded there is little doubt that Darryl Lowrey would have died. I believe he thoroughly deserves to be honoured for his selfless and heroic actions in this ultimately successful rescue. I would also like to congratulate the rest of the team, under Michael Bakerโs exemplary command, whose own bravery allowed Terry and Darryl to make a full escape. The incident as a whole underlines the quality, the professionalism and the bravery of those who work with ArmorGroup in supporting the ongoing reconstruction of Iraq and we are proud of all those involved.&quot;
