Sanity Before Sensitivity

In the age of hyper-sensitivity, the biggest threat to effective security isn’t just the offender, it’s the fear of offending. Security officers now patrol not just for threats to people or property, but for threats to feelings. And in a culture where the offended are treated as victims regardless of context, rational patrol strategies are being replaced by theatrical restraint.

This isn’t compassion. It’s capitulation.

You cannot manage disorder by catering to dysfunction. You manage it by confronting it, consistently and with clarity. Patrol strategies are not designed to soothe egos or avoid online outrage, they’re designed to stop theft, violence, vandalism, and the slow decay of public space. If someone is offended because a uniformed officer looked at them twice, asked a question, or requested identification in a high-risk zone, the issue is not the officer’s conduct, it’s the offended party’s fragility.

Effective patrol work requires presence, vigilance, and assertiveness. It does not, and must not, require permission from the most emotionally unstable member of the public.

Security professionals deal with reality, not narratives. And in reality, disorder often wears the mask of mental instability. The disoriented trespasser, the belligerent addict, the chronic public nuisance, these are not social commentators. They are risks. And the job is not to avoid upsetting them. The job is to contain the harm they might cause, to themselves or others.

That means asking questions, making contact, enforcing boundaries, and yes, sometimes offending people whose behaviour has already offended every rule of public safety and decency.

There is a growing movement, mostly academic, mostly untested, and blatantly ignorant that insists patrol officers be retrained not as security professionals, but as street therapists.

They're told to accommodate delusions, step lightly around erratic behaviour, and avoid escalation at all costs, even if it means allowing escalation by the subject instead. This is not protection. It’s performance for spectators who never show up when the incident unfolds in real time.

Mental illness is real. But so is danger. And a diagnosis does not exempt a person from scrutiny when their actions breach the threshold of threat. A person pacing in circles outside a locked staff entry at midnight, a person shouting at strangers in a retail corridor, a person tailgating a family into a restricted carpark, these aren’t philosophical puzzles. They are alerts.

In any functional society, sanity precedes sensitivity. We don’t design policy around fringe behaviour. We don’t suspend protective measures because someone claims offence. We don’t let public safety be dictated by the most unstable voice in the room. We deal with instability firmly, professionally, and decisively.

To do otherwise is to punish the sane and reward the erratic.

The truth, uncomfortable though it may be, is that public order depends on lines being drawn and defended. If the mere threat of being called “insensitive” stops officers from doing their jobs, then the public isn’t protected by policy, it’s endangered by it.

You do not preserve safety by apologising to those you’re protecting the public from. You preserve it by holding the line, even when it’s unpopular. Even when someone screams “abuse!” while violating every code of conduct in the book.

Security doesn’t exist to make everyone feel safe. It exists to make environments safe, whether people feel it or not. Feelings don’t stop assaults. Boundaries do.

And when sensitivity becomes the standard by which authority is judged, don’t be surprised when criminals, not officers, start setting the terms. From the author.

The opinions and statements are those of Sam Wilks and do not necessarily represent whom Sam Consults or contracts to. Sam Wilks is a skilled and experienced Security and Risk Consultant with 3 decades of expertise in the fields of Real estate, Security, and the hospitality/gaming industry. Sam has trained over 1,000 entry level security personnel, taught defensive tactics, weapons training and handcuffs to policing personnel and the public. His knowledge and practical experience have made him a valuable asset to many organisations looking to enhance their security measures and provide a safe and secure environment for their clients and staff.