Stop-and-Ask, Not Stop-and-Apologise: The Lost Art of Preventative Policing

There was a time when a uniformed officer stopping someone for acting suspiciously was considered part of protecting the public. Today, it’s treated like a political liability. The simple act of a security officer or police constable making a proactive approach, “What’s your business here?”, “Can I help you?”, or more directly, “Why are you watching the staff-only entrance?”, has been buried under layers of red tape, oversight panels, and media fearmongering.

This is not progress. It’s paralysis.

Modern policing and private security have drifted from stop-and-ask toward stop-and-apologise, as if confronting unusual behaviour is somehow an infringement on human dignity rather than a rational risk assessment. Officers now hesitate, not because they lack instinct or evidence, but because they fear the camera more than the criminal. And criminals? They know it.

The offender calculates the terrain, if no one questions me, no one stops me. And when intervention does come, it’s reactive, after the window is smashed, after the knife is pulled, after the staff are traumatised. By then, the press release is ready, the public is shocked, and the officer is blamed for not acting sooner, even though every policy and political incentive told him not to act at all.

The truth is painfully simple, you cannot prevent what you’re not allowed to interrupt.

Preventative policing starts with visibility and follows with initiative. Officers and guards must be empowered to engage, calmly, respectfully, but confidently, with individuals who trigger behavioural red flags. That’s not profiling. That’s pattern recognition, learned through training and field repetition. It’s what every seasoned protector knows instinctively, that the way someone walks, watches, waits, or deflects a basic question tells you more than any risk matrix ever could.

Yet we’ve turned proactive engagement into an act of institutional risk. We’ve taught front-line professionals that suspicion is sin, that confrontation is offensive, and that prevention is only acceptable when it doesn’t feel like authority.

The result? Fewer stops, more crimes. Less deterrence, more clean-up. And communities left to wonder why they only see police after the fact.

This isn’t a theoretical debate. The empirical evidence is consistent across jurisdictions, transport stations, and shopping precincts, where officers are allowed to engage suspicious behaviour early, crime drops. Where they are expected to observe only and defer everything to a bloated escalation protocol, offenders escalate first.

It’s not about violating rights. It’s about defending public space. Security officers aren’t mind-readers. They’re environment guardians. Their job is not to wait for certainty, it’s to act on indicators.

The loiterer who avoids eye contact, the man with no visible reason for being in a secure area, the teenager shadowing customers in a store, none of these are crimes, but all are pre-crime flags. A simple “Can I help you?” is often all it takes to disrupt the script. Not every interaction leads to enforcement. But every respectful stop reinforces a message: someone is watching, and someone will ask.

To remove that power is not humane. It’s reckless. Because while the good actor may feel mildly inconvenienced, the bad actor walks away emboldened, knowing the rules are built for his benefit.

The solution is not mass surveillance or authoritarianism. It’s far simpler, empower the front line to intervene when it still matters. Reinforce the legitimacy of suspicion. Protect the judgment of those tasked with protecting others.

Bring back the courage to stop. And bury the compulsion to apologise for it.

Because when those on patrol are taught that authority must whisper, disorder will scream.

And by the time anyone listens, it’s already too late. 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.