Self defense for a women's office?

[Clusterfrack]

One-on-one private closed door meetings are risky for many reasons, including assault and false accusations of inappropriate conduct. I do not do them, but if I was forced to meet in private, I would install a system like SimpliSafe that can record video and call for help at the push of a button. Unfortunately, folks attending private counseling sessions likely won’t want to have a camera pointing at them.

In my experience, threatening office encounters are virtually certain to happen on a regular basis. It’s not if, but when. I can’t carry at work, but have a Mk. 4 can of Fox taped under my desk. I always have a folding knife. But… I am a lifelong student of the self-defense arts. If this was my wife or daughters, I would recommend no meetings in private without backup.

[Wise_A]

*Audible alarms: may dissuade an attacker. In my experience, I have never received a call for an audible alarm going off for less than 10-15 minutes, even from the most Karenest of Karens.
*Check on your local police's dispatch policy when it comes to alarm dispatches.
*Institute the buddy system. The person taking the interview calls in and reports they're in a meeting with a client, giving the client name or a number. The buddy recalls every 15 or 20 minutes. If there's no answer, the buddy 911s.
*Call your local police, explain the situation, and ask what the policy for dispatching 911 open lines is. They may not want to tell you, that's fine, they're just following policy. Some jurisdictions respond to every one (eventually). Know what it takes to get an immediate dispatch.
*Cameras. Lots of cameras. Visible cameras and a sign. On that note, web-enabled cameras can be monitored remotely for not a lot of money.

[Totem Polar]

Honestly, given the confidentiality requirements of counseling, the only real mitigating strategy is to make sure that there are always two vetted employees in the greater area of the collective office space at any time. This will mean herding cats at first, to make sure that client scheduling after “business hours” and scheduling of make-up sessions is still coordinated and codified. Sort of a cash flow vs risk calculus; no way around it.

I work largely one-on-one with clients, and at times am the only authorized person in an entire building. Any risk mitigation is largely due to #1, the pre-screened nature of my work and #2, after decades of being around self-defense subcultures, I’ve probably arrived at a place where I am marginally more dangerous to the average client than the average client is to me. Suffice to say, not everyone gets their jolies from martial studies like I do, so #2 is not a viable strategy in a larger sense.

With regard to #1, a lot can be gleaned in initial intake paperwork, and initial sessions. While not perfect, I have no doubt that an emerging sense of clients’ issues will filter some into the likely “safe for after hours” category, and others into the “schedule only during peak traffic times.” Each therapist will have to proceed discreetly according to their own perceptions, experience, and comfort level.

As CF notes, it’s a numbers game. See 1,000 clients; statistically be prepared for 1-2 that are *seriously* whack at some point over the period of time required to hit that number. Over the 2 decades that I’ve been at my current work, I’ve had 2 clients that caused *major* institutional concern to the point of newspaper headlines, and another 2 who caused considerable internal angst amongst colleages. Out of +/- 1500-ish total, maybe? (I’ve not bothered to keep track).

But I ramble. As I am given to do. Surely, there has to have been some discussion of this topic in various professional organizations or journals at some point. Might be worth a look—not that professional societies and organizations will be more informed than the P-F hive mind on security topics, but one never knows.

[Clusterfrack]

Over the 2 decades that I’ve been at my current work, I’ve had 2 clients that caused *major* institutional concern to the point of newspaper headlines, and another 2 who caused considerable internal angst amongst colleages.

My stats are similar. 1 in the first category, maybe 10 in the second. A few inappropriate solicitations as well, and those were in some ways the scariest.

[Totem Polar]

A few inappropriate solicitations as well, and those were in some ways the scariest.

When we get that beer later this summer, I will tell you deets on how I got hired in the first place, years ago. It involved the sudden departure of two of my predecessors. I taught with my door open for a decade. Which was noisy, but fuck everyone else when it comes to PERSEC.


Also, I’m at about a half-dozen tick marks with regard to colleagues who either got honey trapped, or honey trapped themselves out of a job. Some of which was visually and politically spectacular.

[Clusterfrack]

@totempolar, let’s do it. I’ve got some good ones too. Including a thrown shoe.

[CraigS]

Is you wife's and the other individual offices made from windowed walls? Probably not the correct term but I am thinking of a solid wall up to maybe chair rail height w/ glass to near the ceiling. And then a rule that there are always 2 people working. If the walls can be seen through, at least the other person can make a call. I know that might be somewhat counter productive but your wife's safety is more important than any of her 'customers' are. Another thought, have all the women stay for an extra hour or so, buy pizza and one beer each and talk about what can be done. Hopefully you can prime her to bring up the fact that 911 will get a cop there 15 minutes too late so their safety is on them. I really like octogon's idea of a dry chemical fire extinguisher. I have been hit w/ the spray from one accidently and can tell you it stopped all activity so I could run out of the cloud and breath again. The ones that are maybe 15 inches tall are light enough to be used easily but heavy enough that hitting someone w/ one will definitely help and maybe $30 each so one in every office. Oh, and buy an extra so every employee can make a 3 second blast w/ it. I was surprised by a story of a kitchen fire that did way more damage than it should have because the wife had no idea how to use the extinguisher that was in fact there. So replace the pin for each person's trial effort. My wife has been carrying for about 10 years including to work. Except the last 1.5 yrs on a college campus which I loved until we realized she probably shouldn't carry there so the pistol stayed in the car.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

When I was working, I had meetings with students. Since some of them, obviously, were young women - in more recent days, I would never leave the door closed. Nor would I do it with males, either.

If they wanted such to discuss personal problems, I would defer and tell them to seek aid at the counseling center. It was not unknown for some suggestions from the young not to be appropriate nowadays and of course, perhaps wrong and a terrible personal risk if one was foolish enough to engage. As I aged, they diminished but older fat foggies still got quid pro quo offers at times.

If there was a suggestion of abuse, we were mandated to report immediately. I also told faculty, even if they had clinical skills, not to engage a student in such conversations but to refer.

As far as threats, we had them. The school was adamantly anti-firearms. I always had a Delica and Sabre OC on me. However, if it ever came to use them - unless it was an obvious crazed attack, that would be the end of my career. Using a Delica to effect an escape from someone pounding on me (as in class) - well, I might escape but I'm gone.

Now might that differ for a female attacked by a male - perhaps.

We did have a serious threat. At a disciplinary hearing, we had the law but he never showed and his parents had hustled him away never to be seen. If I ever saw him again, fleeing and screaming was the plan.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed had a story about a faculty member under threat and the school was in 'so what' mode'. He decided to study up on the shotgun for at home. I had a threat of home visit from a student. I told the campus police, who of course, wouldn't patrol my house. The local police said, well if you see him call us. I had asked for perhaps a drive by on the street that night or two. Yeah, I had my skill set and equipment but the calls were to set the context if the worst happened.

Schools are more afraid of the lawsuit from a student or client than paying your family off, if you get killed or injured. The financial risks are much greater from the student suing. Went to a seminar on such after some school rampages. This was a higher ed pro seminar, not one of our gun group meetings.

[Gumbo]

For the present, would it bust the bank to hire a big old high school student to watch the office while the clinicians work?

I would imagine that the clinicians don't want the barrier of a desk between them and the client, so a lot of the desk concealment/availability options are of the table so to speak.

I would suggest looking at the counseling set-up in terms of furniture and seating in order to determine accessible concealment locations for tasers, oc's, firearms, etc.

I also imagine it might be difficult to turn the clinicians from helpers to the mindset that they may have to severely injure/kill a client to protect themselves. They need a mindset that will enable them to react quickly enough and hard enough to actually protect themselves.

I showed my daughters where to 'poke' with pencils and pens and keys (a good solid old style bic pen, or a substantial retractable). A 3-D target is good for this, as is a cardboard target with a face pasted on it that has a card board box attached to the back with a tee-shirt over it all. One daughter was meh, but the other practiced quite a bit.

A mini fire-extinguisher could also be a considered in lieu of OC. If she does decide to use OC, she needs to get training, and burn up a couple of inerts practicing.

JM $.02

None of the offices have desks between the client and the counselor, My wife has a desk on the opposite side of the room. Most offices are set up so its a chair (sometimes 2) next to each other opposite of a couch where clients sit. There is nothing in between the couch and chairs with about 6 feet separating them. Most of the counselors have a set chair that they spend 30+ hours in per week, so that's really the only place to stage any self defense items. Perhaps something pointy...

It sounds like OC shouldn't be ruled out, with perhaps a gel medium. I have never thought about a fire extinguisher, and it has the added benefit of looking benign to anyone who might notice it.

[Clusterfrack]

None of the offices have desks between the client and the counselor, My wife has a desk on the opposite side of the room. Most offices are set up so its a chair (sometimes 2) next to each other opposite of a couch where clients sit. There is nothing in between the couch and chairs with about 6 feet separating them.

That's a terrible situation from a defense standpoint. 6' of open space leaves little time to react and maneuver. Add pregnancy to the equation, and it seems like she's entirely at the mercy of the clients.

Why is it out of the question to have a barrier like a desk between the client and counselor? And isolated 1-on-1 meetings? I'm having a hard time understanding the logic here. It's stressing me out just thinking about it.