North East Door Staff Training Goes National

17 September 2013, 11:24 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Training for door staff to help vulnerable people on nights out, developed by Northumbria Police, is going to be used across the country.

More than 100,000 door staff outside clubs and bars across the country will take part in specialised Security Industry Authority (SIA) training as part of a ground breaking project to ensure they can identify vulnerable people and know what steps to take to help protect them.

The training was developed in the Northumbria Police force area in May as a result of a unique partnership set up by Northumbria PCC with the police, Safe Newcastle and Phoenix Security.

The SIA which regulates the private security industry, including door supervisors, will now adopt Northumbria's training which means that door staff will be better equipped to take an active role in ensuring the safety of the public.

People who are refused entry to bars or clubs or are asked to leave can end up wandering the streets, cut off from their friends and with no means of getting home.

The training gives door staff options on the safest ways of helping people, based on their assessment.

This intervention will also help police officers policing thriving night time crowds.

Those trained will assess 'triggers' of vulnerability; these include the amount of alcohol someone has consumed, their age, whether they are on their own or have lost contact with their friends.

How Will This Training Be Used?

Some positive examples where the training has helped include:
A woman was seen wandering along, on her own, late at night. She was clearly drunk.

A door supervisor saw her and although she had not been at the club he was standing outside, he intervened and tried to find out where her friends/family were.

He knew she could not be left to continue alone and suggested she wait, while he contacted police to assist.

Police were able to contact someone to pick her up and take her home.

In another case, a young woman was walking along and looked very drunk.

She was with two men who seemed to be acting in a suspicious manner around her.

The Door Supervisor was worried and asked if she was with the men.

She said she didn't know who they were so the Door Supervisor questioned why they were in such close proximity to her.

At this point the men started to look very uncomfortable.

Police were called and the men were told to leave. The woman was escorted to a taxi safely.