Restricted file
Security clearance required
This file contains protected information. Enter the access code to open it.
Back to the filesSECURITY FILE 002 - THE CHAIR
Security File 002 - The Chair
Location: Refugee Camp
Shift: Night
Incident: Fight
There are two types of night shifts.
The ones where you spend the entire night watching the clock.
And the ones where the clock seems to disappear.
I was working that night with a colleague I had known from way back. We already knew each other, knew how the other worked, and most importantly, we knew we would probably have a good shift.
That matters more than people might think.
When you are stuck on a night shift with someone you don't really click with, every hour feels like two. But when you're teamed up with someone you get along with, even a quiet night can be enjoyable.
That night, however, quiet wasn't going to last very long.
The refugee village was made up of around ten buildings, each housing roughly 150 residents. During the day, the buildings were busy with normal activities, appointments and meetings. Each building also had small rooms normally used by social workers to speak privately with residents.
At night, those rooms became something else.
A place for security guards to sit, monitor the building, talk, and occasionally try to make the hours pass a little faster.
We were stationed in a building that had a reputation.
It was one of the more active buildings during the night. Arguments, fights and other disturbances weren't unusual there, which was exactly why we were keeping an eye on it.
We found one of the meeting rooms and sat down.
For the first few minutes, everything was calm.
We got comfortable.
I took off my stab-resistant vest and leaned back.
Then.
BEEEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEEEP.
The alarm suddenly exploded through the building.
At almost the exact same moment, our radios came alive.
"There's a fight in Building X. Can a team go take a look?"
We were already moving.
Vest back on.
Radio in hand.
I replied:
"On the spot."
The funny thing was that the fight wasn't somewhere across the building.
It was literally two rooms away.
As we approached, we could already see that we weren't the first ones to notice.
Around fifteen people were standing outside the room, all pointing toward the same door.
Whatever was happening inside, everyone knew about it.
I reached the door and opened it.
I barely had time to process what I was seeing.
A chair came flying straight toward us.
We both moved out of the way.
The chair crashed past us as we entered.
Inside, the situation was already well underway.
My colleague immediately got hold of the person who had thrown the chair.
I focused on creating space.
I pushed the other people involved out of the room, separating them and getting them away from each other before the situation could escalate again.
At the same time, I called it in.
"CODE RED! CODE RED! Fight in Building X!"
My colleague was still holding onto the main instigator.
I turned back and moved in to assist him.
For the next minute, everything happened quickly.
Voices.
People shouting.
Radio traffic.
The struggle inside the room.
And then, gradually, more security personnel arrived.
One by one, the rest of the team came in.
With enough people on scene, we were able to secure the room and get control of the situation.
The people involved in the fight were taken away from the scene and handed over to the social workers, who would investigate what had happened and decide what would happen next.
The room was finally quiet again.
The chair was still lying where it had landed.
I looked at my colleague.
A few minutes earlier, we'd been sitting comfortably, enjoying a quiet night.
Now we were standing in the middle of a room after a full-blown fight.
That's security work.
You never really know what the next five minutes are going to bring.
And sometimes, the only warning you get...
is a chair flying through the doorway.
Post a Comment