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agonyaunt2025-06-25 02:09 pm
minoanmiss) wrote in agonyaunt2025-06-25 02:09 pm
Entry tags:
Ask a Manager: Should I Have Called The Police?
Original post
I’ve retired for a while now, but I have a question about the past. I worked in a science laboratory that didn’t interact with the public, in a field that attracts individuals who seek confirmation of their diagnoses and treatments.
One day, I was having lunch when a peculiar man entered our lunchroom, looking for our laboratory. Our building has robust security measures, including guards and visitor vetting, so I assumed he was there for official business. He requested to speak to my principal investigator, who was out of the office. He appeared restless, evasive, and somewhat uneasy. He asked if I could relay any questions since I wasn’t sure when she would return.
As it turned out, he was one of those individuals who firmly believed they were “infected” and sought “treatment.” I explained that our laboratory conducted only pure research and did not handle patients. I collected his contact information and he left. Other people in the lunchroom soon approached me to inquire about him.
When my boss returned, I informed her about the incident. She expressed some concern and suggested that I should have called the campus police on him. I explained that I had considered that, but he was polite and I felt no threat and I believed it would have been excessive to involve the police on someone who was polite and compliant. I felt I was physically stronger and faster than him, and as the son of a law enforcement officer, I was more than capable and determined enough to protect myself from an unarmed individual.
Now, I should add a few more factors: I was a rare Black researcher in science. In 35 years, I never met my racial counterpart in another lab. As I mentioned, my late father was in law enforcement, and my brother and I had a distressing experience walking to our elementary school. Two policemen stopped us and made us stand with our hands on a fence while our classmates walked by until a woman arrived to identify us. She looked at us puzzled and told the policemen we were kids and didn’t match the description at all. We were gruffly let go. My dad contacted the police department, found out who the officers were, and made them come to our house and apologize. My brother and I spent the rest of the year fearfully walking to school, afraid of revenge. I think of calling the police like drawing a gun: you only do it when you fear enough that you’ll ensure the other person has a very bad day.
Another wrinkle was that the lab was predominantly female, and I understand that safety is a top priority for women. Hence, I understand her caution, but I’m not sure she fully comprehends my own caution. Calling the cops is the ultimate option for me, but is it the most prudent business decision?
I’m not going to second-guess your decision; you were the one who was there and had to assess the situation based on everything you were picking up about it. For all we know, your calm, respectful response even could have been what kept things from escalating. I will quibble with “I was stronger and faster and could protect myself from an unarmed individual” since you presumably couldn’t know for sure that he was unarmed. But it ended peacefully, so I’m not going to say you made the wrong call.
That said, I do think your employer’s security procedures matter and generally should be followed. For example, if it was a secure area and an outsider shouldn’t have been able to gain access at all, that’s something I’d report (even if for no other reason than that they need to know it happened so it can be better prevented in the future).
I’ve retired for a while now, but I have a question about the past. I worked in a science laboratory that didn’t interact with the public, in a field that attracts individuals who seek confirmation of their diagnoses and treatments.
One day, I was having lunch when a peculiar man entered our lunchroom, looking for our laboratory. Our building has robust security measures, including guards and visitor vetting, so I assumed he was there for official business. He requested to speak to my principal investigator, who was out of the office. He appeared restless, evasive, and somewhat uneasy. He asked if I could relay any questions since I wasn’t sure when she would return.
As it turned out, he was one of those individuals who firmly believed they were “infected” and sought “treatment.” I explained that our laboratory conducted only pure research and did not handle patients. I collected his contact information and he left. Other people in the lunchroom soon approached me to inquire about him.
When my boss returned, I informed her about the incident. She expressed some concern and suggested that I should have called the campus police on him. I explained that I had considered that, but he was polite and I felt no threat and I believed it would have been excessive to involve the police on someone who was polite and compliant. I felt I was physically stronger and faster than him, and as the son of a law enforcement officer, I was more than capable and determined enough to protect myself from an unarmed individual.
Now, I should add a few more factors: I was a rare Black researcher in science. In 35 years, I never met my racial counterpart in another lab. As I mentioned, my late father was in law enforcement, and my brother and I had a distressing experience walking to our elementary school. Two policemen stopped us and made us stand with our hands on a fence while our classmates walked by until a woman arrived to identify us. She looked at us puzzled and told the policemen we were kids and didn’t match the description at all. We were gruffly let go. My dad contacted the police department, found out who the officers were, and made them come to our house and apologize. My brother and I spent the rest of the year fearfully walking to school, afraid of revenge. I think of calling the police like drawing a gun: you only do it when you fear enough that you’ll ensure the other person has a very bad day.
Another wrinkle was that the lab was predominantly female, and I understand that safety is a top priority for women. Hence, I understand her caution, but I’m not sure she fully comprehends my own caution. Calling the cops is the ultimate option for me, but is it the most prudent business decision?
I’m not going to second-guess your decision; you were the one who was there and had to assess the situation based on everything you were picking up about it. For all we know, your calm, respectful response even could have been what kept things from escalating. I will quibble with “I was stronger and faster and could protect myself from an unarmed individual” since you presumably couldn’t know for sure that he was unarmed. But it ended peacefully, so I’m not going to say you made the wrong call.
That said, I do think your employer’s security procedures matter and generally should be followed. For example, if it was a secure area and an outsider shouldn’t have been able to gain access at all, that’s something I’d report (even if for no other reason than that they need to know it happened so it can be better prevented in the future).
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(And maybe the interloper’s contact info can help direct the poor guy to whatever counseling and/or epidemiological help he might need—-and he might genuinely need the latter!)
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Alison is right that LW had no way of knowing for sure that the stranger was unarmed but LW is right that calling the cops would've only escalated the situation and put everyone in danger because they're definitely armed.
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This wasn't that situation, and in this situation I think not calling was the right choice.
I did once call the police on a total stranger who was mentally ill who was banging on my door and demanding to be let in to see [person who didn't live there, and who I had never heard of]. But even tho I told her "person X does not live here", she was threatening to break in, to physically hurt me, and to burn my house down, and as a Disabled person who lives alone, I felt genuinely unsafe.
Australian police are much less prone to shooting people than US police[1], but I felt unsafe enough that I *might* still have called US police.
[1] Australian police do sometimes shoot people with mental illness, but every incident of Australian police shooting someone with mental illness, the person who was shot was waving a knife/machete around and refused to put it down.
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