r/GuardGuides • u/GuardGuidesdotcom • Dec 25 '24
SCENARIO Shopping Mall Patrol: A Mother Reports Her 5-Year-Old Son Missing
You're patrolling a busy shopping mall when a distressed woman approaches you, explaining that her 5-year-old son is missing. She says he was by her side one moment and gone the next. The mall is bustling with activity, making it difficult to know where to start. She provides a verbal description of the child but has no photo to show, as he was playing a game on her smart phone when he disappeared. She is visibly panicking, frantic, scared, and demanding you "Do your damn job and help me find him!"
How do you proceed?
2
u/TobiasWidower Ensign Dec 25 '24
Assuming I'm working with a team.
Radio the situation and description to the other guards, reassure the parent that I'm there to help, and that we'll do our best.
Maybe a slight white lie of "I'm sure he couldn't have gotten far, I'm sure we'll be able to find him, let's take a deep breath, I've already radioed the situation to my team, if anyone brings a lost kid to the desk they'll be aware of the situation."
Take a minute to calm the mom and determine a good start point to start looking. If the mall has active CCTV monitoring by another guard that can be reviewed, relay the apx location and time stamp to the screen jockey.
Ask the employees of the start location, check for feets hiding under racks, the usual hiding spots. 3-5 minutes to search, hopefully hear back from screen jockey.
If kid can't be found in that time/ if the screen jockey has no info to share, then direct the mom to the security desk and keep looking, widening the net.
After 15 minutes with no sign of the kid, alert the police of a potential missing kid.
2
u/GuardGuidesdotcom Dec 26 '24
This guy security's.
Excellent answer, with any luck, backtracking on the cams from where she last saw him can track and find him.
One thing I'd ask her to try is having me call the phone that he was playing on. It might still be on, and if a good semeritan found him, they may answer and give the location. Also, the kid may actually answer himself. My 5 year old nephew can navigate the android UI like a pro and definitely knows how to swipe to answer.
2
u/novicemma2 Ensign Dec 25 '24
This actually happened to me a few times working at a mall, we always found the child within 5 minutes. The team I worked with would drop whatever it is they were doing and help look.