On a bright and sunny summer afternoon, the business day was winding down and I was getting caught up on some paperwork in the office. I had been recently promoted to supervisor and was still getting used to the workload and change in responsibilities. I opened the new payroll system which had been forced onto us by human resources with poor reactions from the other supervisors but I, having no opinion and not experiencing the old one, didn't mind.

When newly thrust into a position of authority your natural reaction is to micromanage knowing that if something goes wrong that you are held responsible. Learning to trust your team and discovering their strengths and weaknesses will serve you better in time. During my training, Mike, my trainer, suggested that I let the guards respond to calls on their own and ask for help when they need it. Learning to listen but not respond to radio calls took more practice than I expected. There is a line to be walked between ignoring important calls and being available but in the background.

As a result of this newfound discipline, I heard the call come in, a male was called in as panhandling in the food court. Dispatch had sent a guard to investigate and eject the male for trespassing if found to be panhandling.

"2-3 call control, be advised I have a report of a male in the food court panhandling. Male has a red jacket on. Called in my cleaners. Time is 13:04"

I turned my radio up but continued working on payroll. Honestly this type of call happens often, and security can remove upwards of ten to fifteen people for various policy violations a day. Most people will leave when they see security walking towards them and there is no interaction.

"10-4, 2-3 onsite."

For a large company that has a 24/7 operation and a significant number of employees who work 12 hour shifts overnight, the new payroll system was a mess. It had significant quirks about it that would prevent shifts from being input smoothly overnight and wasn't intuitive. In true company fashion no training was given out when the new system came online, and tricks were needed to be developed on the fly to brute force payment.

"Control call 2-3."

"Go ahead 2-3."

"I've made contact, but I think I'm going to need a second unit, he seems EDP."

"10-4."

"2-7 copies, I'm just around the corner"

"Control copies, thank you 2-7"

I couldn't understand why the company didn't consult with some other business which they aren't in direct competition with that have a 24-hour operation to see what they used in order to enjoy a functional payroll system. But I was done fighting with the payroll system for the time being. After hearing about the report of the emotionally disturbed person I decided to walk over to the food court to be in the area. When a report of EDP or HBD has been raised it can make the situation more unpredictable and violence becomes a concern.

I was about halfway there ...

"1-3 call control, if you can hear this, I think you should start heading over there, it looks like the situation is escalating."

"10-4, I'm just around the corner." I answered

"10-33, he just attacked me"

And my brisk walk turned into a run. My equipment jingled and slammed ungracefully with each step. The faces of the people I passed turned towards me as the noise of my boots and gear gave me away as my chaotic presence shook people out of their mundane lunch hour and indicated some type of happening. Some faces showed fear, others excitement, most confusion.

I turned the corner into the food court and could see 3 guards kneeling over an individual in a red jacket on the ground right in front of the exit door. It was springtime and the winter carpeting was still installed in front of the exit making a padded battleground that was hard on exposed skin. One guard was on the males left holding his arm, one on the right holding his other arm, and one on all 4's trying desperately to control his legs as he was shaken by powerful kicks. The male was screaming at the top of his lungs and every head in the food court was turned towards the commotion.

"THEY'RE KILLING ME! THEY'RE KILLING ME!, HELP! HELP! I CAN'T BREATHE! I CAN'T BREATHE!"

"Rex, handcuff him please!" one of the guards yelled,

I immediately handcuffed the male to relieve the strain on the guards who were holding his arms. Everyone including the male took a breath for a second as if the handcuffs calmed the situation momentarily. I began to bring in the situation and identify the guards I was with.

"1-3 call control, we have one 92 for assault. Can you please call the police for pick up?"

"10-4, good work"

"Did you tell him why he's under arrest?" I asked,

"Ya, I told him. He was almost out the door and he turned around and jumped at me." barked Koch.

"You alright?"

"Ya, I'm fine. He spit in my face too." he said as he started walking towards the washroom,

"Alright, go wash it off but get back here."

"10-4" he yelled in an annoyed tone as he disappeared,

Jeff, who was previously getting kicked around by the male while lying on his legs, was now standing examining his own arms. He had got a fair amount of rug burn on his elbows from being dragged around.

Allan had rolled the male onto his side to promote breathing and hold him more securely. He had separated his arms from his back and knelt down between his arms which pinned him to the ground. The male, having recovered from intermission, had begun to kick and scream again.

"Search him if you can, or at least where he can get his hands too right now." I said,

"Yup, will do." answered Allan. He began searching his waist band and pockets with the male flopping like a beached shark and screaming. He was attempting to roll over which made the search difficult while concentrating on keeping him pinned on his side. It was an unfortunate reality that a search would be impossible and that the only thing we could do was keep his hands separated from him.

"I CAN'T BREATHE! GET OFF ME!"

I looked around for the nearest camera knowing that it would be our best defense against any claims of mistreatment. There was a Pan Tilt Zoom camera directly over us which made me feel good until I remembered that it wasn't recording. I began thinking of other places we could move him so that he would be on camera and not a public spectacle. The only place that came to mind was the back corridor which had a camera in it.

"Ok, let's get him up." I said, "let's see if we can get him into the back corridor here in front of the camera."

"Ok, good idea, we can try that." Said Allan,

Jeff, Allan, and I picked up the male and attempted to get him through the glass doors to the exit and then into the back corridor, but the male immediately went limp and wouldn't walk. As we picked him up to move him, he pulled his feet up using his core and started kicking the glass doors. This plan wasn't going to work, we had to put him right back down where we were, which is when he started to reach for something in his pants. Unsure of what it was and unable to find it his hands were separated from his back again by Allan who pinned him again to the floor by the arms.

By this point, other guards had arrived at the food court after responding to the 10-33 call and began doing crowd control. Koch had made it back from washing off his face as well.

"Read him his rights from the back of your book, okay? I don't want any room for questions later" I told Koch,

"Ya Ya, what's your name?" said Koch directed at the male laying on the ground,

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! I CAN'T BREATHE! GET OFF ME!"

Koch read rights directly out of his notebook but might as well have been talking to a brick wall. The male didn't acknowledge him or respond when asked if he understood.

"Rex, there is a guy with a camera there" said Allan pointing into the crowd,

I looked up but couldn't see anyone. Normally you don't want someone with a camera recording the incident because they can start and stop the recording at any point to push any narrative they want. This can be seen on Youtube or anywhere on the internet, but I thought this might be the best opportunity we have to get a recording of the male yelling about the abuse we were dishing out while we were doing everything by the book. I started moving towards the crowd to find the person with the camera and spotted him in the back row of the semi-circle which had started to form. He was sheepish as I approached him and put the camera away.

"No, no, no ... get up here" I said while pointing at him, "I need you to record this, we'll need that later for evidence."

All of a sudden, his demeanor changed as he realized that I wasn't looking for a fight and maybe we weren't the demons he thought or maybe wanted us to be. He continued to film from the front row as I returned to the screaming and chaos happening behind me.

"Why are you doing this? You know he's schizophrenic right?" said a tall young man who approached from the side, "He doesn't need to go through all of this, let me just walk him outside."

"You want me to take the cuffs off him and you're going to deal with him yourself?" I mused.

"Ya, he won't hurt me."

"It's too late, we have no release authority. We can only hand him over to the police, they will be here shortly." I said, "Thank you for your help though, I appreciate it." I added though insincere.

The police arrived within minutes. Two of the largest, most unequipped oafs I've ever seen.

Upon arrival they walked in as if responding to a noise complaint and looked quickly overwhelmed by the flailing, screaming male on the floor. The bigger of the two sat down cross legged beside him while the guard continued to kneel behind him pinning him through the arms.

"Can you call for a Seargent with a taser and ... and maybe some shackles for this guy?" - asked the lounging cop.

"10-4", replied the other who then disappeared outside to get radio reception.

The sitting cop began to explain to us that he wasn't prepared to do anything until the male was hogtied so that they could carry him to the car. A line which enthralled the audience of the food court who were staying quiet to that they could absorb all the commotion. I cautioned him that we saw him reaching into his pants and because we were unable to conduct a thorough search we were concerned.

With the police on site, I turned my attention to the male with the camera.

Walking up to him with a business card in hand, I started with "How are you doing sir? I would be really interested in getting a copy of that footage, is there any way you could email it to me please?"

"Well ... you know ... I'm not really good with video and don't really know how to email videos or anything." He replied seemingly disappointed that there was no evidence of wrongdoing on our part captured.

"Ok no problem, thanks anyways." I replied knowing that my hand was not yet played out.

Within a few minutes several other officers arrived who looked considerably more capable. The male was rolled onto his stomach, hogtied, and picked up by 3 police officers and a guard. An open box cutter fell out of his pants when they lifted him, sobering my adrenaline.

As they carried him to the cruiser it left a scene similar to a hockey fight on the floor where the struggle took place; Tactical gloves, medical gloves, keys, badges, flashlights, notebooks, pens, clothes, various pouches, and a box cutter littered the carpeted area next to the exit.

"Well, congratulations guys," Said a Seargent who had just walked in, "That's the first knife I've seen in a while that didn't have blood on it after a struggle like that, you guys got lucky and fought a good fight."

A somber reminder of the gravity of the situation from a person who traverses the curtain.

We were told to set up a perimeter and not to touch anything so that they could take photos of the yard sale left on the floor as evidence. When I asked if there was any video footage available, I was able to point out our videographer and advised that he had a lot of the interaction on his phone.