Security & SROs

Increasingly police departments and School Security/Resource Officers are being asked to do a job that is somewhere in the middle of traditional law enforcement and social worker.

In years past teachers and front line staff would handle most incidents.  Police were only called in for more dire circumstances.  Today security officers are commonplace at healthcare, hospitals, substance abuse, outpatient, community services and schools.

New York City Schools currently employs a school police unit of more than 5000 SSOs, civilian police and nearly 200 armed officers.  There are more police officers patrolling NYC City schools than make up the entire police forces in Detroit, Baltimore, Dallas or Las Vegas.

The problem with having officers in schools is that often the use-of-force policy at schools for police or security officers is  no different from the policy employed on the streets.   While everyone wants schools to be safe, the use of a “street policy” in a school setting can undermine efforts to create a nurturing and supportive environment for children to learn.


Many of the schools and hospitals HWC trains include their security officers in the training.  HWC trains officers in communication and de-escalation as well as therapeutic (non-injurious, non-pain compliant) physical intervention that can be transitioned into more traditonal “defensive tactics” techniques and methods when necessary.   This continuum of care will create a consistency between the intervention methods used by teachers and clinicians and those used by officers.

Handle With Care teaches:

  • Verbal de-escalation
  • Behavior management
  • Relationship Models
  • Positive Interventions and Limit Setting
  • Personal Defense
  • Defense of Others
  • Physical Restraint: standing, wall, seated and floor
  • Escort
  • Handcuffing
  • Special Interventions: breaking up fights, pregnant females, medical or other orthopedic or health restrictions, managing small children or youth, therapeutic use of seclusion and/or mechanical restraints (where applicable)
  • Handcuffing (where applicable)

For security officers HWC has specialized interventions included in the PLUS program.  These interventions include:

  • Non-lethal personal defense and defense of others techniques not taught in HWC.
  • High speed takedown
  • Training a specialized intervention or CERT team
  • Non-lethal weapon disarms
  • Additional restraint and control techniques not taught in HWC i.e. for larger youth and handcuffing off of these additional restraint and control techniques
  • Additional escort techniques not taught in HWC i.e. for larger youth

HWC offers two training options:

On-Site Training

An HWC trainer can go to your facility and provide training for your staff.

Seminar Training

Your organization can send staff to one HWC’s seminars.

For more information contact us: Tel: 845-255-4031; E-mail: info@handlewithcare.com