Good Fear, Bad Fear

The first definition of fear in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online is: “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.”

There are a lot of reasons to feel fear these days. The COVID-19 pandemic continues spreading, and some areas have imposed new mask mandates in an effort to slow it down. The pandemic is also slowing down the economy, leaving millions of Americans worried about paying their bills and feeding their families. There’s also the national political turmoil, and the everyday challenges an individual may face.

In this week’s video, Leumas Security Services Founder Samuel Griffin III reminds security professionals that there is “good fear” and “bad fear.” Griffin, who is also author of the new book Rent-A-Cop Reboot, says that bad fear is often the result of bad training. He wrote the book to help security pros keep things in mind that may not have been covered in their training.

“As a security professional, you must not allow yourself to be so afraid that you lose the ability to use your best weapon: your mouth,” Griffin says. “When you have bad fear, you cannot effectively talk to a person who is breaking the rules of whatever location you work.

“In fact, I challenge everyone to think about a situation you are, or may, face where there is some type of disagreement. Come up with some ways you can talk about the situation without fear and anger. Who knows? You might not get exactly what you want, but you might get a little more peace,” says Griffin.