If you have a problem with trespassing, nuisance or encampment on your commercial premises this can be a very challenging situation to deal with. The problem can be very damaging to your business in terms of physical damage, but also reputational damage because of how this looks to existing and potential customers and your market or industry. Therefore you need to deal with the problem quickly, but haste should not come before a thorough understanding of the legal side of the issue, and you should also look carefully at employing canine security as the most effective means of addressing this situation.
Being faced with frequent trespassing, nuisance or encampment on your premises can be a stressful ordeal, and something you can feel helpless in addressing. Many people do not enjoy confrontation, and even if you are willing to address this yourself, you need to be backed up by the legal knowledge that can give you the upper hand and a clear and legal process through which you can and need to act. Being able to concisely quote the correct legal procedure will usually put your opponent on the back foot and could lead to them backing down, however, you should still employ trained and qualified resources in the form of K9 security.
How can K9 security deal with a confrontation?
In a situation where you need to confront someone who has been trespassing on, damaging or living on your premises you need to clearly spell out how and why you need them to leave site, while avoiding physical contact and confrontation. A K9 security professional will be able to do this because:
- They are able to diffuse potentially hostile situations
- They can communicate calmly and diplomatically
- They have a full understanding of the law
- They will not be intimidated by the situation
- They are fully trained and licenced
Should you be faced with a hostile situation, your natural reaction is for self-preservation. In this case you would not be expected to also be able to quote common law procedures regarding trespass and eviction, at all times staying within the law yourself with your actions. A trained canine professional can do this, while also handling a trained canine. The use of professional dog handlers is also known to act as a deterrent to offenders returning to a site.
The importance of communication for a K9 security professional
Where a situation involves people physically encamped on your site, or regularly damaging or trespassing on it, legal processes dictate that you need to serve a written notice on the trespassers, instructing them that they are being issued with notice to evict the site, this is usually issued with a maximum of 24 hours’ notice. Issuing this and communicating the requirements requires highly trained skills while the threat of violence and hostility still remains.
A trained and licenced K9 security professional will be able to:
- Stay calm and not retaliate
- Breathe slowly and communicate clearly
- Be diplomatic to de-escalate the situation
- Follow legal procedure to ensure that every critical step is acted out
This method of communicating will usually result in the situation being resolved within 24 hours, but even if it doesn’t, you have followed legal procedure and the situation can still be swiftly resolved. The alternative is going through a lengthy and costly courts procedure, or if you dealt with the situation yourself and it got out of hand – either through physical confrontation or you didn’t follow the correct legal procedure – then you could end up with an even bigger problem. This could involve costly legal proceedings against you and could also mean that the physical problem of trespass, nuisance or encampment is still present.
So if you are faced with a potentially hostile situation at your commercial premises, contact React K9 today and we can supply you with trained and licenced security dog services and discuss a way forward to resolve your situation peacefully, legally and successfully.
