I love "Confrontation Response Policy".

Should also include a reminder to take a picture or collect contact info of the perpetrators if possible, and suggestions for how to do so in a way that does not escalate an already potentially dangerous situation.

Patrik

On Jan 23, 2015 11:30 AM, "null null null" <null@revolution.cheap> wrote:

We've got a lot of big items scheduled for next week's meeting, and it'd be helpful to start talking about them now so that the meeting itself can be as fruitful as possible without stretching on into midnight. One of the bigger items is the "Stealing Shit Policy," which would outline an appropriate response to theft in the space. It might be worth extending this into something more like the "Confrontation Response Policy," so that it could address other situations in which someone is threatening the space or its membership, whether they're drunkenly destroying items or verbally accosting people.

I spoke with several people about how we could deal with these situations without calling the police or violating our safe space agreements. Most of us were at a loss, but Ryan had some good initial suggestions. I've outlined them below as best I recall:

• If someone is trying to leave the space with a stolen item, call all hands on deck and block the entrances until they've relinquished it.
• If someone is harassing people or damaging the space, ask them to leave. If they refuse to leave, then call all hands on deck and form a human net around them. Without touching them, guide them out the door.
• Only if someone is physically violent do we respond with physical force.

These responses would be absolute last resorts, and hopefully we would never need to employ them. Still, even if we tighten down our entrance policies, we should be ready to respond to people who are abusing the space and its membership. This way, we'll be prepared to respond in a way that's aligned with our values.

Are there other ideas about how to deal with these types of situations? I've reached out to some radical spaces back in Austin to see how they would respond. If there are other spaces in town that might have some perspective or techniques, it'd be great to hear from them too.

-null

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