Lessons must be learned after killing of guard
Death at parkade shows need for wider scope on what underpins such violence
The killing of a GardaWorld security guard at a parkade in downtown Edmonton on Tuesday contributed to safety concerns in our fast-growing city. The Edmonton Police Service is investigating the incident. There is no doubt that the culprit, when apprehended, will face the full gamut of our criminal justice process.
However, police investigation and the prosecution of the offender must be considered a starting point. Our focus has to be broader as a society. When we do have the suspect behind bars, we have to ask ourselves: What is the individual's station in life? What assortment of factors contributed to the event of that morning? How might we mitigate the likelihood of producing such incidents in the future? What can we learn about that individual's biography to inform policy?
Beyond this single case, we are beginning to see unfold the consequences of having multiple cohorts of individuals, predominantly men, who have been in and out of prison and yet do not have a scintilla of a footnote in conventional society. That is one of the key contributors to tragic incidents, especially in episodes of stranger-on-stranger violence in our province.
It is important that we begin to address this incredibly challenging issue. This is not an exclusively municipal matter. It requires all levels of government to work together to implement prison-to-work programs so that those released from prison do not go into the underground economy. We must also ensure they receive the social supports — psychological and material (such as shelter) — they need to become productive members of society. To be sure, we are already intervening but our interventions appear to be at the tail of the pipeline — when something has gone terribly wrong.
At an organizational level, the question for GardaWorld is, was the security guard working that front-line job alone during their shift? If yes, was it reasonable from a safety standpoint to have a single individual guard such a parkade? It may make business sense, but how can GardaWorld enhance the safety of its workers to prevent such a tragedy in the future? There is a reason why police officers are paired as they go about their duties. GardaWorld's statement about the incident was timely and thoughtful. I hope that is followed by internal deliberations about what they could do differently moving forward.
Research indicates that “uniformed presence” can enhance citizens' perceptions of safety in spaces considered unsafe. That includes security guards who are generally less expensive than police services. Private security guards occupy an interesting interstitial space in enforcement of the law. Security guards engage in “policing” without the training, protections and basic accoutrements associated with that line of work. Studies show an uptick in provision of private security since the 1960s but comparatively little has been done regarding analyses of injuries and deaths on the job.
This is in contrast to police officers. For example, the RCMP lost 249 officers in the line of duty between 1876 and 2023 (that is, a period of 149 years, or 1.67 officers per year). Robust statistics for security guards are sparse. There is contradictory evidence regarding the risk of bodily harm or death on duty experienced by security guards and police officers.
A 2011 Australian study finds “injuries to security officers appeared more serious than those experienced by police. Security officers were twice as likely to sustain a head injury and, on average, lost about six weeks more work than police.” While police recruits receive six months and two weeks of training, becoming a certified security guard in Alberta begins with a 40-hour online course. This sector requires stronger regulations given the risks of the job.
As public safety takes centre stage across Canada as part of the burden of growth, we must learn the right lessons from each episode and implement measures to prevent future occurrence.