AIP 310 · Hospitality, Gaming & Travel
Supervisors & Security Teams
Build and run a written, victim-centered response: who decides what, how to document, how to hand off to law enforcement, and how to brief and rehearse your team.
What you will be able to do
- Write a one-page response protocol that names roles, decisions and contacts.
- Apply victim-centered principles that avoid re-traumatization.
- Document an incident factually and request preservation of camera and key-card records through proper channels.
- Hand off to law enforcement cleanly and avoid private interrogation or detaining anyone.
- Brief a shift and run a 30-minute tabletop exercise.
1 Module 1 of 5 · 35 min
A written protocol: who decides what
- List the decisions a protocol must settle before an incident occurs.
- Assign a decision owner for each step.
- Describe how to keep the protocol short enough to use in a crisis.
A protocol is a short written answer to ‘who does what, when’. Under stress people default to habit. If the plan is not written down and rehearsed, habit wins. Keep it to one page.
| Decision | Who owns it | Written default |
|---|---|---|
| Is anyone in immediate danger? Call 911? | First staff member on scene, then the shift supervisor | Yes if violence, threats, or a person says they are held |
| Who takes the report from the staff member? | Shift supervisor or security lead | Take a short factual note, then escalate |
| Who contacts law enforcement and the hotline? | Security lead or manager on duty | Call 911 if in danger; otherwise call the hotline and follow guidance |
| Who preserves records? | Security lead with the manager | Request preservation, see module 3 |
| Who speaks to the guest or the person of concern? | Nobody, except as law enforcement directs | No questions, accusations or confrontation |
| Who supports the reporting staff member? | Their supervisor | Thank, offer a break, keep details private |
- Write the one-page protocol with names or roles and phone numbers.
- Have counsel and your employer review it before use.
- Post it where supervisors can find it quickly.
- Rehearse it twice a year with a tabletop exercise (module 5).
- Review it after any real incident.
AIP does not provide legal advice or approve workplace policies. Your employer and counsel decide what applies to your property, including any local or industry requirements.
At 2 am a housekeeper reports a concerning room. The night supervisor wants to knock on the door. The security officer wants to wait until morning.
What does a written protocol settle?
Show the debrief
It settles that nobody knocks to question the guest, that the supervisor takes a factual note, that the security lead decides on 911 versus the hotline, and who calls. The disagreement disappears because the plan decided it in advance.
Knowledge check
2 Module 2 of 5 · 35 min
Victim-centered response
- Apply the principles of safety, dignity, choice and privacy.
- Avoid questions and behaviors that re-traumatize.
- Describe how to stay supportive without interrogating.
Victim-centered means the person’s safety and dignity come before the case. A person who has been controlled may be afraid of police, ashamed, or loyal to the person controlling them. Pressure and judgment can make them withdraw.
| Principle | In practice |
|---|---|
| Safety first | Move the person away from danger only if law enforcement or the person asks and it is safe; do not force. |
| Dignity | Speak respectfully, use their name for themselves, avoid labels like ‘prostitute’. |
| Choice | Offer options such as water, a private space, or speaking with a trained advocate. Do not make decisions for them. |
| Privacy | Keep the conversation out of public areas; share only what is needed. |
| Honesty | Do not promise outcomes you cannot control. |
- Don’t ask ‘why didn’t you leave?’ or ‘how did you get into this?’
- Don’t question them about the details of the exploitation.
- Don’t treat them as a suspect or threaten to call police as punishment.
- Don’t film or photograph them.
A supportive opening
“You’re safe here for now. You don’t have to tell me anything.”
“Can I get you some water? Would you like to speak to someone who helps people in situations like this?”
A guest tells a security officer that she is being made to work, but pleads that you not call the police because her boyfriend will hurt her family.
How do you respond without lying or abandoning her?
Show the debrief
Stay calm, do not promise secrecy you cannot keep, and explain honestly that you want to connect her with people who help. Ask whether she would speak with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and call 911 if she is in immediate danger or a child is involved. Never question her for details.
Knowledge check
3 Module 3 of 5 · 40 min
Documentation and preserving records through proper channels
- Create a factual incident record.
- Describe which records may matter and why they must be preserved.
- Explain how to request preservation through counsel and law enforcement rather than collecting on your own.
Records can fade or be overwritten. Camera footage may loop in days, and key-card logs may be purged. Your job is to document what you know and ask the right people to preserve what exists. Your job is not to gather evidence in ways that could taint it.
| Record | Why it may matter | Your action |
|---|---|---|
| Camera footage | Shows arrivals, movement, who accompanied whom | Ask the security lead and counsel to preserve the relevant window. Do not edit or copy it informally. |
| Key-card and door logs | Shows room entry and times | Preserve through your normal records channel on request. |
| Reservation and payment records | Shows booking details and payment type | Do not alter. Preserve as is. |
| Staff statements | Capture first-hand recollection | Take a short factual note now, with date and time. |
| Vehicle and plate information | Helps identify visitors | Note it. Do not follow. |
- Write a factual incident note: who, what, when, where, who reported, and who you told.
- Record the times you contacted law enforcement or the hotline, and who you spoke to.
- Tell your security lead and counsel what exists, so retention periods can be paused.
- Provide records to law enforcement on a lawful request, following your employer’s process.
- Limit access to the incident file to people who need it.
- Don’t delete, edit or export footage informally.
- Don’t share footage or images in group chats.
- Don’t guess in writing. Record facts only.
On Friday a supervisor hears of a concerning room visit. The camera system overwrites after seven days. Nobody has told the records team.
What should happen on Friday?
Show the debrief
The supervisor documents the report factually and alerts the security lead and counsel at once, so the relevant footage window is preserved before it is overwritten. Nobody copies or edits the footage informally.
Knowledge check
4 Module 4 of 5 · 35 min
Law-enforcement handoff and what not to do
- Prepare a clean handoff packet.
- Describe why private interrogation and detaining are not part of your role.
- Explain how to support, not obstruct, an investigation.
Once police arrive, you move from first responder to support. A clean handoff means the investigators get facts quickly, and nobody has tainted the scene or the witness.
Handoff packet checklist:
- Your factual incident note, with times.
- Names and contact details of staff who observed.
- The location, room and floor details.
- Which records exist and who controls them.
- A single point of contact for the investigators.
- Don’t question the person privately to ‘get the story straight’.
- Don’t detain, block, lock in or physically restrain anyone.
- Don’t search belongings or the room beyond what the law and your policy allow.
- Don’t promise the person you will keep them safe from police or from the controller.
- Don’t discuss the case with the media or on social media.
- Cooperate on lawful requests and route legal questions to counsel.
- Keep the area as it is until officers arrive, where it is safe and lawful to do so.
- Let the victim speak with a trained advocate where possible.
A security officer takes a guest to the back office to ‘get her story’ before the police arrive, to be helpful. She starts crying and says she wants to leave.
What went wrong, and how do you fix it?
Show the debrief
A private interview can re-traumatize, produce inconsistent statements, and create liability. Stop questioning, let her leave if she wishes and nothing else prevents it, call 911 if she is in danger, and let trained responders speak with her.
Knowledge check
5 Module 5 of 5 · 40 min
Briefing a shift and running a tabletop
- Deliver a five-minute shift briefing.
- Run a 30-minute tabletop exercise with a scenario and discussion questions.
- Capture gaps and assign fixes.
A protocol nobody has practiced does not work. A tabletop is a conversation around a table where a scenario is read aloud and the team talks through what each person would do. It finds the gaps before a real incident does.
Five-minute shift briefing
“Here’s what we do if we notice something: stay safe, don’t confront, tell your supervisor or security lead, and call 911 if someone is in danger.”
“The hotline is 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733. Nobody is in trouble for a good-faith report.”
- Pick a scenario (for example, a housekeeper reports room activity at 2 am).
- Read it aloud. Add a new development every five minutes (for example, the guest leaves the room).
- Ask each person: what do you do, who do you tell, what do you write?
- Mark each gap: unclear role, missing number, no after-hours contact.
- Assign an owner and a date for each fix.
- Write a one-page summary and keep it.
| Gap found | Fix | Owner | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| No after-hours contact for the security lead | Add the on-call number to the protocol | Security lead | Within 7 days |
| Housekeepers unsure who to tell | Brief all housekeeping teams | Housekeeping manager | Within 14 days |
You run a tabletop. A night housekeeper reports a concerning room. Five minutes later the guest and a young person leave in a car.
What questions do you ask the group?
Show the debrief
Who takes the note? Who decides on 911? How do we record the plate without following? Who preserves footage? A good tabletop turns each answer into a written fix.
Knowledge check
★ Capstone
Run a tabletop and write your one-page protocol
The capstone is how you show you can do the work, not just answer questions. It produces something real that you keep.
- Write a one-page response protocol with roles, decisions, phone numbers and the hotline.
- Draft a five-minute shift briefing in your own words.
- Run a 30-minute tabletop with at least three colleagues, and record the gaps.
- Write a factual sample incident note and a handoff packet checklist.
- List the fixes with owners and dates.
How it is reviewed
- The protocol names roles and decisions and fits on one page.
- The briefing includes the safe-action rules and the hotline.
- The incident note is factual with times and no guesses.
- The tabletop summary lists real gaps and assigned owners.
- No step involves private interrogation, detaining or confronting anyone.
Pass every module check at 80% or better, finish the capstone, then follow the steps on the credentials page to request your certificate.
Counts toward
Companion playbooks
- Blameless after-action review
- Run a 45-minute tabletop exercise for your school
- Preserving evidence: a guide for families
AIP Academy courses are awareness and skills training. They are not legal, medical or clinical advice, and an AIP certificate is not a license, state or professional accreditation, CLE credit, or a promise of employment. In an emergency call 911.
Safety is built before the crisis
Pick your part and see it through. Prevention works when people follow through.