Upset or Aggressive Patron
Personal safety is our top priority. If at any point in the process of dealing with an upset or aggressive patron a casual employee or staff member feels unsafe, s/he should leave the area/office and seek help. It is permissible to leave archival materials unattended if personal safety is at risk.
In Person
- If a casual employee or staff member is faced with a patron that is exhibiting behaviors that the casual employee or staff member find aggressive or disconcerting, s/he should ask the patron to wait while s/he brings a supervisor or another employee into the conversation.
- If a resolution is not able to be reached, the casual employee or staff member should take down the patron's information and inform him/her that his/her concerns will be passed along to the Archives Director, Anne Sauer, for further discussion.
- If the patron continues to be aggressive or press the issue, the casual employee or staff member should state that his/her concern will be addressed, but at this time the patron needs to leave the DCA space.
- If the patron refuses to leave, the casual employee or staff member should inform the patron that the Tufts Police are going to be called.
- If the patron does not leave, call Tufts Police at x66911.
If at any point during this process the casual employee or staff member feels that they are in danger, immediately leave and call the Tufts Police at x66911.
On the Phone
- The casual employee or staff member should state that s/he is sorry that s/he can not help the patron at this time, but that s/he would be happy to take down the patron's contact information for follow-up by someone who can help them.
- Casual employees should inform their supervisor or the Archives Director of the situation immediately.
- Staff members should inform Anne of the situation immediately.
- In some cases, if may be appropriate to inform the Tufts Police at x66911 so that they can document the situation.
Panic Buttons
- Panic Buttons are located throughout the library. The ones most closely located to DCA are in the following locations:
- By the doors to the stairways
- Under the front reception desk in the downstairs office
- In the Bathrooms
Always pass along information to Anne so that appropriate tracking of individuals can be coordinated with the Tisch Library.