“It’s Not Just Part of the Job”: Why We Must End Abuse Against Security Staff

Recent footage from outside a venue in Rochdale has once again shone a harsh spotlight on a troubling reality within the nighttime economy: the severe and often discriminatory abuse directed at frontline security staff.

When 20-year-old security worker Jawad Ali shared a video of a racist outburst he witnessed outside the Ko-Ko Lounge, it sparked a vital conversation. The footage captured a patron hurling abuse and making offensive gestures at a black security guard simply for asking her to move away from an exit. Unfortunately, for those working on the doors across the UK, this is not an isolated incident. It highlights a growing trend where verbal, racial, and physical abuse is wrongly treated as an accepted hazard of the job.

The Normalisation of Abuse

At Radius Security, we see firsthand the challenges our personnel face every single weekend. The abuse extends far beyond drunken frustration; it is frequently deeply personal, targeted, and prejudiced.

Our own Liz Turley recently spoke to the BBC about her experiences on the frontline, shedding light on the daily reality for door supervisors.

“There hasn’t been a night where I haven’t experienced some instance of somebody standing there for a prolonged period of time giving me abuse,” Liz explained. “They will pick up on characteristics that we’re likely to find offensive.”

Whether it is racist, homophobic, or sexist abuse, the intent is to demean the very professionals who are there to keep venues safe. As Jawad noted in his interview, the current online discourse surrounding immigration has seemingly emboldened a minority of the public to vocalise racist attitudes, leading to security staff being targeted with slurs and threats on a regular basis.

Radius Security’s Zero-Tolerance Stance

Let us be unequivocally clear: abuse is never just “part of the job.”

Our Door Supervision and Event Security teams are highly trained professionals who operate in high-pressure environments to ensure the safety of patrons, venue staff, and the wider public. They are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who have every right to go to work without fear of being degraded or threatened.

At Radius Security, we hold a strict zero-tolerance policy toward any form of discrimination or abuse directed at our team. We fully support our staff in reporting these incidents to Greater Manchester Police and other local authorities, and we will always advocate for heavy prosecution against those who commit hate crimes against security personnel. We actively invest in Staff Welfare and Training to ensure our teams have the support, conflict management skills, and mental health resources they need to navigate these challenging situations.

A Call to Action for the Public

Tackling this toxic behaviour requires a collective effort. Venues, security providers, and law enforcement must work together, but the public also plays a crucial role.

As Liz Turley rightly pointed out, individuals committing this abuse are too often left unchallenged by those around them. We are calling on the public to be active bystanders. If you witness a door supervisor being racially or verbally abused, do not look the other way. Condemn the behaviour, support the venue’s decision to remove the individual, and stand in solidarity with the staff who are simply trying to do their jobs.

Security professionals stand on the front lines to protect your night out. It is time we all stand up to protect them.