[Skybird]

I must disagree. If you place dedicated guards somewhere, these then have a dedicated role and purpose which sets them apart from being ordinary people who may act hesitantly and indifferent - if guards act like this, then they have been ill-choosen. People around them trust in them, think they get help by them, and that they come to the rescue if need arises. Like a fire fighter would have chosen the wrong job if being too afraid of fire as if he would not get paralysed by the sight of it, a guard being paralysed in case of sudden violence, and failing those he was engaged (and paid) to protect, has chosen the wrong job. In case of amok runs, it is an often published consensus assessment that to quickly close in on the attacker and limit his further movement radius, is of the essence. Mount pressure on him. I agree absolutely that such a situation, the sudden outbreak of unexpected, lethal violence around you, is a shocking experience, I have experienced it when I was young and just had finished school, I know hat I talk about there: having a club blowing up twnety meter behind you and then seeing the drama opn the scene unfolding while dealing with your own psychological after-effects, is no pleasurable experience. But guards and police alike should and must be trained to have the mental and psychological stamina to deal with this, and to act nevertheless, and keeping their own reaction time low. In an extreme situation like an amok run, I even go further and say that if somebody is tasked with sentry duty and thus serves as protecting a community around him, he has the obligation to try confronting the attacker and to limit the number of fatalities the attacker can "score" - even if superiors at another place who are not in full understanding of the situation at hand give opposite orders and command him to stay inactive while civilian victims get slaughtered. I do not go as far as to demand that a gguard must sacrifice himself to save somebody else, no, own protection and survival are absolutely valid motives to stop short before self-sacrifice. But he has to try to fight. Just to just reduce any risk to oneself a smuch as possible at the cost of a killing spree around going on, is unacceptable for a guardian. Hell, he is not an ordinary bystander - he is the GUARD...!!!! People trust him, consider themselves being protected and acting on grounds of this assumptions - that in case of need they would find help and best possible protection by him.

A guard is not just decoration, but a function. His functionality defineshiss purpose. A guard is not just a spotter counting the bodies falling. A guard is a GUARD.

Yes, in situations like this officer was in, adrenaline flows like rivers and you are confused, and must face you own fears and instinct for self-preservation, I fully understand that. But you also must overcome these obstacles, and your training that you should have received in preparation for your later job, should have prepared you to do so indeed - or should have sorted you out. I do not say that everybody has what it takes to do this kind of duties. Thats why those who do, deserve respect, because ideally they indeed have what it takes - and then act accordingly where others cannot.

I do not ask guards to commit suicide. But I expect a guard in such a situation to come to try to come the rescue of the victims and protect them as best as he or she can. That what makes a guard a guard.

What this guard did, by all what I have read in the few media report,s equals to no guard being present. Thats the worst performance possible. A guard you cannot rely on, is not worth its money.

Its like this not just with guards, but also with any sort of responsible personnel, for example the crew on a cruise ship. Take for example events of havaries, and the rescued tourists later describe if the crew either did a good job in gettign the visitors off the ship, or failed to do so and rescued themselves first. Media and public opinion take note of these differences, and usually cast crystal-clear moral verdicts on whether or not the crew acted well or not. The crew, from the captain down to the stewart, are no ordinary people aboard the ship like the tourists, they bear responsibility, and this responsibility they have to serve in case of crisis. Officers set up on guard, also have this responsibility. As long as they take the money, they have to live up to this responsibility. Or quit the job.