Training

Courses

The T.R.A.P.® programme – always tailored to the needs of the individual client – usually incorporates a consultancy period followed by training pertinent to the operating environment. Our courses are not off-the-shelf products and are of no fixed duration.

Within our training programmes we generally cover the following topics, each to a greater or lesser extent depending on our clients’ needs, the threat level, training time available and budget:

  • Threat Appreciation (pertinent to the clients operating environment)
  • T.R.A.P.® Principles
  • Limitations of Technology
  • The Terror Sequence (Terrorist Modus Operandi)
  • Covert vs. Overt Deployment
  • Threat Profiles
  • Baselining & Expectations of Behaviour
  • Normal & Abnormal Behaviours
  • Avoidance of Racial Profiling
  • Avoidance of Gender Profiling
  • Influences on Perception
  • Stress Indicators, the Biology of Fear, and Fight, Flight and Freeze Responses
  • Spotlight Effect and Othello Error/Syndrome
  • Document Inspection
  • Suspicious Signs (Behaviour, Dress, Belongings, Documentation, Surveillance)
  • Hostile Reconnaissance
  • Risks of Surveillance
  • Distractions & Halo Effect
  • Questioning Techniques
  • The Art of Conversation
  • Deception Indicators
  • Cross-Cultural Awareness
  • Resolving Concerns
  • Emergency Response Protocols
  • Adaptive Search Techniques
  • Quality Control
  • Security Controls & Customer Service

Train-the-trainer programmes that include Questioning Techniques are only suited to personnel who have had extensive experience in questioning people in a live, operational environment.

Course Duration

T.R.A.P.® training courses are adapted to the audience needs.

Some clients can only allocate a few hours or half a day to the programme and, accordingly the focus is then on threat appreciation and encouraging the reporting of deviations from the norm; this might apply to hotel housekeeping personnel or vendors at sports events and festivals.

Other clients may choose to run one- or two-day programmes where attendees focus on the identification of suspicious signs in greater detail, response protocols and encouraging staff to challenge people causing concern; this might apply to security personnel who are cross-utilised with other hospitality-related functions, or who have static roles, such as those involved in front-of-house security roles at shopping centres, theatres, tourist attractions, sporting events or hotels.

For clients wishing to have designated behavioural detection teams deployed, we recommend at least three days in the classroom, followed, if possible, by on-the-job training.

And for organisations wishing to upskill security screeners into full T.R.A.P.® operatives who are trained to ask questions and resolve suspicious indicators based on the answers received and body language expressed, we suggest at least five days training for a class of no more than 16 in number. This is due to the need for extensive role play within the training programme. These courses are ideally suited to those screeners delivering airport security services, performing customs, immigration and quarantine controls or otherwise operating in high-security environments.