what constitutes an appropriate “challenge” of interlopers?
Debbie Thomson, acting chief of the Crime Prevention Branch of NIH’s Division of Public Safety, suggests approaching strangers and asking them, “May I help you?” She says that’s usually enough to constitute a reasonable challenge without making either the challenger or the person being challenged feel uncomfortable. If you spot someone who is behaving suspiciously or who intimidates you in any way, call security – 115 – immediately and leave the challenging to NIH police. When in doubt, Thomson says it’s always better to err on the side of caution and call the police. NIH’s Radiation Safety Officer, Bob Zoon, adds that scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been the driving force behind some changes in the very open atmosphere that once pervaded NIH labs. “There is such trust here that someone whom no one knows could walk all around a lab, possibly even grab stuff out of a fridge and disappear – and no one would say anything to them. That’s what the NRC really has a pr
