De-Escalating the Disruptive Camper: Scripts and Tactics That Preserve the Peace

The 11 PM walk over to site 14 is one of the hardest things a park asks of a staff member. The music is too loud. The fire is burning higher than allowed. The voices are too sharp. The neighbor has called the office twice. Whoever puts on the radio and walks over now is in an unscripted conversation, alone, in the dark, with a guest who has been drinking since dinner. The version of that conversation that goes well, every time, is not luck. It is preparation. Same six scripts. Same approach principles. Same incident log when it is over.

Six approach principles, in this order

Before the conversation starts, the outcome is mostly determined. Walk over correctly and you handle the situation. Walk over wrong and you escalate it.

1. One staff member talks, one stays back. Never approach a disruptive guest alone. The second staff stands at a safe distance with a radio, watching for cues, not joining the conversation.
2. Slow your voice. Lower volume than the loudest person at the site. Always. The loudest voice loses the conversation.
3. Open posture. Hands visible. No folded arms. No pointing. The disruptive guest is reading body language harder than they are reading words.
4. Lead with a question, not a demand. "Hey, I'm with the park, everything okay over here" works in nine cases out of ten. "You need to keep it down" works in two.
5. Name the rule, not the person. "Quiet hours kick in at 10" reads as policy. "You're being too loud" reads as personal. The first one wins more often.
6. If anyone has a weapon, leave. Police only. Non-negotiable. No exceptions. No heroics.

The intoxicated-guest call is its own category

The drunk camper at the fire is almost never the actual problem. Eighty percent of the time, a check-in and a glass of water resets the conversation. The other twenty percent of the time, the situation is on a knife edge between calm and a real incident. The script for category one is friendly and short. The script for category two is shorter and ends in a radio call.

Category one (sitting at the site, loud but stationary): Walk over, identify yourself, ask how the night is going, mention quiet hours, offer water. Leave on a good note. Document later.

Category two (escalating, hostile, attempting to drive a cart or vehicle): Back away physically, radio for backup, do not get in the path of any vehicle. If they are trying to drive, your job is to not be the second hazard. Call local police if the attempt continues. Document everything in real time on the radio.

What never to say at midnight

Field note: The single highest-ROI tactic on a disruptive-guest call is to let the disruptive guest hear that the complaint came from a neighbor, not from you personally. "The folks on site 22 said the truck is over their pad" is a problem you are helping solve. "Move your truck" is an order you are giving. Same outcome, different conversation. The first one almost always works.

The incident log is what makes the next decision easier

The conversation at site 14 ends, the staff member walks back to the office, the radio goes quiet. That is when the second part of the job starts. Within 12 hours, while details are fresh, fill out an incident log. Date, time, site, guest, staff witness, what was said, what was done, photos if any, whether police were called. The log is the evidence base if the incident leads to an eviction, a chargeback, or a lawsuit. Without the log, three months from now nobody remembers the specifics and the story changes.

Free template: de-escalation script card + incident log (PDF)

Page one is the script card every staff member carries. Six scripts for the most common scenarios, the approach principles at the top, the "never say" list at the bottom. Page two is the incident documentation log. Print, laminate page one, file page two in the manager binder.

Legal disclaimer

This article and the linked template are provided by Campground Management as an editable starting point. Neither is legal advice and neither is a substitute for staff training on personal safety. Confrontation with intoxicated or hostile persons carries real risk. Always call local law enforcement when a situation involves a weapon, a threat of violence, or any conduct that puts staff or guests in danger.

About the author

Sean Hakes is the founder of Campground Management. He has spent the last decade working with independent parks on the 11 PM phone call and the conversation that follows it. Send him a note if you want a hand adapting the scripts to your park's actual scenarios.