Week 7 - Bonus Topic - Active Shooter - JCSO Citizen's Academy

Active Shooter was briefly mentioned in Week 6 but Lieutenant Hill wanted to cover it in more detail so Week 7 started off with his presentation.

NYPD and the Counterterrorism Bureau completed an analysis on Active Shooter incidents occurring from 1996-2010.  Here is a link to the press release and an additional link to the study:  http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/pr/pr_2011_active_shooter_report.shtml; http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/counterterrorism/active_shooter.shtml.  The full study is available in pdf format via the second link.

The Active Shooter report presents recommendations covering procedures, systems, and training for building security personnel which include:

• Installation of closed-circuit television systems that provide domain awareness of the entire facility and its perimeter; ensure that video feeds are viewable from a central command station.
• Designation of shelter locations with thick walls, solid doors with locks, minimal interior windows, first-aid emergency kits, communication devices, and duress alarms.
• Designation of a point-of-contact with knowledge of the facility's security procedures and floor plan to liaise with police and other emergency agencies in the event of an attack.
• Identification of multiple evacuation routes and practice evacuations under varying conditions; post evacuation routes in conspicuous locations throughout the facility; ensure that evacuation routes account for individuals with special needs and disabilities.
• Active training for occupants of the building on how to react to an incident.

Some statistics found from the analysis include:

• 96% of active shooters are male;
• 98% of active shooter incidents are carried out by a single attacker;
• the median number of deaths associated with active shooter attacks is two, as is the median number of wounded;
• 36% of active shooter attacks involve more than one weapon;
• 46% of active shooter attacks end with force applied by police, private security, or other bystanders, and 40% of active shooter attacks end with attacker suicide or attempted suicide; and
• 41% of active shooters had a professional relationship with their closest victim, however, less than one-third of these cases were perpetrated by individuals who were no longer employed by the organization at the time of their attack, implying that the threat of active shooters is not limited to downsized employees.

Other interesting facts from the analysis include:

• Less than 1/3 of attacks took place at schools
• Roughly 50% occurred at commercial facilities such as office buildings (13%), factories and warehouses (13%) and open commercial areas (23%).  Other areas including airports, hospitals and churches accounted for 22% of the attacks.
• An Active Shooter situation is often over within 10-15 minutes  (This is critical because a good response time by police in emergencies is 6-7 minutes.  The incident could already have turned tragic by time police arrive.)

Mentality of an Active Shooter:

• Desire is to kill and seriously injure without concern for his or her safety
• Usually has intended victims and will search them out
• Accepts targets of opportunity while searching for intended target
• Will continue to move throughout the building until stopped

Indicators of Potential Violence by an Employee include (employees don't typically "snap" but rather display indicators of potential violent behaviour over time:

• Increased use of alcohol or drugs
• Unexplained increase in absenteeism; vague physical complaints
• Noticeable decrease in attention to appearance and hygiene
• Depression/Withdrawal
• Resistance and overreaction to change in policy and procedure or repeated violations of P&Ps
• Increased severe mood swings
• Noticeably unstable, emotional responses
• Explosive outbursts without provocation
• Suicidal comments
• Behaviour which is suspect of paranoia
• Increasingly talks of problems at home
• Escalation of domestic problems in the workplace; talk of previous incidents of violence
• Talk of severe financial problems
• Empathy with individuals committing violence
• Increase in unsolicited comments about firearms, dangerous weapons and/or violent crimes

What can we as citizens do?  Remember police response time on a good day is 6-7 minutes so if presented an Active Shooter situation there are a couple of options we need to consider for our safety:

• Evacuate - if accessible escape path attempt to evacuate.  Be sure to:
• Have an escape route and plan in mind
• Evacuate regardless if others agree to follow
• Leave your belongings behind
• Help others escape if possible
• Prevent others from entering area where the active shooter may be
• Keep your hands visible
• Follow the instructions of law enforcement officers or security personnel
• Do not attempt to move wounded individuals
• Call 911 when safe to do so
• Hide out - if evacuation is not possible, find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you.  Your hiding place should be:
• Be out of the active shooters view
• Provide protection if shots are fired in your direction
• Not trap you or restrict your options for movement
• Last Resort - if your life is in imminent danger and you are unable to escape or hide, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter by:
• Acting as aggressively as possible against him/her
• Throwing items and improvising weapons
• Yelling!!!
• Committing to your actions - the more who can respond against the shooter the better the chance of taking him/her down in absence of law enforcement help

Lt. Hill recommends Escape as your first option, Hide-Out as a second option and Attack the Shooter as your last option.  Unfortunately in the last option there likely will be casualties but it is better to have a few casualties and save the masses by disabling the shooter than to lose everyone because no one stepped up to disable the shooter.  Having been in a Active Shooter incident (hospital setting - gang member came in looking to "finish the job") I can tell you that escape is the best option.  When you have a plan in place and know your escape routes it makes a huge difference!  We didn't have any casualties because we knew what to do!  Be prepared, you never know when you might need to execute your plan.

Law Enforcement Response is to stop the active shooter as soon as possible. The first officers on the scene will not stop to help injured persons. Their role is to stop the shooting! Additional rescue and emergency personnel will be along to assist with the rescue effort after the initial officers.

What else can we do?

• Practice common sense
• Contribute to a Culture of Safety
• Vigilance - Be Aware!
• Avoidance - know how to identify a high risk situation and avoid it
• Escape - know when and how to get away from a threatening situation
• Take Yourself off of Automatic

***The Sheriff's Office can come out to your school, office or church to present about Active Shooter Incidents and help you develop a plan to escape/survive if an incident occurs.