Active Shooter (Killer) Planning
Sponsored by ASIS Rochester Chapter – 2 Hours (Active Shooter Awareness) – Monroe County Public Safety Training Facility
Certainly one of the hottest security topics these days is Active Shooter, now often referred to as “Active Killer”. Lieutenant Christopher Bittner and Sargent Steve Scalise of the Town of Greece Police Department, two specialists in Active Killer in the Rochester area, presented guidelines from their experience and training to help build awareness at the June 20th ASIS Rochester meeting. Key takeaways from the presentation are summarized below.
Why Active Killer? It is not just about active shooting but now also includes forms of intentional mass killing such as knives, cars, and accelerants.
In active Killer situations, the latest guidance is Avoid, Deny, Defend – it is a newer iteration of Run, Hide, and Fight. This is a great video to share with employees, members of community groups, etc.
- Avoid the Attacker – once you become aware of repeated loud bangs (likely to be gun fire) or get a sense of increased activity and noise, go to the nearest exit (keeping in mind it may not be accessible) and use cover and concealment, keeping objects between you and the attacker.
- Deny Access to Your Location – Locks doors, place heavy objects to prevent forced access or other means to hold door from opening. Turn off lights.
- Defend Yourself – When absolutely needed, deploy a back-up plan. Be aggressive, attack eyes, throat, groin areas. What you do matters.
Guidelines when police arrive: (1) Follow commands, (2) Show hands, (3) Do not make sudden movements.
Key statistic (from FBI) – Pre Attack Indicators – for all mass killings/shootings, in 100% of the cases, there is a grievance involving the attacker such as a recent loss or humiliation. It is also highly noteworthy, that in cases in which law enforcement was made aware of a potential situation in advance and where they checked on the individual, there have been no deaths. Takeaway: There is certainly a mental health component to these attacks and anything that can be done to intervene in advance serves to prevent incidents.
Training and Drills – one of the most critical elements in handling active killer situations; “people fall back to the level of training”, as repeated by Lieutenant Bittner and Sergeant Scalise. For instance, many schools debate the use of active killer training, however, the fact is that of those schools deploying a rigorous training, zero school children have died. Active shooter kits and medical kits are also key items to have on hand.
Assessment – Both officers emphasized the importance of continual assessments and preventative action deployment. The Greece Police Department is active in working with the community to perform assessments. Using the Greece Mall as an example, the officers showed a number of areas considered during their assessment. These included: hallways and hidden locations, roof tops, door locations and conditions, door labeling with numbers and names, pre-availability of maps with proper identifications, camera systems and validation of views, lighting, unlocked doors or doors left open by employees, store roll down gates, entrances especially those used by employees only, escape routes, and access routes for law enforcement and emergency responders including card access. A key point made was to look for breach points.
Communications – It is also important to have a well-planned communications process, enabling two way to officers and first responders, PA system, phone system, email and text messages.
Awareness of Visual Cues – security staff and plain clothes security can be used for building situational awareness in addition to serving as a deterrent.
Officers Bittner and Scalise welcome the opportunity to speak further with businesses and institutions and to help set up assessments. It not only helps the community but also helps law enforcement be better prepared.
Sargent Steve Scalise, Lieutenant Christopher Bittner and ASIS Rochester Chapter Chairperson, Bob Lukaciewicz
