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“(Dispatchers) are the first to hear the cries of the victims, yet they are the very last that anyone thinks to thank and most often aren’t. They are first to alert the appropriate emergency services, yet they seldom rate even a mention in the after-action reports. Dispatchers make critical judgments constantly upon which lives often hinge, yet their pay is at the bottom of the scale. They are the first responder at every emergency scene, yet when the dust settles, no one remembers the voice on the phone or radio….”
“Dispatchers don’t need to send cards or letters, bake brownies or angel food cake, to convey their feelings. Their colleagues know what it means to be in The Chair when everything comes unglued….”
- Paul D. Bagley, 9-1-1 magazine
Active ShooterTraining for the First Responder
Michaelanne AcreePolice Communications
SupervisorGlendale Police
DepartmentMay 2014
class objectives
Defining the active shooter
Preparing for the worst: the 9-1-1 call
Protecting the best: the radio dispatch
A look at school shootings
After the incident
characteristics
An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined space or other populated area. In most cases, active shooters use firearms and with notable exceptions there is often no pattern or method to their selection of victims.
Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically, the immediate deployment of law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to victims.
Active shooters usually will continue to move throughout the building or area until stopped by law enforcement, suicide, or other intervention.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Bulletin "Active Shooters."
Columbinethe mass shooting that changed everything
The Columbine Massacre that occurred on April 20, 1999 forever changed Law Enforcement response to school shootings and Active Shooter situations as a whole
12 students, were killed and 21 more were injured within 16 minutes of opening fire. The assault ended when Harris and Klebold shot themselves, bring the death toll to 14.
Were it not for the long time police adage of "time, talk, and tactics,” some lives
may have been spared.
The Columbine Review Commission was appointed by Colorado Governor and headed by William Erickson, former chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. The report was critical of how law enforcement officers handled the April 20, 1999, shooting while it was in progress. Instead of going into the school and searching for Harris and Dylan Klebold, they set up a perimeter and waited "for the assault to end.“
Library Surveillance Video and 911 call_Columbine
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=987_1355949341&comments=1
identifying targets
Anywhere Schools Malls Hotels
Hospitals Businesses Crowded outdoor
locations
Corporate America is beginning to prepare employees with survival techniques and scenarios in the event of an active shooter.
Law Enforcement is preparing its officers for rapid deployment.
the usual suspects?profiling the shooter
pictures of mental illness
LOUGHNER HOLMES
U.S. ARMY MAJOR DR. NIDAL HASAN• Army Psychiatrist; exhibited
strange behavior, was described as paranoid and aloof during his service at Walter Reed Medical Center 2003 – 2009
• Transferred to Ford Hood military base near Kileen, TX summer of 2009
• On November 5, 2009 Hasan went on a shooting rampage killing 13 and wounding 29 at Fort Hood.
• He launched the attack inside the building where soldiers gathered for final medical clearance before deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• This was categorized as workplace violence, rather than terrorism
There is no cookie cutter definition or profile of a shooter,but there may be warning signs.
bullied teenagers mentally ill disgruntled employees
religious zealots PTSD sufferers that quiet neighbor…..
that doesn’t happen HERE…
Any community, any time, any victim.
It is crucial that the public safety community prepares NOW for
immediate and effective response to neutralize the Active Shooter
and to save lives.
Dispatch is the first law enforcement response.
preparing for the worstthe 911 calls
expect the unexpected
Dispatchers must always be ready for the next call
Basic call taking skills and techniques are a great starting point – that’s why you learn them first!
Special call-taking considerations for active shooter incidents
Practice, Practice, Practice
call taker effectiveness
As the caller, how confident are you in this call taker?
Café Racer Shooting, Seattle, WA, May 2012
professionalism
Tone of voice, overall attitude, word choices
Strive to convey competence not complacency
Active engagement from beginning of call
Active listening
Empathy
Addressing Caller Safety
Assurances
elements of call processing
What is the most effective way to control a caller who is in a panic situation in order to get critical information for first responders?
Front-load the questions to get most needed info first – in this case,
Where is this happening; where did suspect go? Where are you? Are you safe?
What happened?Who is doing the shooting; suspect
description?When did this happen/is it continuing?
Ask direct, short questions and do not stack them. Make sure to get the answer to important questions before moving to the next.
Instead of saying “you’re not in the place, correct?” The call taker could have asked,
“Where are you?” In the bathroom. “Are you safe?” Yes.
“Did anyone see where the shooter went?” “I need a description for the officers. What does
the man look like?”
Advise the caller exactly what kind of help is on the way, and do it before the caller has to ask. “I’ve got a lot of people coming” is cold comfort to someone who is watching people bleed to death.
outcome
Suspect Ian Stawicki, entered Café Racer in northeast Seattle and shot several, four of the victims died from their injuries. Another woman was shot and killed in downtown Seattle about 30 minutes later by Stawicki as he carjacked her. He later shot himself in West Seattle and died in the hospital that evening.
New River Mall Shooting
Christianburg, VirginiaApril 2013
Community College campus inside the mall
Call
what’s missing?
Seriously?
Basic questioning skills SUSPECT DESCRIPTION Landmarks, direction of travel, victim
info Caller info – Name, phone number Utilize a good witness if you have one on
the line!
elements of call processing
What is the most effective way to control a caller who is in a panic situation in order to get critical information for first responders?
Front-load the questions to get most needed info first – in this case,
Where is this happening; where did suspect go? Where are you? Are you safe?
What happened?Who is doing the shooting; suspect
description?When did this happen/is it continuing?
dropping the caller
When the caller has given the all of the information that he/she has, it is time to move on to the next call.
Assure the caller that help is coming and advise them that you need to take the next call to help gather information for the officers. Note the callers location, name, and phone number.
Counterintuitive to normal call processing, active shooter incidents evolve quickly and time is of the essence for gathering intelligence.
time is of the essence
47% of active shooter incidents last 15 minutes or less and
27% last 5 minutes or less (that is, before a suspect leaves the scene, is detained, or is neutralized by police).
What that means for call takers and dispatchers is that far more good can be done by focusing attention on gathering and giving out suspect
information. The victims who have already been harmed are harmed – the objective is to quickly
identify and locate the suspects in order to prevent additional bloodshed.
New River shooting suspect profile:
• 18 year old student Neil MacInnis• Completed the 12 week Christiansburg Citizen
Police Academy in 2012• Student at the New River Community College• Posted online message board from campus just
minutes before the shooting to provide all the details, because media “never gets it right” – included weapons he planned to use.
• At his arraignment, stated that he was “having a bad week”
2 female victims recovered from their injuries
MacInnis was indicted in October 2013 by a grand jury on two malicious wounding counts and two firearms counts. His counsel then requested a psychological evaluation. Case is set for review in late February 2014.
preparation
The difference between a call that goes well and a call that goes awry begins with you! Prepare, practice, role play for what if situations. Work on your call taking skills, listen to any calls that you can get your hands on! (http://www.9-1-1magazine.com has a great library)
Always be ready for whatever may come when the phone rings
Use your call taking skills and style to focus the caller in order to get the info that responding officers will need, take and use their name, develop a rapport with them
who ‘ya gonna call?
DISPATCH!
After any critical incident, everyone will call. Family members will call, people just driving by will call, command staff will call, other officers and public safety personnel will call. And chances are, the incident might still be ongoing.
It’s okay to ask for help – be prepared for the onslaught, especially in cases where media interest will be additionally high due to high profile areas or victims.
protecting the bestradio dispatch and officer response
Aurora Radio Traffic
A few years ago one of the responders who handled the Omaha, Neb., mall shooting in December 2007 told a reporter that an active shooting needs to be dispatched like a lawn mower theft that should have been called in two weeks ago: calm, collected and with as little emotion as possible.
when units arrive
There is an ethical requirement that the first responding officers take aggressive steps to intercede. The fact that victims are being killed in a circumstance where law enforcement officers are physically present requires that officers at the scene confront the suspect and use deadly force to stop the suspect, if necessary.
Failure to perform an aggressive insertion of officers, as soon as possible, into the location would be a contradiction of the ethical position that law enforcement has historically professed to uphold – To protect and serve.
officer training
Rapid Deployment Active Shooter training is spreading around the country and your officers are being trained to respond differently to active shooter calls. The objective is to find and stop the shooter.
They will not stage for more units, they won’t standby while they wait for SWAT and a negotiations team. They will make a small team of two or three, even one if necessary, and seek out the shooter upon arrival at the scene.
While dispatch is holding traffic this kind of active search is going on.
Once units are on scene and in a tactical situation, dispatchers should give updates as needed but practice
the art of silence and listening. It can take a long time for officers to clear a space.
X
Portland PD Active Shooter Drillhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGURZN_S_gQ
dispatcher preparedness
Take a deep breath and go!
Training scenarios and ‘what if’ practice, visualizing the scene.
Once the threat is neutralized, prepare to put on your best EMS dispatching hat to get the victims to Fire’s location
Everything else under the sun – crime scene preservation, vehicles/witnesses/bystanders, mutual aid requests
Controlled chaos
kids killing kids
In July of 2004, the US Department of Education and
the US Secret Service published a study entitled
SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES
Researchers studied 37 different school shooting cases involving 41 attackers that occurred
between 1974 to 2000. These incidents took place in 26 states, with more than one incident occurring in the states of Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.
a different kind of suspect
Where mass shootings by adults by and large seem to have randomly selected victims in very public locations , teenage and young adult suspects often have specific targets and reasons behind their rampage.
The final Safe Schools Initiative report showed that
“Perpetrators of incidents of targeted school violence chose a range of targets for their attacks, including fellow students, faculty and staff, and the school itself. These incidents were usually planned in advance and for most part included intent to harm a specific, pre-selected target, whether or not the attacker’s execution of the incident, in fact, resulted in harm to the target.”
prevention?
Most incidents of targeted school violence were thought out and planned in advance. The attackers’ behavior suggested that they were planning or preparing for an attack.
Most attackers were not "invisible," but already were of concern to people in their lives.
The Secret Service now recommends and trains school officials in applying a threat assessment team approach in school settings
Arapahoe High School
Arapahoe County, CO School located 8 miles from Columbine High
School Huge campus – 70 classrooms and over 2,200
students Shooting occurred December 13, 2013 appx.
1230 pm
Multi-agency dispatch
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24719487/listen-911-audio-from-arapahoe-high-school-shootings
after the incidentlessons learned, debrief, & self-care
lessons learned….and preparations made
Business institutions and schools are doing a better job of training their staff to respond to attacks with trainings such as the Run/Hide/Fight video (AZACTIC website)
Some brave individuals are often stepping up to stop the shooter until LE arrives, like in the case of the Tucson Shooting
training
Use your chain of command and ask for Communications to be included in your department’s Active Shooter or Critical Incident Trainings!
Use your spare time to keep current on dispatch training tapes and articles to sharpen the saw and prepare yourself to best handle the worst case scenario
active shooter debriefings Call takers and dispatchers should be involved in agency
debriefs, both informational and peer support, with the officers and personnel who responded to the scene
Don’t be afraid to ask to be included in these if they forget to invite dispatch!
Depending on the size and scale of the incident, there may be smaller or larger debriefing groups - Command staff and CISM/Peer Support will generally be arranging these.
Informational debriefs and reviews are valuable opportunities for learning and improvement for future incidents
last but not least!
(in case you hadn’t heard) Public safety communications operators and dispatchers are subject to a great deal of stress under daily circumstances – tragic events where officers become injured or innocent people are killed can cause the emotional bucket to overflow
Please utilize the resources that your agency provides for stress management, EAP plans, etc to take care of yourself if you are struggling following any critical incident
references Active Shooter Rapid Deployment training for patrol officers training by
Glendale PD SWAT Sgt. Wence Arevalo.
Active Shooter Preparedness, Department of Homeland Security.http://www.dhs.gov/active-shooter-preparedness
Active Shooter | Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation 2012, NYPD.http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/counterterrorism/active_shooter.shtml
Bagley, Paul. “From the Chair: Preparing for the Unthinkable.” 27 December 2012. http://www.9-1-1magazine.com/Bagley-From-The-Chair-Preparing-for-the-Unthinkable
Ertl, Tracey. “Shots Fired: Police dispatch considerations in active shooter incidents.” January 2012. http://www.lawofficer.com/magazines/2011/january
Prior Knowledge of Potential School-Based Violence: Information students learn may prevent a targeted attack. May 2008. http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/bystander_study.pdf
Report of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Danbury on the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and 36 Yogananda Street, Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_Hook_Final_Report.pdf
Run. Hide. Fight. Video provided by the Arizona Fusion Center, AZACTIC, Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC). http://www.azactic.gov/
The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. July 2004. http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf
