Posted on Sep 15, 2018
We Have Fire Drills… Why Not Active Shooter Drills? – Special Tactics
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Terrorist attacks have increased dramatically across the United States and Europe and it is unlikely that the frequency and lethality of attacks will diminish in the near future. It is important to remember that if our society becomes overly terrorized, fearful or paranoid, we are giving the terrorists a moral victory. However, there is a difference between paranoia and intelligent, disciplined preparation. Special Tactics holds the opinion that overall, American citizens and communities are not doing enough to prepare for deadly terrorist attacks. We have fire drills, but why is there so little formal education and training for how to deal with an active shooter or deadly terrorist attack?
Potential terrorist targets such as schools, airports, offices and places of worship are often poorly prepared to deal with a deadly attack perpetrated by terrorists or violent criminals. To help counter this threat, Special Tactics is releasing its first “Mini Course,” a 20-slide presentation entitled Surviving a Deadly Attack in an Enclosed Environment. The presentation comes with a printable “Quick Reference Card” to help people review and internalize the essential points of the presentation.
The presentation provides lifesaving advice and information that could greatly reduce civilian casualties in a crisis. Probably the most important piece of advice is that your chances of survival are much greater if you attempt to run away from the attackers instead of curling up on the ground and trying to hide....
Potential terrorist targets such as schools, airports, offices and places of worship are often poorly prepared to deal with a deadly attack perpetrated by terrorists or violent criminals. To help counter this threat, Special Tactics is releasing its first “Mini Course,” a 20-slide presentation entitled Surviving a Deadly Attack in an Enclosed Environment. The presentation comes with a printable “Quick Reference Card” to help people review and internalize the essential points of the presentation.
The presentation provides lifesaving advice and information that could greatly reduce civilian casualties in a crisis. Probably the most important piece of advice is that your chances of survival are much greater if you attempt to run away from the attackers instead of curling up on the ground and trying to hide....
We Have Fire Drills… Why Not Active Shooter Drills? – Special Tactics
Posted from specialtactics.global
Safety
Emergency Management
Active Shooter
Terrorism
Security
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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I don't have a great answer to your question.
One of the difficulties of active shooter programs is that your most likely shooters come from the same pool as the targets. Knowing the "active shooter responses and countermeasures" gives a strategic thinker the opportunity for secondary and tertiary attacks (IED's, kill zones with blocked exits, etc.) and counter counter measures. The trick is to strike the optimal balance between trained defensive responses and giving the shooter a huge intelligence force multiplier.
The most common approach is to have the school staff trained in the response, and teach kids to follow directions. Not an ideal plan
The second most common approach is to "call an audible" from 3-5 rehearsed responses, thus giving the shooter a more complex problem.
The third most common approach is to throw one's hand in the air and say "This is too hard, let's do nothing."
I favor an approach that many might find distasteful. We need to teach our kids as individuals to be tactical thinkers, who practice situational awareness BEFORE the threat makes itself known. They must be good judges of when to hide, when to run, when to fight, and when to negotiate/delay. Furthermore, it calls for a different mindset than that which we currently teach; "stand and fight - get expelled." We are teaching our kids to be helpless. The plain and simple truth is that most will not rise to the occasion, but the 1%-5% that learn the lesson well and do rise to the occasion, will save lives.
One of the difficulties of active shooter programs is that your most likely shooters come from the same pool as the targets. Knowing the "active shooter responses and countermeasures" gives a strategic thinker the opportunity for secondary and tertiary attacks (IED's, kill zones with blocked exits, etc.) and counter counter measures. The trick is to strike the optimal balance between trained defensive responses and giving the shooter a huge intelligence force multiplier.
The most common approach is to have the school staff trained in the response, and teach kids to follow directions. Not an ideal plan
The second most common approach is to "call an audible" from 3-5 rehearsed responses, thus giving the shooter a more complex problem.
The third most common approach is to throw one's hand in the air and say "This is too hard, let's do nothing."
I favor an approach that many might find distasteful. We need to teach our kids as individuals to be tactical thinkers, who practice situational awareness BEFORE the threat makes itself known. They must be good judges of when to hide, when to run, when to fight, and when to negotiate/delay. Furthermore, it calls for a different mindset than that which we currently teach; "stand and fight - get expelled." We are teaching our kids to be helpless. The plain and simple truth is that most will not rise to the occasion, but the 1%-5% that learn the lesson well and do rise to the occasion, will save lives.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
Maj John Bell Great thoughts, thank you. You could add them to the comments section on Special Tactics if you wanted to.
I'm afraid that the third approach is unfortunately common.
I'm under the impression that most active killer plans involve locking down in place. This does give the killer a huge intelligence force multiplier because he knows he's going to have massed stationary targets if he can break through an interior door. I'm sure that a similar level of intelligence granted to the killer would do him less good if the plan involved escape routes and fighting back.
I love the idea of teaching kids situational awareness and tactical thinking.
I'm afraid that the third approach is unfortunately common.
I'm under the impression that most active killer plans involve locking down in place. This does give the killer a huge intelligence force multiplier because he knows he's going to have massed stationary targets if he can break through an interior door. I'm sure that a similar level of intelligence granted to the killer would do him less good if the plan involved escape routes and fighting back.
I love the idea of teaching kids situational awareness and tactical thinking.
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Maj John Bell
SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA - Although my military security (Trident submarine shore Facility security and Embassy security) background is not straight line analogous, I was asked to consult with the rural school districts in three Michigan counties, very shortly after the Columbine shooting. The rural districts were much more receptive to active shooter plans than the more densely populated school districts. I think they were more receptive because help was farther away (in some cases if the stars didn't line up, it could be 15+ minutes before the first armed response was on campus and 20+ minutes before additional armed responders arrived.) Plus most of the schools had at least one faculty member who could recall when an angry parent showed up, armed and at the school house, to settle a child custody dispute.
Because they were smaller rural school districts with limited tax bases, any counter measures that required significant capital expenditure or increased staffing were really not possible. The only two options they would consider were better access control to the school house, shelter in place, and evacuate on foot to off-campus assembly areas. I was never able to get them to even consider unarmed offensive measures, even at the point where the shooter has breached the obstacles and is in the only entrance to a class room full of kids and staff. It was a possibility most could not bring themselves to consider.
It was actually a fairly complex problem because we had to coordinate with First Response agencies (Law, fire, EMT, 911 dispatch), viable off campus assembly areas (churches, farms with large shelters, county road commission garages, rural nursing homes, etc.), Medical facilities (to include retired medical practitioners and veterinarians, because most of our medical facilities are overwhelmed if a half full 14 passenger van has a serious collision), local TV and radio Stations, etc. etc. In addition, we had to ensure that any pre-attack counter measures we put in place didn't run afoul of local and state regulations. De-conflicting access control and fire regulations/response can get tricky, particularly if the local Fire Marshall/Fire Chief has very parochial/skeptical view of the necessity to take pre-attack counter measures.
Because they were smaller rural school districts with limited tax bases, any counter measures that required significant capital expenditure or increased staffing were really not possible. The only two options they would consider were better access control to the school house, shelter in place, and evacuate on foot to off-campus assembly areas. I was never able to get them to even consider unarmed offensive measures, even at the point where the shooter has breached the obstacles and is in the only entrance to a class room full of kids and staff. It was a possibility most could not bring themselves to consider.
It was actually a fairly complex problem because we had to coordinate with First Response agencies (Law, fire, EMT, 911 dispatch), viable off campus assembly areas (churches, farms with large shelters, county road commission garages, rural nursing homes, etc.), Medical facilities (to include retired medical practitioners and veterinarians, because most of our medical facilities are overwhelmed if a half full 14 passenger van has a serious collision), local TV and radio Stations, etc. etc. In addition, we had to ensure that any pre-attack counter measures we put in place didn't run afoul of local and state regulations. De-conflicting access control and fire regulations/response can get tricky, particularly if the local Fire Marshall/Fire Chief has very parochial/skeptical view of the necessity to take pre-attack counter measures.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
Special Tactics doesn't currently have any courses on gathering intelligence, but they are very open to suggestions.
There is currently a group and forum for open source intelligence gathering, geared toward the LEO community, on Special Tactics. Perhaps that would interest you?
There is currently a group and forum for open source intelligence gathering, geared toward the LEO community, on Special Tactics. Perhaps that would interest you?
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LTC (Join to see)
SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA - Thanks. I am all about Open Source information. I did not view the video. I couldn't get it to open.// I think that part of your commentary above about being prepared and rehearsing your response is secondary to good actionable intelligence. I don't think it is realistic to have 100% participation in any organization. I'd rather have a hard core 10% of my team prepared and rehearsed for contingencies. I think with today's division due to political viewpoints that trust is a commodity. My focus would include Insider threats and then potential homegrown terrorist. // You got a great looking web site.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
LTC (Join to see) - yes, the article is old, and the video link is broken. If I had to guess, I'd say that youtube took it down for some PC reason.
I agree about 100% participation being difficult at best. And certainly, it seems that proper exploitation of open source intelligence could have prevented a good number of tragic mass killings.
I am just a guest/member on Special Tactics, like I am here on RallyPoint. They are doing some great work! They seek to crowdsource tactical knowledge from across the tactical community, and they have a vision of becoming the certifier of choice for tactical instructors, like the NRA is for general firearms training, and USCCA is becoming for concealed carry.
I agree about 100% participation being difficult at best. And certainly, it seems that proper exploitation of open source intelligence could have prevented a good number of tragic mass killings.
I am just a guest/member on Special Tactics, like I am here on RallyPoint. They are doing some great work! They seek to crowdsource tactical knowledge from across the tactical community, and they have a vision of becoming the certifier of choice for tactical instructors, like the NRA is for general firearms training, and USCCA is becoming for concealed carry.
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