The organization’s stakeholders need to invest more time and effort to better understand the prevention and survival of active shooter incidents. With a clear understanding of the risks and opportunities involved in an active shooter situation, stakeholders must implement the following strategies to achieve a successful multidimensional response.
Many organizations have yet to put in place an emergency action plan against active shooters, let alone have trained their employees on what to do. This is a huge mistake.
It is crucial that the organization’s stakeholders commit to follow an active shooter emergency plan training so that all employees know what to do in this type of situation. In most cases, employees gain confidence and become interested in active shooter intervention training when leaders support it.
Employees should receive regular training on how to respond to an active shooter situation. The frequency of training will depend on the size and complexity of the organization. Small organizations may only need to train once a year, while large organizations may need to train several times a year.
The organization’s stakeholders must commit to emergency response training for active shooters by providing the necessary resources and support. Training must be provided by qualified instructors experienced in the field of law enforcement or military operations. Employees must have the opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback after training, and they must also be familiar with the layout of their workplace and have an emergency action plan.
Employees must be physically and mentally prepared to face an active shooter. They need to know how to identify potential threats and what to do if they are in an active shooter situation.
The importance of mental training alongside physical preparation cannot be overemphasized. The natural survival responses are combat, flight and freezing. About 50% of those trained fully understand how to identify a threat and react during an attack. This is one of the reasons why victims do not identify the situation as an emergency and freeze in the hands of the shooter in several incidents of active shooters.
Although it is a natural reaction to a terrifying and dangerous event, the inability to think or act decisively in such a critical moment can be deadly.
The first step in training your employees to deal with an active shooter is to understand why they can freeze – most often it’s because of fear. Faced with a threat, the human brain goes into survival mode. This causes people to focus on the danger and ignore everything else. They become paralyzed by fear and are unable to act.
To overcome this reaction, employees must train their brains to focus during a seizure. This can be done by practicing visualization exercises. The key is to visualize how you would react if you were in an active shooter incident. Placing yourself in the environment through visualization creates familiarity and eliminates the feeling of being caught off guard because you’ve already experienced it. This speeds up the decision-making process and reduces the gel response.
In these exercises, employees are invited to imagine themselves in a scenario where an active shooter is present. They must be able to visualize themselves confidently taking decisive action, escaping and stopping the threat. With this powerful visualization, your employees can train their brains to react differently in a real-life situation. Faced with an active shooter, they will be more able to think clearly and find an effective solution. Another effective technique to help employees overcome the frost reaction is to add stress elements during training, such as introducing a timing element. For example, monitor the time it takes staff to evacuate the building during an active aggressor exercise. Exercises must be modified each time by changing the location of the attack and the available escape routes. This will instill the urgency of the situation in the minds of employees and will prepare them to think and act consciously in the face of threats, ensuring their security instead of freezing.
That said, the organization’s stakeholders should openly embrace training on workplace violence and invest in improving employees’ defenses against active shooters.
A small effort will go a long way in raising employee morale and instilling in them the confidence and courage to make conscious decisions when faced with an active threat.
Ensure operational readiness
The organization’s stakeholders need to be aware of their responsibility to ensure operational readiness to promote the effectiveness of security measures. This includes installing and maintaining technology and training people to use it properly. Security cameras, for example, are an essential part of security equipment. They can help deter potential shooters from even attempting an attack and can provide critical information to law enforcement if an attack occurs. But if these cameras are not properly maintained, they may not work and even fail completely during an attack.
Fences can help keep potential shooters out of the premises while providing a barrier that can slow or stop an attacker who manages to break into the property. But if a fence is not maintained, it can have gaps or holes that an attacker can exploit. Similarly, radio systems must be tested for transmissibility in multiple locations to identify any dead spots.
Apart from this, all employees must receive training on the policies governing security locks, cameras and entry card systems. Stakeholders must ensure that all employees know how to use safety equipment in an emergency. They must also know how to protect and maintain it to effectively protect the places and the people who are there.
Designing a Multidimensional Plan
In many incidents involving active shooters, the failure of a one-dimensional approach exposes employees to dangers that could otherwise have been avoided. Often, organizational actors will have to deal with the consequences of the snowball effect of these failures. The non-maintenance of Safety Equipment leads to unlimited access to attackers or intruders. Poor environmental design reduces the likelihood of observing an active shooter before an attack, and inadequate training leads to employee confusion during an attack, resulting in increased losses.
A multi-dimensional strategy should include :
- Design an installation that is difficult to access for an active shooter. This means having security measures in place, such as locked doors, security cameras and alarm systems.
- Have a clear and concise emergency plan to evacuate the building in case of an active shooter. Employees need to know evacuation routes and where to go if they need shelter.
- Have good lighting both inside and outside the building. This not only makes it harder for an intruder to go unnoticed, but also makes it easier for people inside the building to see what’s going on around them.
- Having wide corridors and doors makes it easier for people to evacuate the building and reach a safe place.
- Have visible security measures, such as security guards, that can have a deterrent effect, reminding potential shooters that they are being monitored and will be held accountable for their actions.
There are a variety of pitfalls in developing an active aggressor action plan. There have been cases where security officers have failed to identify or report suspicious individuals, allowing active shooters to achieve their goals. On top of that, staff members who don’t know the organization’s security policies can, unknowingly, break the rules. They often leave doors unlocked, allowing undetected access to intruders. Just as good environmental design can deter an aggressor, poor environmental design (invasive foliage, unlit doors) can offer a malicious actor places to hide, ambush people or enter a facility without being seen. In addition, if the camera systems are inoperative or delayed, the intruder can advance his mission and attack.
That’s why redundant measures are so essential for a successful safety plan – they protect against a bypassed system, preventing an active shooter from entering the building and causing damage.
The multi-dimensional approach to active shooter response integrates the physical and mental training of employees, the installation of physical security measures, and the integration of environmental design elements that discourage deviant behavior. This strategy provides the redundancy needed to strengthen an organization’s security structure.
Fortunately, there are many resources available to help stakeholders create a multidimensional approach. These include online resources, well-trained and qualified security professionals, and local law enforcement agencies. Quality security professionals must have at least military or law enforcement experience. Additional safety certifications are also desirable.
While the individual security threat strategies used by physical security and cybersecurity professionals are relevant and effective, combining these techniques into a single security management program is the best way to maximize protection from active shooters.