This is for a class I am taking in how to use moodle.

1. In Chapter 15 of the text, they discussed crisis
negotiation and responses to conflict management.
Missing was the concept of Active Shooter. This is
important for every single person to understand
because of the rise in shootings at schools, malls and
other public areas.

2.  This is my opinion only, not from a quotable
source:
 For decades, law enforcement held firm to the
fact that the public did not need to know
about the actions of the police in a crisis
situation, because if the information was out
there, the bad guy could anticipate what the
police were going to do and as a result, our
brethren were placed in jeopardy. To a
degree this is accurate, however, the
Columbine School shooting taught us to look
at things a bit differently.

3.  If you don‟t remember the Columbine School shooting, there is
an excellent article by Time Magazine on the internet (10
years after). You can google the school name and hundreds
of hits come up, so it is important that you understand what
happened.
 Prior to Columbine, the police response to a shooting where
the suspect was „holed‟ up at the location with or without
hostages was to call in SWAT-like teams to deal with it. The
area police would set up the perimeter and keep the suspects
inside. Hostage negotiation teams and swat teams would
respond. While the hostage negotiation teams began to try to
establish contact and get the suspects talking, the swat teams
would set up a plan to engage the suspect and neutralize the
threat. The philosophy was to not go in with force unless
there was absolutely no other alternative.

4.  When the shooting at Columbine
occurred, this is exactly what the police
did. This was a horrific experience and
one thing about law enforcement is that
they continually conduct what are called
after action reports on critical incidents.
Now, because of the extent of this
incident, lots (highly educated term) of
agencies were involved in looking at this
crisis.

5.  Anyone that has been involved in law enforcement
knows that incidents like this are chaotic at best.
Issues that were most concerning:
 Students and Staff died while waiting for the swat
teams to arrive and determine that the suspects
had committed suicide. (hours went by)
 How to get the hundreds of students to a safe
location
 Communications with law enforcement
 Medical aid, there was virtually none for hours

6.  The most concerning issue was that
victims could have been saved after the
initial attack, but law enforcement‟s
standard response was not geared to this.
This is NO fault of those agencies
involved. Their response was consistent
with what other law enforcement officers
would have done just about anywhere in
this country.

7.  Over the next few years, all agencies were
required to attend Active shooter training.
The concept is basic so that every agency
is able to join together and commence
immediately. There are a lot of articles on
active shooter on the internet also, but I
think if you follow my scenario, you will
understand it. Again, it is simple, very
simple.

8. A call comes out that there is a shooter at a
high school or mall, several people injured.
 Units start rolling code 3 (lights and sirens).
The supervisor on duty names the location for
the first team to respond to and then a
command post. Most law enforcement
agencies have arial photographs of all
schools, malls and large public areas on file.
Most have them accessible via their mobile
computers in their car, or possibly a book in
the supervisor‟s vehicle.

9.  North

10.  The last report of shots fired were in Building A- North
end. So, the first four officers to arrive would advise
the supervisor that they were there. They would go to
either the sound of shooting, or the last location. Lets
say they can still hear shots being fired. The four put
their backs together (not physically) but configure
themselves so each one is facing a direction, (N, E, S
and W). They have full coverage. They start toward
the sound of the shooting staying in this configuration.
As they proceed, if they come across victims, they
quickly ask questions, put out the victim‟s locations
and continue toward the shooting. They tell the
victims help will be coming.

12.  Two more teams are quickly configured. One is a cover team
and the other an extraction team. They respond to the
location of the victims and begin the extraction of the victims
to a safe area. At the same time, more teams are quickly
formed and sent in as active shooter teams. They are sent to
support the first team that is actively searching for the suspect
or suspects. Maybe two teams are sent, it all
depends, recognize that all of this is going on at the same
time. Also, when an active shooter comes out, it is not
uncommon to have 40 officers within the first 10 minutes or
even more. EVERYONE responds. CHP, City Police, County
Sheriff, Parole Officers, Probation Officers anyone that is
armed and on a radio frequency arrives.

13.  More cover teams and extraction teams
are set up and are tasked with clearing all
classrooms between the point of insertion
to the actual suspects themselves. Each
building and every inch of the school is
covered by these teams with the purpose
of finding victims and getting them
extracted quickly.

14.  At the same time, Buses are called for, school buses or Rapid
Transit, it makes no difference. The school is in lock down.
What this means is that all schools have a protocol that if
gunshots or an explosion or even police activity is near the
school, they “lock down the students.” Teachers lock their
classrooms, have the students lay on the floor and be quiet.
The teachers have been taught the police response and keep
the students quiet . The school has master keys that the
supervisors have, so the classrooms can be opened. If the
key is not available, the door will be kicked. The teacher
prepares the students for this. The students and teachers are
moved, with their hands up to the buses. (Remember, no one
knows who the suspects are). The names of the kids are
taken and they are then transported to a safe venue where
they are checked for injuries and interviewed. Obviously, if
there is a noticeable injury, then they go to a medical facility.

15.  Theactive shooter teams continue until the
school is empty and the threat has been
neutralized.

16.  Several years ago, there was an incident at a
mall in Utah. Utah had just completed active
shooter training and several off-duty officers
from different departments formed an active
shooter team and were able to save
numerous lives by going after the shooter in
this method as one of their wives called the
incident into law enforcement. It was very
successful. All agencies train with active
shooter in the hopes that they will never have
to use it.

17.  How does that relate to Active Shooter?

18.  If the community does not understand what to
expect or how to proceed—there can be serious
problems. To date, the school shootings have
been at colleges or high schools for the most part.
So, those communities needs to be educated in
what to expect. If a student knows that the best
course of action for them is to freeze where they
are at and prone out, keep their hands visible, they
will normally do that. In absence of this
knowledge, they could run toward police to be
“saved” and could get injured or complicate things.