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could arrive to neutralize the threat . While still the case in some instances ; i . e ., San Bernardino and Orlando , police departments arm their patrols with higher powered weaponry and provide ballistic protection .
Today , some police departments are training their officers to intervene as quickly as possible , as soon a numerical superiority is achieved and not to wait on SWAT .
Another change in tactics , and widely-accepted , is the notion that a victim should use the RUN- HIDE-FIGHT approach . RUN if you can , HIDE if you can ’ t and FIGHT if you have to .
June 2017 Edition
Prevention through Environmental Design ( CPT- ED ) principles developed in the early ‘ 90 ’ s , are effective in reducing crime .
Why can ’ t the same hold true for other building design and community strategies ?
Here ’ s my point , during a fire , the best protection for an individual in a building is to get out of the building as quickly as possible . In essence , get away from the threat – the fire .
In the security business we teach distance is the best defense . Get as far away as possible from the threat in order to protect yourself .
( RUN . HIDE . FIGHT .® Surviving an Active Shooter Event Courtesy of Ready Houston and YouTube )
Events in San Bernardino , Paris and recently in Orlando , make me wonder if teaching the RUN- HIDE-FIGHT methodology might actually be adding to the injury and death count .
I know many police departments swear by it and a lot of training has been conducted , especially at school , college and university campuses across the nation . I ’ m not saying it was all in vain . What I am saying is maybe we need to take a look and think “ outside the box ” in how we deal with terrorist acts and specifically , active shooter events .
Maybe we can and should be using building design to assist us in reducing the number of victims .
We know that designing neighborhoods and inhabited public spaces by incorporating Crime
Fire Emergency Evacuation Plan ( Image Credit : Concept- Draw )
I ’ m not a firefighter and consequently have not attended any formal firefighter training , but I doubt if anywhere in their training , it says to tell people to stay in the building until the firetruck shows up to save them .
We don ’ t do that for fire but we do that for active shooter incidents . Huh ?
A Different Design Is Needed
We ’ ve come up with legislation that implements fire safety codes , which include labeling exits , training personnel in escape procedures , signage and so on . There hasn ’ t been a fire related
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