TRAINING STATION
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FEBRUARY 2015
59
Products, Services, Classes and Seminars for On The Job
Harden the target against active shooters
Active Shooter Response is a term that law
enforcement has become very familiar with
over the past 10 years, and there are many different ways to respond to an active shooter
event. Many experts have come up with different acronyms on how to best respond to these
BILL FEARON tragic events, but the bottom line is the police
TRAINING officer needs to get in quick and hunt the
shooter to stop the killing.
ADVISER
With these types of events on the rise and
the constant threat of a terrorist attack always in the news,
maybe we can re-think our response to an active shooter:
What if we could stop the event before it ever happened?
The best way to repel any invader is with an armed
response. This has always been true even dating back thousands of years ago. But by further securing facilities such as
schools, malls, office complexes and churches, we can delay
the active shooter and give law enforcement time to respond.
Active shooter events are historically over within six-tonine minutes and the shooter will usually reserve the last shot
for himself as police response is pulling up or making entry.
By delaying the shooter from entering the facility, law
enforcement can arrive before the shooter is inside taking
lives.
If we look at the Sandy Hook tragedy, we see that the school
had the doors locked, yet the shooter shot his way in through
the glass doors and gained access very quickly. Police
response was quick and they entered immediately, but we
still had 26 deaths.
Let's take the same situation where a shooter approaches
a building, but the building is equipped with an initial checkpoint before the front entrance. In addition, the windows are
treated with a film that will prevent the glass from shattering
and main hallways can be sealed to prevent movement
throughout the building. We have just created a mantrap or
fishbowl where the shooter will spend several minutes trying
to gain access to the building. Now, if this same building had
an armed response, whether a school resource officer, off
duty law enforcement presence or retired law enforcement
working there, I think we can all agree the outcome would
have been very different.
I am not saying that we need to turn schools, malls and
office buildings into prisons with razor wire fences and
watchtowers, but if we can recommend to these facilities that
simple security upgrades that harden a facility can save lives
and liability then we have taken the first step to prevent loss
of life during these tragic situations.
Every law enforcement officer should have a good relationship with local businesses, schools and the community and
by stressing the safety of the students, patrons and local community you will get good results.
Stay Dangerous! d
Bill Fearon is a 20-year New Jersey State Trooper and Lead Instructor
at the Woodland Park Range. He has trained thousands of Police
Officers from Local, County, State and Federal Departments, as well
as thousands of military personnel and civilians. Contact Bill at 973464-7796 or bf1490@gmail.com.
Are you prepared for an off-duty ‘call’?
As law enforcement officers we seem to train
exclusively for on-duty incidents, most involving
responding to situations originated by calls from
the public. In these situations we are equipped
with some advance information, our duty firearm
with extra magazines, ballistic protection, handcuffs, a radio and hopefully backup. But how
much training do we do for off-duty situations
JAN
when we suddenly find ourselves on the scene of
WRIGHT
an incident without warning or duty equipment?
Looking back on my own career, little or no
training was done. Maybe some officers who are assigned to a
plain-clothes division will do their qualifications and training
in similar attire and equipment as they wear off-duty. But that
still is not the same as off-duty training.
I recall a situation in my career when I took my 5-year-old
daughter and her friend to a local deli on a summer night to
pick up some ice cream to bring home. Because I was “only
going a mile from my house,” I did not bring my off-duty
firearm with me. While standing in the deli with the children
painstakingly trying to decide which flavor of ice cream to get,
several adult men came in. Having 15 years of law enforcement
experience, I quickly realized that these people might be
looking for more than a soda and a bag of chips. I was thinking
that if the deli was about to be robbed, not only could I not protect the store clerk, I could not even protect my family. I quickly
told the children that the deli down the street had better ice
cream and we left. Fortunately there never was an incident that
night in the deli.
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