The Active Shooter Threat: Human Factor in Active Shooter Response
On Thursday, January 20, 2011, the New York Police Department Counter Terrorism Division hosted a special SHIELD conference dedicated to the Active Shooter Threat. At the conference, the NYPD also released its new publication, Active Shooter: Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation, to SHIELD members in attendance.
SHIELD is an umbrella program for a series of current and future Police Department initiatives that pertain to private sector security and counterterrorism. This public-private partnership is intended to provide best practices, lessons learned, counterterrorism training opportunities, and information sharing. SHIELD partners with private sector security managers with the goal of protecting New York City from terrorist attacks.
XBRM’s Managing Director, Steve Crimando, was a featured speaker at this event, addressing the Human Factor in Active Shooter Response. A summary of that presentation is provided below for your information.
One Side of the Coin
In the wake of a tragic and traumatic event such as the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford, there is often a flood of commentary on the mental health of the perpetrator and a flurry of subject matter experts sharing information about the pre-incident behavioral warning signs of violence. While that information is important and useful, there is another discussion about human behavior in mass shooting events that is often overlooked, but equally important. That is the behavior of the victims and witnesses of the event who often can and do intervene in critical ways.
In the instance of the shooting in Tucson, there have been numerous reports of heroism, including most recently the revelation that Federal Judge John Roll may have died trying to save another man’s life. The behavior of those in the line of fire must be a critical concern, not an afterthought. Recommendations from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the NYPD in their new publication advise those caught up in an Active Shooter situation to evacuate, hide out or fight back. Can and will employees actually do what is recommended is an important question. Will even discussing Active Shooter Response plans with employees raise anxiety, overwhelm people and make them less likely to respond appropriately? All good questions.
The Active Shooter risk is not going away any time soon. The evolution of terrorist tactics also raises the specter of a Mumbai-style attack in a U.S. city, potentially putting multiple shooters into a densely populated environment. For a more complete discussion of the evolution of terrorist tactics and the Active Shooter risk, I recommend our recent white paper: Type V Workplace Violence and the “New Terrorist”: Exploring the Active Shooter Threat. Shooting incidents in the workplace, in schools and in other public venues will continue. There is a good deal known about the behavior of would-be shooters, but much less known about the behavior of victims and witnesses that can reduce the likelihood of such events, or at least, increase survivability. To date, our focus has been almost exclusively on one side of the coin, the shooters, the very few. I believe it is time to flip that coin and examine more fully, the behavior of those potentially in harm’s way, the victims and witnesses, the many.
Behavior-based Active Shooter Response
The current recommendations of evacuate, hide out or 
fightback/take action, make good tactical sense, but introducing these recommendations to employees can be tricky. Simply imagining a shooting event in the workplace can be overwhelming and uncomfortable for most people, and when asked, people typically and honestly report that they are unsure how they would actually behave in such a moment of terror.
While the prediction of human behavior in most instances is an imperfect art, there are some useful studies of how employees respond to threat-related information that can help inform leaders and decision-makers about how best to prepare the workforce to effectively respond in an Active Shooter situation. One research-based approach is the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EMMP), developed to study employee willingness and ability to respond to emergency situations. To briefly summarize, the key point is that an employee’s sense of confidence (efficacy) in their own ability and their organization’s ability to respond to a high-threat situation was much more important than their perception of the threat or how vulnerable they might be. One of the critical take-away points is that realistic, pre-event training and practice can help build the confidence needed in the individual and organization to effectively respond to even the most frightening scenario.
There are other studies as well that offer similar findings. Those findings can be summarized by a quote from a leading risk communicator, Peter Sandman, “Action binds anxiety.” Giving people actionable information to assess risk and guide their response is one of the most useful ways to engage them in what otherwise might be perceived as overwhelming or unreasonable tasks. The idea of taking on a violent, armed intruder in the workplace may seem beyond most people, yet the events in Arizona again demonstrate that anyone and everyone can be part of the solution and stop a shooter. All of the literature addressing the Active Shooter risk points out that these incidents evolve quickly and are often over before the first police officers arrive. In this situation, your front line employees are your best first line of defense.
The Role of Front Line Employees
An effective defense against a potential shooter must be layered. Physical security, background checks and other elements, including front line employees, are critical to your success in defending against this threat. There are three key areas for employee involvement:
1. Detection
2. Response
3. Recovery
The early detection of a potentially violent individual or group targeting the organization or its employees is one of the most effective ways to mitigate the Active Shooter threat. Employees benefit from clear instruction about what to look for including both individual warning signs and pre-incident indicator of terrorism (i.e., Seven Signs of Terrorism). Of course, it is also important to provide guidance about what to do if such signs are observed. Involving employees in the detection of potential violence can serve as a force multiplier for security professionals.
The guidance from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies is fairly consistent and straight forward: run, hide or fight. Employees will be in a much better position to take the appropriate actions if they are trained and practiced in them. If you’ve never conducted a lock-down or shelter-in-place drill in the workplace, you may consider using recent events to stimulate discussion and engage the workforce in such an exercise, based upon a “what if it happened here?” approach. The recommended actions are not necessarily intuitive. Employees will not always execute the correct response by default. Coaching, training and practice will be needed.
Employees inside or on scene during an Active Shooter incident are also pre-positioned to be the best providers of immediate emotional support. The current “intervention of choice” in the 0-48 hours following a life-threatening or traumatic event is referred to as “Psychological First Aid.” Like medical first aid, the basic skill set is accessible to non-medical and non-mental health professionals. It is an “every person” approach to providing safe and effective emotional support to those most distressed or shaken by the event.
Take Action
People do not want to be sitting ducks. As uncomfortable as the discussion may be, it is important to engage your workforce in a discussion about how to respond to an Active Shooter incident. One of the most useful ways to do so is to apply a behavior-based approach to involving employees in the early detection of, the appropriate response to, and effective recovery from an Active Shooter scenario. Address employee anxieties about the Active Shooter risk in a proactive manner, engage the workforce through effective behavior-based planning and training and invite every employee to be part of the solution. As Sandman said, “Action binds anxiety.” Get everyone involved. It is the only way.
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