Preparing for active shooters becomes necessary for workplaces
The Roanoke Times | March 18, 2017
By Amy Friedenberger
Sgt. Chris Kuyper keeps a list of more than 200 recent violent attacks across the world on his computer.
Nov. 13, 2015: Islamic State militants attacked eight places in and around Paris only minutes apart. The suicide bombings and shootings killed 130 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at a holiday party at a nonprofit agency in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others before dying in a gun battle with police.
Oct. 25, 2016: Getachew Fekede shot one person fatally and wounded three others at FreightCar America in Roanoke before killing himself inside the facility where he used to work.
With each new incident — a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; Charleston, South Carolina’s Emanuel AME church; Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida — Kuyper gleans lessons, which he uses to enhance the training he offers businesses and organizations.
“We have to think forward about how to respond to these kind of attacks,” said Kuyper, of the Roanoke County Police Department. “We want to prevent these attacks from happening in the first place or prevent more lives being lost, and in order to do that, we need to work with the community.”
For the past couple of years, the Roanoke and Roanoke County police departments have been working with businesses, organizations and institutions to develop plans for how to prepare and respond to critical incidents. The effort mirrors a national one in response to fear of the next attack, with companies and organizations offering forms of active shooter training. Law enforcement agencies hope that if places develop plans to prevent such incidents, or to more effectively respond if something happens, the death toll can be reduced.
“Pre-planning can save lives,” Kuyper said.
Roanoke and Roanoke County police and their respective economic development departments are hosting a free two-part series at the end of the month to educate businesses on how to prepare for a critical incident and what a response would look like. A similar workshop a year and a half ago drew a large audience, but numerous businesses requested another one.
“Unfortunately, in today’s climate, training like this has become necessary,” said Jessica Fintel, economic development specialist for Roanoke County.
The first part of the workshop lays out how to prepare for a violent event, how to respond and how to craft an emergency plan. The second day of the workshop will be held a week later so businesses can bring an emergency plan for critique and learn how a critical incident would unfold in relation to emergency responders.
Medical Facilities of America attended the previous workshop and went so far as to have the Roanoke County police test out its emergency action plan in a scenario-based exercise. Employees took on roles of victims, police sent in a pretend attacker, and officers entered the building as if an attack had happened. The exercise challenged employees to think: Can you exit, or do you need to hide? What will you do if you’re in a room and a shooter is trying to force his way through the door?
Erika Lovegreen, communications director for Medical Facilities of America, said the training helped employees recognize their environment in the event of an attack, and it also allowed the company to fine-tune its emergency plan.
“Going through the process was very stark and eye-opening,” Lovegreen said. “We hope to never have to use what we learn, but we believe we have a better understanding of what steps we need to take in an active shooter situation.”
The training also helps law enforcement practice their responses. Typically, officers practice active shooter scenarios in the same building, but at some point, no matter how many times officers move walls around, it becomes too familiar. Training in real places is invaluable, Kuyper said.
“We’re enhancing our response, so we need businesses to meet us halfway by working to have plans in place,” he said.
The decision to prepare and train for active shooters along with other threats seems reasonable in today’s society.
“People will train and prepare for how to respond to fires, but they weren’t for an active shooter, and that’s changed,” said Roanoke Officer Ronnie Hodges, who reviews businesses’ security.
Hodges and Kuyper don’t limit the training to just active shooters, but deal with workplace violence more broadly. It can take the form of someone threatening workers with a weapon of any kind, a man going to his ex-girlfriend’s workplace to try to assault her, or an employee’s outrage over not getting a promotion.
Nearly 10 million Americans each year report being victims of workplace violence, which includes anything from physical violence to threats, harassment and verbal abuse, according to federal data. Total homicides in the workplace have been trending downward for the past few years, with 417 reported in 2015, according to the most recent statistics from the Department of Labor.
Homicides in the workplace have shocked the Roanoke Valley twice in recent years, with last fall’s shooting at FreightCar America and the 2015 shooting deaths of WDBJ-TV (Channel 7) journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward by adisgruntled former employee.
Hodges uses both of those incidents as examples when speaking to businesses. After the FreightCar America shooting, Hodges said Roanoke police were sometimes doing security assessments three times a day.
Hodges said he now does one to three assessments a week, which includes reviewing vulnerabilities at the workplace — commonly entrances and exits — and an action plan for what happens if a critical incident happens. Reviews have resulted in businesses making some changes, such as installing doorway entry systems and security windows at reception.
It’s not just law enforcement agencies that offer these services, which see a spike in interest after each new incident.
Brendan King founded Crisis Consultant Group in Richmond 13 years ago to teach de-escalation training. But several years ago, the company, which is run by veterans of the war in Iraq, began receiving inquiries about active shooter training, so King developed a program.
Training is molded to what the client may need. Trainers teach “Run, Hide, Fight,” a program endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as share real-life scenarios that offer lessons.
“We don’t want people to walk away fearful, but empowered,” King said.
There are also agencies focused on behavioral health services when a mass critical incident happens. The health care coalition Near Southwest Preparedness Alliance is hosting an event March 23 at Virginia Western Community College to teach health care professionals about best practices in behavioral health used to support those affected by incidents. Craig Camidge, executive director of the alliance, said services such as assistance centers, which offer counseling or variety of help, often go unnoticed.
“In incidents like the Orlando nightclub shooting, you have friends and families converging on the area, and those people need help,” Camidge said. “In FreightCar America, there were perhaps people who saw coworkers gunned down.”
FreightCar America had Roanoke police assess its emergency procedures prior to the shooting. It’s something Chief Tim Jones has said likely resulted in fewer lives lost.
“We see the death and destruction these things bring, so if we don’t see it happen again or see it on a lesser scale, then that’s a good thing,” Kuyper said. “The message we stress is: have a plan, stay safe.”
By Amy Friedenberger
Sgt. Chris Kuyper keeps a list of more than 200 recent violent attacks across the world on his computer.
Nov. 13, 2015: Islamic State militants attacked eight places in and around Paris only minutes apart. The suicide bombings and shootings killed 130 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at a holiday party at a nonprofit agency in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others before dying in a gun battle with police.
Oct. 25, 2016: Getachew Fekede shot one person fatally and wounded three others at FreightCar America in Roanoke before killing himself inside the facility where he used to work.
With each new incident — a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; Charleston, South Carolina’s Emanuel AME church; Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida — Kuyper gleans lessons, which he uses to enhance the training he offers businesses and organizations.
“We have to think forward about how to respond to these kind of attacks,” said Kuyper, of the Roanoke County Police Department. “We want to prevent these attacks from happening in the first place or prevent more lives being lost, and in order to do that, we need to work with the community.”
For the past couple of years, the Roanoke and Roanoke County police departments have been working with businesses, organizations and institutions to develop plans for how to prepare and respond to critical incidents. The effort mirrors a national one in response to fear of the next attack, with companies and organizations offering forms of active shooter training. Law enforcement agencies hope that if places develop plans to prevent such incidents, or to more effectively respond if something happens, the death toll can be reduced.
“Pre-planning can save lives,” Kuyper said.
Roanoke and Roanoke County police and their respective economic development departments are hosting a free two-part series at the end of the month to educate businesses on how to prepare for a critical incident and what a response would look like. A similar workshop a year and a half ago drew a large audience, but numerous businesses requested another one.
“Unfortunately, in today’s climate, training like this has become necessary,” said Jessica Fintel, economic development specialist for Roanoke County.
The first part of the workshop lays out how to prepare for a violent event, how to respond and how to craft an emergency plan. The second day of the workshop will be held a week later so businesses can bring an emergency plan for critique and learn how a critical incident would unfold in relation to emergency responders.
Medical Facilities of America attended the previous workshop and went so far as to have the Roanoke County police test out its emergency action plan in a scenario-based exercise. Employees took on roles of victims, police sent in a pretend attacker, and officers entered the building as if an attack had happened. The exercise challenged employees to think: Can you exit, or do you need to hide? What will you do if you’re in a room and a shooter is trying to force his way through the door?
Erika Lovegreen, communications director for Medical Facilities of America, said the training helped employees recognize their environment in the event of an attack, and it also allowed the company to fine-tune its emergency plan.
“Going through the process was very stark and eye-opening,” Lovegreen said. “We hope to never have to use what we learn, but we believe we have a better understanding of what steps we need to take in an active shooter situation.”
The training also helps law enforcement practice their responses. Typically, officers practice active shooter scenarios in the same building, but at some point, no matter how many times officers move walls around, it becomes too familiar. Training in real places is invaluable, Kuyper said.
“We’re enhancing our response, so we need businesses to meet us halfway by working to have plans in place,” he said.
The decision to prepare and train for active shooters along with other threats seems reasonable in today’s society.
“People will train and prepare for how to respond to fires, but they weren’t for an active shooter, and that’s changed,” said Roanoke Officer Ronnie Hodges, who reviews businesses’ security.
Hodges and Kuyper don’t limit the training to just active shooters, but deal with workplace violence more broadly. It can take the form of someone threatening workers with a weapon of any kind, a man going to his ex-girlfriend’s workplace to try to assault her, or an employee’s outrage over not getting a promotion.
Nearly 10 million Americans each year report being victims of workplace violence, which includes anything from physical violence to threats, harassment and verbal abuse, according to federal data. Total homicides in the workplace have been trending downward for the past few years, with 417 reported in 2015, according to the most recent statistics from the Department of Labor.
Homicides in the workplace have shocked the Roanoke Valley twice in recent years, with last fall’s shooting at FreightCar America and the 2015 shooting deaths of WDBJ-TV (Channel 7) journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward by adisgruntled former employee.
Hodges uses both of those incidents as examples when speaking to businesses. After the FreightCar America shooting, Hodges said Roanoke police were sometimes doing security assessments three times a day.
Hodges said he now does one to three assessments a week, which includes reviewing vulnerabilities at the workplace — commonly entrances and exits — and an action plan for what happens if a critical incident happens. Reviews have resulted in businesses making some changes, such as installing doorway entry systems and security windows at reception.
It’s not just law enforcement agencies that offer these services, which see a spike in interest after each new incident.
Brendan King founded Crisis Consultant Group in Richmond 13 years ago to teach de-escalation training. But several years ago, the company, which is run by veterans of the war in Iraq, began receiving inquiries about active shooter training, so King developed a program.
Training is molded to what the client may need. Trainers teach “Run, Hide, Fight,” a program endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as share real-life scenarios that offer lessons.
“We don’t want people to walk away fearful, but empowered,” King said.
There are also agencies focused on behavioral health services when a mass critical incident happens. The health care coalition Near Southwest Preparedness Alliance is hosting an event March 23 at Virginia Western Community College to teach health care professionals about best practices in behavioral health used to support those affected by incidents. Craig Camidge, executive director of the alliance, said services such as assistance centers, which offer counseling or variety of help, often go unnoticed.
“In incidents like the Orlando nightclub shooting, you have friends and families converging on the area, and those people need help,” Camidge said. “In FreightCar America, there were perhaps people who saw coworkers gunned down.”
FreightCar America had Roanoke police assess its emergency procedures prior to the shooting. It’s something Chief Tim Jones has said likely resulted in fewer lives lost.
“We see the death and destruction these things bring, so if we don’t see it happen again or see it on a lesser scale, then that’s a good thing,” Kuyper said. “The message we stress is: have a plan, stay safe.”
