What kind of office layout inhibits law enforcement in an active shooter situation? How will police access your building in an emergency? Who has copies of your floor plan?
These and other issues were discussed last week at an informative DowntownDC BID seminar on the lessons learned by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from the Sept. 16, 2013 deadly mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard where gunman Aaron Alexis, who was employed at the Navy Yard as a contractor, killed 12 individuals.
Matthew Bromeland, special assistant to Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, was on the scene of the shooting last year and offered the BID’s seminar attendees a detailed presentation on the “myriad of challenges” they encountered and recommendations gleaned from the Navy Yard tragedy to be applied to future active shooter training and preparation.
Among those recommendations:
- Create a “Go Bag” for law enforcement: When responders arrive on the scene of an active shooter situation, law enforcement would greatly benefit from immediately receiving floor plans, building maps and a radio to hook them into building communications. Law enforcement was not aware of the layout of Navy Yard Building 197, where the incident took place, and they also couldn’t immediately use or clear the building’s communication lines. Law enforcement also did not have access to areas of the building.
- Establish a leader: Bromeland suggested that each property should identify a leader with authority and access to be a liaison for law enforcement.
- Open communication: Bromeland noted the importance of communication in a time-sensitive active shooter situation. He emphasized that the Navy Yard’s segmented security and emergency systems and non-centralized video monitoring systems inhibited a quick emergency response. Establishing communication ahead of time with MPD (which would likely be the first to respond in a private or commercial property emergency situation in Downtown, according to Bromeland) and passing along floor plans or other helpful information ahead of time to MPD could reduce valuable response time in an emergency.
- Create a plan: Create and practice an emergency plan and include a family reunification plan for those evacuated.
Bromeland outlined some of the many challenges law enforcement faced in the unique situation at the Navy Yard: the location was in a secured, gated facility to which law enforcement did not have access or exact location details; fire alarms were ringing for hours and law enforcement could not figure out who could stop them, impeding communications and the ability to locate shooting activity; despite the number of individuals trained to use firearms on site, few had access to weapons; the high-volume, narrow cubicle layout left small passageways for law enforcement personnel to navigate with weapons and a lack of locks on interior doors made creating safe shelters difficult; video footage was difficult to obtain; and the building’s steel structure interfered with some police radios.
In the case of the Navy Yard shooting, investigators are not aware of any indication given by Alexis of the planned crime, Bromeland said. But he added that “red flags” were later discovered, including Alexis’ prior episodes of violence, troubling behavior and potential mental health issues. A study of active shooters in 2012 conducted by Nicoletti-Flater Associates, found that 51 percent of active shooter situations occurred in the workplace, 57 percent of active shooters were insiders or employees and 37 percent of incidents lasted no longer than 5 minutes.
Bromeland added that the top “major obstacle” in any active shooter remains “initial denial.” Initial denial by employees, management, security and others that an active shooter situation could be underway negatively impacts a safe and expedient response. At the Navy Yard, employees could be seen continuing their daily business and ignoring the fire alarms throughout the incident.
MPD is working to use the lessons learned from the Navy Yard shooting to improve training, equipment and procedures and hopes that property managers, employers and others do the same.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have a plan,” BID Director of Public Space Management and former MPD Commander David Kamperin told the audience.
MPD First District Captain Mark Carter also addressed the attendees at last week’s seminar, reporting on the decline in violent crime in Downtown and increases in other types of incidents. He asked for property management and security personnel to assist law enforcement in keeping the streets safe. “You folks are the eyes and ears,” Carter said. He suggested the following measures:
- Encourage people not to leave valuables in plain view in their cars to reduce the number of items stolen from parked vehicles.
- Do not leave unattended vehicles running. Auto thefts are increasing at locations where people leave keys in a car and plan to quickly return, such as at gas stations or outside coffee shops.
- Warn women not to leave purses hooked on the back of chairs where they can be easily accessed by a criminal.
- Be aware of cell phone usage out in public to reduce snatch-and-grab cell phone crimes.