Posted on 08/08/2007 6:10:30 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — The sound of shotguns being fired at Smith Middle School on Tuesday brought post military police officers to the scene.
But instead of setting up a perimeter around the campus and then slowly beginning the process of clearing rooms, the soldiers used a new procedure of running to the sound to neutralize the active shooter.
Law enforcement was putting out warnings to anyone intending to engage in criminal active shooting: If they kill, wound or otherwise threaten the public, they will be neutralized, and that could be lethal.
Mark Dannels, deputy commander with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, said there’s a whole new mindset within law enforcement regarding criminals who start shooting in public areas, such as schools.
“We don’t promote cover and shield anymore,” he said as he watched Sheriff’s Office deputies officers put post military police officers through training on how to respond to such a situation. “Cover and shield” is the slow process of locating a dangerous person.
The object now, Dannels said, “is to stop the threat, and if that means killing the shooter, that will happen.”
Columbine caused changes
Since the shooting incident at Columbine High School in Colorado, law enforcement agencies have begun developing new ways to respond to such situations, Dannels said.
Police philosophy at the time of the Columbine massacre on Aug. 20, 1999, called for responders to set up a perimeter, establish a command post and enter the school’s building, sweeping classrooms while looking for the shooters, he said.
This took time, which led to more people being killed.
The responders could hear the shooting, but the proper procedures were to approach a situation slowly.
As additional school incidents with deaths took place, along with attacks in shopping malls and other public places, law enforcement saw a need to change, even though it would put police officers in additional danger, Dannels said.
Even today, some departments do not subscribe to the fast approach to an active shooter as a way of handling a situation, a method that requires law enforcement to run toward the sound of the problem to take a shooter down, he said.
A lot of old ways must be discarded and new methods learned, Dannels said. It was even difficult for him to psyche himself up to do the new procedures, because of the previous training that was part of his psychological makeup.
Deputies training MPs
As part of a memorandum of understanding recently inked by the Sheriff’s Office and fort officials, Dannels, who also is the commander of the Sheriff’s Office’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team, said deputies will train the fort’s military police.
As people worked inside Smith Middle School preparing for today’s opening, some parents and children went in and out of the office doing last-minute registration or checking on schedules. At the same time, teams of two soldiers in Army combat uniforms followed by two sheriff’s trainers wearing red shirts engaged in the training program.
To instill a sense of reality, the soldiers were required to run 60 yards and then do some pushups before entering into a couple of scenarios.
The physical aspect was to create a sense of stress, to get the soldiers’ hearts beating faster and make them sweat, much as they would experience in a real situation when adrenaline is quickly flowing.
The trainers continued to yell at the soldiers to go faster, an extra stress developer.
“Hurry up! Faster! Faster!” one trainer shouted at Sgts. Frank Almaklani and Jay Powell.
Finishing the 60-yard dash, the two soldiers hit the ground doing pushups, again to the trainers demanding they do them more rapidly.
Then there was a quick briefing about the scenario, which involved a gunman who had shot and wounded or killed some people at the school — other sheriff’s deputies played the victims and the bad guys.
Bang! Off went a shot. Almaklani and Powell were then up and running, their trainers, Cochise County Sheriff’s Sgts. Sean Gijanto and Rich Morales running behind them.
The two soldiers soon came upon victims on the ground. Instead of stopping to render aid, as they would have under the old procedures, they continued toward the sound of a gun being fired.
Hesitation is normal
At first the two MPs hesitated. The old response approach they were taught temporarily kicked in as they looked for the comfort of their partner for cover and shield.
But Gijanto and Morales kept verbally pushing them on.
Almaklani said it is difficult to ignore previous training, especially the professional desire of wanting to help a wounded person and the human drive associated with that feeling.
“We used to stop,” he said.
Gijanto agreed it is hard to pass someone needing medical help, especially if it is an 8- to 10-year-old student.
The deputy said those first on the scene have to “eliminate the threat.”
Morales said that during the time law enforcement is heading into danger, “You’ve got to have your head on a swivel,” checking what’s ahead as responders head toward the sounds of the shooting and screaming.
When going after an active shooter, he said, “It really is a bad day to be a cop and a really a bad day to be a hostage.”
During the debriefing, Powell said, “We’re so set in our ways. It’s a tough thing to change.”
The initial training is eight hours, with three hours in a classroom setting and the remainder in a field environment.
The Sheriff’s Office trained about 20 MPs on Monday and another 20 on Tuesday. Deputies will eventually train the rest of the Military Police unit on the post, which has about 120 members, Dannels said.
The Sierra Vista Police Department, too, has trained its officers in the newer procedure.
Not all old procedures are ignored, such as a situation in which someone has hostages in a classroom or at a scene of domestic violence. Dannels said that at those times when no one is actively engaged in shooting or doing other physical harm to people, negotiations and other standard procedures are part of the flexible playbook.
When it comes to an active shooter, he said, the key is to turn the mind’s switch into fast reaction, “because people are being killed.”
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Under the watchful eyes of Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Sean Gijanto, Military Police Sgts. Frank Almaklani, left, and Jay Powell prepare to take action in a simulated school shooting scenario Tuesday at Smith Middle School on Fort Huachuca. In a joint cooperative agreement, the Sheriff’s Office is training military police personnel on current techniques. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review)
IMHO police departments have forgotten that their job is to put themselves between the perp and everyone else, and have instead taken the siege approach, which is safest for them.
This training isn't all that new. It's actually been the standard since columbine. I am amazed that the MPs are only now getting this training.
Sad thing is that it's still a catch 22.
If the officers do what they are supposed to do, and go direct to threat, take out the bad guy, and pass over a wounded student who dies. Some fat, beer bellied, piece of garbage, trailer trash, libertine cop-hater is going to spout off about the eeeevvvvviiiiiilllllll police who walked over a wounded student to die.
If the officers to what they used to do, then they get attacked for not going directly to the threat.
Catch 22.
You do realize that this story is about a Civilian Police Department training the Military Police to go direct to threat?
Are you even aware that since Columbine, it's pretty much standard for Officers to be trained to go directly to the sound of the shooting and engage the threat?
Apparently I scanned the article too quickly.
Are you even aware that since Columbine, it's pretty much standard for Officers to be trained to go directly to the sound of the shooting and engage the threat?
Nope. How prevalent is that training? Sounds like good news.
It used to be called “Marching to the sound of the guns.”
Never going to happen they all want to stop and put on their play military equipment.
But the story at least admits that the cops setting on their asses in Columbine caused the death of people.
Huh. Going after the bad guy. What an idea!
The mission is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy.
In Most States it's now mandatory training, both for new recruits and in-service. Which is why I was quite amazed that the Military hasn't been using it yet.
There we have it, the first cop-hater on the thread. That didn't take long at all.
Let me guess, you are not even aware of the mandatory rapid deployment training that Officers get as a direct result of the lessons learned at Columbine?
Perhaps you're too busy wishing for anarchy and libertine ideals to notice reality?
But the story at least admits that the cops setting on their asses in Columbine caused the death of people.
The officers at Columbine were trained to wait for the SWAT team. That was the standard practice prior to that event. Why? Because of libertine trailer trash who would attack officers for blindly rushing into a scene and "causing" the gunman to kill hostages.
Like I said, catch 22.
If the officers go directly to the threat, libertines like you attack them if anyone gets killed. If they wait for SWAT, they get attacked for not going inside.
If they pass over a wounded child on the way to take out the target, libertines like you scream again. If they stop to help the child, and the gunman kills someone else, you scream about that.
Basically, the police can't win with people like you. The only question is why? Is it because you want to smoke dope?
I ask because I don’t know.
I spent a great deal of time entering and exiting sensitive guarded areas on military bases.
I wouldn’t have wanted the posted guards to have been trained to “run to the action”, when it was critical that they stand guard where they were posted, and not be drawn off point for any reason.
That used to be the "old" approach, otherwise known as common sense. Once an individuals starts shooting at others randomly, his life is forfeit. Nothing to debate about.
For the longest time, I wasn't sure whether the absurd "cover and shield" method was used because policemen were afraid to do their job, because the killer's life was assumed to be worth more than the victims, or simply for PC reasons no can will ever remember.
Glad to see it's changing to the old tried and true method.
Having the Virginia Tech fiasco fresh in my mind, I find that impossible to believe.
You're kidding, right?
Actually, it just shows how little you know about things.
The Officers at VT DID NOT wait outside for SWAT. Instead they immediately went to Norris Hall where the shooting was going on, but were delayed by the fact that Cho had chained up the front doors from the inside. They managed to break down the door and immediately went "Direct to threat" as is now the standard training. It was at that point that Cho shot and killed himself.
You see, even with the Officers going direct to the threat in an active shooter situation, many people still die. The Officers have to receive the call for help or hear the shots, get to the scene, get past any barriers that the suspect sets up, and get to the shooter as quickly as possible.
While all of that is going on, the shooter is able to shoot and kill anyone he wants.
While the Direct to threat approach is a vast improvement over the establish perimeter and wait tactic, it still isn't foolproof. Someone intent on killing people STILL will be able to kill people.
The best bet to stop Cho, would have been an armed student or teacher inside the building. Law Enforcement cannot and will not be everywhere, and response takes time.
You're kidding, right?
No, I am not kidding. Direct To Threat is the STANDARD training since Columbine. It's the exact tactic that the Officers in Virginia used. It's still not foolproof. And like I said, libertine wackos will STILL criticize the police, NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO.
Why?
Because Law Enforcement represent what Libertines hate.
Law and Order.
They want Chaos and Anarchy. They want to be their own god and do what is "right" in their own eyes. Most of the time it centers around wanting to use mind altering substances.
Is that where you are coming from?
Excellent response and explanation. In the Reno area, this active shooter response has been standard for at least the last 6 years. Rookies are taught it during the Academy now and us old farts have to go through the simunitions scenarios each year, and always there is an active shooter scenario included now. You’re right about the VT Cops not waiting for SWAT, and of course, obstacles will delay you.
Your snide comments are duly noted and you are deemed a bigoted idiot in my book. This may be the new standard, but it surely has been kept quiet. AND VA Tech was a masterpiece of a circlejerk as far as I could see, on the part of the campus cops AND the school administration who disarmed everyone on campus, in violation of state law.
And I sneer at “LEOs” who take cheap shots at people who question the LE positions, by calling them libertines and anarchists. There are few to none of those here but a whole heap of LEOs who would watch folks die whilst munching their donuts, then take cheap shots at their critics afterwards... like you’re doing. You a LEO, chum? A drug warrior, perhaps? One of those mindless drones who routinely wipes his butt with the Constitution, maybe? You sure sound like it. Here I was gonna come on and congratulate these folks for finally having some good sense... then YOU come along and screw it up for them... dumb you.
I'm amazed that any MP force has ever done anything but.
Pot, Kettle, Black.
This may be the new standard, but it surely has been kept quiet.
No it hasn't. Example Policy:
http://shr2.elpasoco.com/PDF/policy/chapter_07/731_policy.pdf
AND VA Tech was a masterpiece of a circlejerk as far as I could see, on the part of the campus cops AND the school administration.
Were mistakes made? Absolutely. No one is perfect. However, the point was that the officers at VT DID NOT stand by and wait for SWAT. As soon as they realized that they were dealing with an active shooter, they immediately assaulted Norris Hall.
At the initial incident, they thought they were dealing with a double murder, not an active shooter. They had no way of knowing what Cho had planned.
who disarmed everyone on campus, in violation of state law.
Different problem altogether, and as I pointed out, despite the best tactics, the BEST way to stop an active shooter is an armed person in the immediate area of the shooter when the shooting starts.
And I sneer at “LEOs” who take cheap shots at people who question the LE positions, by calling them libertines and anarchists.
And I sneer at wannabe "marines" who ARE libertines and anarchists, with cheezy tag lines about wanted chaos and disorder. All because they want to smoke dope.
There are few to none of those here
There are quite a few LOUD and in your face libertines here.
but a whole heap of LEOs who would watch folks die whilst munching their donuts, then take cheap shots at their critics afterwards... like you’re doing.
Uh Huh. Sure.
You a LEO, chum? A drug warrior, perhaps? One of those mindless drones who routinely wipes his butt with the Constitution, maybe? You sure sound like it.
No, I leave the disrespect for the Constitution to wannabe "marines" who *think* they know what it says.
Here I was gonna come on and congratulate these folks for finally having some good sense... then YOU come along and screw it up for them... dumb you.
I highly doubt they need your congratulations. You must really think that you are far more important than you actually are.
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