How to Prepare for an Active Shooter Scenario

The news, unfortunately, is filled with stories about sudden, unexpected shootings in the workplace and other public spaces. One minute, people are going about their daily routines. The next minute: panic and chaos.

At concerts, in offices, in houses of worship, in schools and on military bases, an active shooter is a possibility. More and more, clients are turning to Sunstates for training and threat mitigation strategies. In conjunction with industry experts, Sunstates can help clients and our officers protect themselves and be safer.

“We want our clients to be safe,” noted Sunstates President Glenn Burrell, CPP. “I’d like to think that we can help save lives. That’s our focus and why we’re happy to provide that as an added value.”

Proactive Strategies:

The best way to mitigate threats is before they occur. Sunstates security experts can help clients develop policies and procedures designed to prevent/reduce potential threats, including:

• Access Control. Monitoring and controlling who can enter a facility, or specific areas within that facility, is the first step to mitigating active shooter threats.
• Eyes and Ears. All employees should be aware of who belongs and who doesn’t in a facility or area, as well as who is acting abnormally.
• Preparation. Employees need to understand what to do if an active shooter scenario occurs, and they should regularly prepare and practice.

Client Training:

Depending on the clients’ needs, Sunstates can offer different types of training.

General Education. Sunstates can provide a high-level general presentation on the basic principles of Active Shooter mitigation training. We’d be happy to schedule a lunchtime presentation to help your employees understand threats in the workplace and the community, as well as what to do if the unimaginable occurs.

Advanced Custom Training. For more extensive and facility-focused training, Sunstates partners with industry experts to provide more in-depth training, customized to a client’s facility, employees and situation.

That education often includes the following:

• See something, say something. Employees should have established procedures to voice security-related concerns to supervisors and management quickly and efficiently, with regular feedback to encourage the flow of intelligence.
• Understand the plan. Managers and employees will be trained on the security plan, being aware of their surroundings and other critical factors.
• Communication is key. Before an emergency occurs, companies and facilities should have a communications plan in place. This review will examine current plans and make recommendations where appropriate.
• Know the strategies. In an active shooter scenario, there are three options: run, hide and fight. People should know how to choose their best option.

In many active shooter situations, the immediate response is confusion and denial. Many people will ask, “What is going on?” or say, “This can’t be happening. That was a car backfiring, not gunshots.”

The key takeaway for our active shooter training is to make employees’ responses automatic. Instead of thinking about what is going on, or even doubting that it’s really happening, we want “muscle memory” to take over and help mitigate or minimize the threat.

The bottom line is we want our clients and our officers to be safe, and providing active shooter training and education is a key part of that.

The time to prepare for an active shooter is now, and we can help. Please contact Sunstates Security at 866-710-2019 or email us.