Sitting in the closed-to-pretty-much-everyone-but-retailers active shooter workshop this morning was one of the most sobering experiences I’ve had in a long time. Each of the members of the impressive panel – consisting of experienced retail LP executives, law enforcement, tactical officers and representatives from the Department of Homeland Security – walked through a particular element that retailers would need to consider in developing an active shooter plan. While much of what was shared in the room is confidential, there were a few takeaways.
Here, ten questions gleaned from the session for retail executives to consider when creating their own active shooter plan:
1. How can we minimize harm to employees and customers? This should be the primary goal of most active shooter policies, and every component of the active shooter plan should have this element in mind.
2. What’s right for the location? Each retail location is different – and, certainly, corporate headquarters and distribution centers are different than stores. Many locations will need customized plans, or separate plans entirely.
3. Where are the specific nuances? Because no active shooting incident is the same, as one speaker articulated, “A blueprint is not the best practice.” Think through multiple scenarios that your associates and managers could face.
4. Who needs to be cross-trained? With many retail stores open more than 12 hours a day – and on weekends – even the most well-trained store managers might not be onsite when an issue arises. Train the right people and cross-train the right people.
5. How does your plan change in the event of an indirect shooting? In the case of an indirect shooting, which might occur in the center court of a mall or outside on a busy sidewalk, the plan could change substantially. What should employees do if a shooting occurs in the store next door, or in the parking lot? How is that different than how you want them to respond if the shooting is in your store?
6. Do you know your local response team? As retailers plan ahead for active shooting incidents, they should partner with local law enforcement and building management. As one law enforcement professional reminded attendees, plans are fluid. Don’t get defensive if law enforcement makes suggestions that expose unanswered questions or present new risks. The worst thing companies can do is create a plan and then walk away from it until it’s needed again.
7. What’s your plan if the shooter escapes? While many situations end with the shooter committing suicide, there have been recent incidents where a shooter left the vicinity without being caught. If this happens, think about how you’ll work with law enforcement, who you need to involve from corporate, and how you’ll take care of grief-stricken associates or customers. How will you help employees cope if the suspect is never caught?
8. How will you empower associates? All experts agreed that well-trained associates who understand that company personnel trust them to make quick judgment calls are imperative to minimizing injury and risk. Even the best-trained professionals during some of the most stressful events can react in unexpected ways. It could be the 16-year-old associate who’s the one making a difference in a crisis. They should know that you trust them.
9. Do your associates know what to expect from law enforcement? Making sure that store associates understand what to expect will minimize confusion during a crisis. Associates need to understand why everyone is treated as a suspect until a shooter has been identified, that it might take minutes – which could feel like hours – for law enforcement to arrive, what officers might be wearing (ie: full tactical gear), and that the goal of the first responding officers is to find and disarm the shooter, not assist wounded customers or associates.
10. What am I going to do? As one law enforcement representative said, “You need to start preparing yourself emotionally and mentally for this.” Thinking ahead to what you would do and how you would handle an active shooter situation – either as a victim in a store or an executive handling the aftermath – will guarantee the best outcome.