COLLABORATION & TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE ACTIVE SHOOTER RESPONSE

Presenters Lt. Scott Parker North Precinct Commander Snohomish County Sheriff s Office scott.parker@co.snohomish.wa.us 24 years in law enforcement Participated in incident command on numerous large-scale events Frequent lecturer on active shooter response Noah Reiter, MPA Director of Industry Solutions Rave Mobile Safety nreiter@ravemobilesafety.com Assists RAVE with product developement Former assistant city manager Former EMS administrator in Atlanta and NYC

Agenda Review the frequency of active shooter incidents and related statistics Identify challenges associated with active shooter incidents Discuss approaches for addressing the active shooter School safety approach in the State of Washington Snohomish County Project Inception Project Evolution & Deployment Learnings from the Marysville Pilchuck High School Shooting Discussion

Active Shooter Incidents since 2000 160 total incidents / 11.4 annually Commerce accounts for 45.6% (73) of incidents Educational facilities account for 24.4% (39) of incidents 1,043 individuals killed and wounded

FBI Study, continued

Where has Planning, Training & Spending been Focused? Equipment for public safety long guns, body armor, interoperable communications equipment Adding law enforcement and/or security officers Training for public safety active shooter exercises (multiagency / jurisdiction) Hardening of soft targets Access control Visitor management systems Hard wired panic buttons, radios Video surveillance Window glazing / safe rooms / physical barrier stand-offs / others? Training of employees at soft targets

Gaps in Planning, Training & Spending So much of preparing for the active shooter focuses on public safety response Who s left out? 9-1-1 Communications The true first responders: onsite employees Victim / bystander initiated response is critical for mitigating the impact of the incident Rapid notification of victims critical for maximizing their response (doesn t matter what type of incident) Giving every employee the ability to notify all staff in an emergency saves time

BIGGEST Challenge: Time Response Window (Time) 69% of Active Shooter Incidents last 5 minutes Officers arrive before the end of incident only 31% of the time Initial Reporter School Resources 9-1-1 Incident Dispatch Responders The number one recommendation and takeaway in this report is free: working across silos meaning, cooperation between agencies, Matthew Malone, MA Secretary of Education Source: FBI s A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013

Employees can t act until they are notified of an incident

State of Washington Initiatives Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) School Safety Center Requirement for safety plans and procedures ICS certification required for principals Required Exercises 3 fire evacuation, 3 lockdowns, 1 shelter-in-place, 1 using school mapping, 1 high-risk drill (i.e. earthquake, flood, etc.) School Emergency Response Systems Grant

OSPI Emergency Response Systems Grant Program announced in July of 2013 $10M available to public schools for implementation of an emergency response system SSSB 5197 requires school districts to work collaboratively with local law enforcement agencies and school security personnel to develop an emergency response system using evolving technology to expedite the response and arrival of law enforcement in the event of a threat or emergency at a school. $7M awarded to 80 school districts, including 7 in Snohomish County

Snohomish County, WA Project

Lead Partners SNOPAC Everett School District Everett Police Department Snohomish County Sheriff s Office

Original Concept Extend Smart911 into school safety through a smart phone app

Project Evolution

What accounted for the evolution?? Many trips to Everett and one trip to Massachusetts.

Collaboration Multiple roundtable discussions, tests and exercises in Everett, over a 6-month period Discussion between Everett SD & Milford (MA) Schools The app evolved drastically to address the operational needs of the interdisciplinary team Had to address gaps in wireless network location accuracy

How can technology address response gaps?

Rave Panic Button Prepare Portal for Schools, Hospitals, Courthouses and Businesses to set up Infrastructure Information and Register Panic Button Download Approvals Communicate During Incident, Mobile Panic Button Invoked Immediately Calling 9-1-1 and notifying Workplace Response Team Respond 9-1-1 Call Taker has access to Infrastructure Information and can Immediately Collaborate with Workplace Response Team and share data with First Responders 9-1-1 Incident Command Campus Resources Responder Agencies

The Need for Improving School & Workplace Safety Schools and workplaces face emergencies every day from the routine to extreme Deploying a solution that can assist in any type of emergency will be used more frequently and become second-nature for employees Source: SchoolSafetyNews.com (self-reported in 2014)

When the Rave Panic Button is pushed

Key Personnel Get Notified Campus Leadership & Key Administrators Law Enforcement Officers Other Key Staff

As Well As 9-1-1 and Responders

Further Integration Technological integration Other existing mapping systems (Rapid Responder) Video surveillance Operational integration with existing processes

Emergency Communications Decision Path Yes Public safety response required? No Activate Panic Button / Call 9-1-1 Comms to parents and / or staff needed? Follow-Up Communications Needed? Yes Staff at affected or nearby campus(es) Parents; staff at unaffected campuses Discuss msg content with LE / send jointly thru Panic Button Implement outbound msg ing process / utilize school msg ing platform

Command Control Communications C 3

First Responders Administration Teachers Volunteers Drivers

Tactical Operations Command

Snohomish County JIS Org Chart

The first 30 minutes 2 nd shooter potential Inner perimeter Multiple jurisdictions Outer perimeter Media Plain clothes officers Multiple radio frequencies Multiple approach angles Search teams Parking lots Traffic control Surrounding neighborhood

Incident Command

The first step in returning any emergency situation to normal is someone taking charge!!

Onsite management and planning allowed us to focus more intently on the needs of the students, responders, school staff, and community without interference & distractions

Incident Objectives Perimeter/ Containment Search Environmental concerns Department Notifications Political implications ICP/TOC Situational Awareness UC Fire & EMS Risk Manager UC LEO s Develops an End State Planning - objectives - extended event UC MPHS Principal & Security

Student & Faculty safety Inner Perimeter Site Security Reunification Command Post Resource ordering ICP/TOC Situational Awareness Liaison w/ IC Detective Liaison Personnel safety Tactical Mission Effect on civilians Continuous intelligence gathering

Reunification / Accountability

What Went Well at MPHS Achieving controlled chaos in a relatively short amount of time Timely Evacuation of small city Special needs students Humanity/empathy towards students Situational awareness Using other/agencies LEO s, teamwork Interaction with on site school staff Outer perimeter Set up liaison with staff to enter and retrieve personal belongings

CLOSING THOUGHTS & WRAP-UP

Evaluating School & Workplace Safety Technology Standalone app or integrated with public safety technology and processes? Device-agnostic Redundant communications pathways Industry involvement Service, support, reputation, references

Lessons Learned & Best Practices Collaboration is key not just response agencies, but 9-1-1 and employees of the school / facility as well Infrequently used processes are risk-laden Incorporate adopted technology into emergency operations plans and into regularly-conducted exercises Include 9-1-1 in exercises Establish clear command and control Chaos reigns even when the incident is over, communication must continue

DISCUSSION, QUESTIONS THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!