ACTIVE SHOOTER PROTOCOLS: A FANCY TERM FOR "YOUR TURN TO FACE DEATH"

To most folks a police call is a police call. An armed person in a public place is a real bad police call. Not so long ago, we handled all of these as "barricade/hostage" or "man with a gun" situations. They are not.

Since the Chechnian rebels in the Russian School, a couple of Postals and the odd McDonald's massacre, police protocols have changed. We no have a tactical category for this called "Active Shooter." (sounds so clinical) There is no time to wait for the ERT when the offender's only goal is administering death to randomly selected attendees at a gathering place. The first officers on the scenemust be their own ERT. There is little talking, no command post, not much technology and lots of jeopardy. The task is to stop the shooter (who is often more than willing to commit "suicide by cop") but the first officer on the scene is usually also a high value target for the recalcritant active shooter. A modern police officer knows that every day he or she serves, is a day they might be the first-on-scene at an active shooter incident. There is an implicit promise in every roll call, every turn of the key of that squad car when going on shift: "If I'm it, I'll perform."

Now the good news is that we create protocols for it. We practice it. We talk about it. We're not vaguely responding to "Man with a gun" calls. Most of the time, the officer will know a bit ahead of show time that it's an active shooter. Training can kick in and lives can be saved.

This is what happened at Ft. Hood. The two first-on-scenes were obviously well trained. The senior officer stayed back and on a different line and the young woman took the point. It would have been better if she had some cover, but there was none. She knew exactly what her duty was. She didn't have to be dispatched. She did not need a "fire" order from an on-scene commander. Thankfully, it wasn't her day to die. But maybe it wasn't her day to die because her department had practiced and made policy against the possibility of an active shooter, someday, somewhere on the base, somehow.

I just love good police work set up by good police leadership.