A new kind of preparedness meeting

[RosieTR]

We had a meeting today at work about what to do if there were a shooter. I had never had this type of meeting before so some of it was informative although really, the officer presenting couldn't really say what to do besides use common sense, since any actual situation is unpredictable as to whether and how it might occur. I have thus far avoided signing up for text message alerts from my workplace since I don't have unlimited texting but now am maybe reconsidering. When I was last at a workplace where there was an emergency it was tornado warnings and they sent a text every time a warning was issued or expired, which lasted all day. At no time did we go to the basement and although there were tornadoes in the area, none were closer than about 5 miles or so. Anyway, that experience which was several years ago made me not want to deal with the text alert thing. However, this meeting today described what is probably just an individual who wants to be a fly in the ointment, but given a few details of his communication with some of the employees it's not completely outside the realm of possibility that there could be an incident. It's also possible it's being taken a bit more seriously given recent other events than it would be otherwise or a little bit of a CYA thing related to that as well. There is no possible way, given the nature of where I work, for it to be anywhere close to 100% secured so it's just a "we hope this doesn't happen but here's the deal" type of deal. Good thing I'm not prone to being a panicky person, I guess.

[Tradd]

Rosie, are employees with their CCW permits allowed to carry in your workplace or is that forbidden?

[herbgeek]

I unfortunately had to fire someone who was mentally unstable, and had to run through the exercise with some of my staff in what we could do if he came in with a gun. This was right about the time a shooter at a nearby high tech company went nuts when he was fired. I had a safe room determined, as well as a hiding spot within the room under/behind furniture. Glad I never had to use it.

At another company I worked at, there was an odd engineer who all of a sudden started asking random people "what do you know about AK-47's?" and similar threads. One day, he brought his gun in to show off, because he was so proud of it. He had no idea how bad an idea that was. A few weeks later, there were layoffs going on and Walter was on the list. I let his manager know about the gun, and told him to be careful. He was grateful, and made sure there was a police presence around when the termination happened and for a while afterwards.

I'm glad companies are starting to admit this is a possibility. These incidents happened in 2001 and 1997 respectively.

[fidgiegirl]

This is old hat for schools, at least in Minnesota, anyway. We have to have five lockdown drills a year. Try that with six year olds who don't get what's going on or if it's real. It's a pretty sad state of affairs.

[SteveinMN]

I'm glad companies are starting to admit this is a possibility. These incidents happened in 2001 and 1997 respectively.
In 1996, I had to fire someone who was a bit -- umm, off-center. One of the worst days of my life. I half-expected to find my car's tires slashed when I left that evening (they weren't; no repercussions). Not a good feeling. And I'm glad I never even thought about getting shot at!

My wife works at a county service agency and they had a lockdown a few weeks ago. A distraught relative of a client came in making threats. At one point, the sheriff's team was walking down hallways with their guns drawn :0! . That agency does have a specific protocol for handling such emergencies, but even they found a few things to improve upon for next time.

It is a shame that we have to prepare for such events.

[miradoblackwarrior]

RosieTR--Does your community have reverse 911?

Susan

[pinkytoe]

After the VA Tech shooting, as university staff, we were required to watch a video on how to survive an active shooter scenario. I have to say it was pretty creepy watching the animated figure moving through aisles of cubicles and shooting randomly. These images stick in one's head; I wish they did not even exist. Funny how man's only predator is another human.

[iris lily]

Last week I looked up to find a former employee wandering around my department. Since we are in a building that is supposed to be secured by only badge admittance, and since it's not the first time this has happened, I complained to upper management and our Safety director. The receptionist on the first floor opened the secure elevator for this person. It's annoying and though not dangerous, I am done with it. Things will change.

[RosieTR]

Rosie, are employees with their CCW permits allowed to carry in your workplace or is that forbidden?

Yes, but I don't particularly want to do that for something that's pretty remote. It's unlikely this person will go on a shooting rampage at work and even in that unlikely event the area where I work is less accessible and I would not be this person's primary target anyway. In the extremely unlikely case all that did in fact come to fruition, the chances that my only option would be to shoot back (if I were armed) are lower still, since I would be vastly more likely to leave if at all possible or hide if leaving were problematic. So going through the whole conceal-carry thing and then actually carrying all the time, just in case, seems way way too much of an issue for an extremely remote chance. I'd sooner get the avalanche lung if I'm going to spend hundreds of $ on something that's a hassle to carry around and has a pretty remote chance of saving my life, because I think I have a greater chance of winding up in an avalanche than getting shot at work. The more worrisome aspect with this is what many have brought up: how sad it is that something like this needs to be part of the workplace worries. Also the people most likely to be targeted and at greater risk (but still remote) are very nice, thoughtful people. The individual has a particular political/religious agenda and isn't to my knowledge at all associated with the workplace organization. Most, though certainly not all, people like this are not willing to martyr themselves for their cause. Since one can't completely rule out the possibility of violence from this type of thinking, however, it was thought prudent to do the meeting and let folks know what's going on. In addition, there is always the possibility of another screw loose within the organization (or recently separated from the organization) so it' prudent to talk about once in awhile. As for myself, perhaps I will revisit "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker and this time actually buy it instead of getting it at the library because it's one of those to reread every so often IMO. Maybe I'll get a couple of copies to lend out at work as well-not just for this situation but several other types he talks about.

[RosieTR]

RosieTR--Does your community have reverse 911?

Susan

The police brought this up but wasn't sure if the system for cell phones is up and running at this point. But they do for landlines. Since I'm frequently away from my desk, a cell phone thing would be a lot better for me though. Some people don't get service in all areas of the building, however.

[bae]

As for myself, perhaps I will revisit "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker and this time actually buy it instead of getting it at the library because it's one of those to reread every so often IMO. Maybe I'll get a couple of copies to lend out at work as well-not just for this situation but several other types he talks about.

Very sensible!

[Tradd]

Yes, but I don't particularly want to do that for something that's pretty remote. It's unlikely this person will go on a shooting rampage at work and even in that unlikely event the area where I work is less accessible and I would not be this person's primary target anyway. In the extremely unlikely case all that did in fact come to fruition, the chances that my only option would be to shoot back (if I were armed) are lower still, since I would be vastly more likely to leave if at all possible or hide if leaving were problematic. So going through the whole conceal-carry thing and then actually carrying all the time, just in case, seems way way too much of an issue for an extremely remote chance. I'd sooner get the avalanche lung if I'm going to spend hundreds of $ on something that's a hassle to carry around and has a pretty remote chance of saving my life, because I think I have a greater chance of winding up in an avalanche than getting shot at work. The more worrisome aspect with this is what many have brought up: how sad it is that something like this needs to be part of the workplace worries. Also the people most likely to be targeted and at greater risk (but still remote) are very nice, thoughtful people. The individual has a particular political/religious agenda and isn't to my knowledge at all associated with the workplace organization. Most, though certainly not all, people like this are not willing to martyr themselves for their cause. Since one can't completely rule out the possibility of violence from this type of thinking, however, it was thought prudent to do the meeting and let folks know what's going on. In addition, there is always the possibility of another screw loose within the organization (or recently separated from the organization) so it' prudent to talk about once in awhile. As for myself, perhaps I will revisit "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker and this time actually buy it instead of getting it at the library because it's one of those to reread every so often IMO. Maybe I'll get a couple of copies to lend out at work as well-not just for this situation but several other types he talks about.

I didn't mean YOU ccw'ing, but if the possibility was open for others in your office. What is the company policy?

[bunnys]

This is old hat for schools, at least in Minnesota, anyway. We have to have five lockdown drills a year. Try that with six year olds who don't get what's going on or if it's real. It's a pretty sad state of affairs.

Yep. But we only have 1 per year.

[RosieTR]

I didn't mean YOU ccw'ing, but if the possibility was open for others in your office. What is the company policy?

It's allowed by CO state law. Pretty sure there are some folks who do carry with permits. Pretty sure their chances of actually using it are probably as slim but if it makes them feel better and they are responsible about it I suppose it's fine with me. I'm just sad/annoyed/disheartened by the fact that now I've been thinking "what are my escape routes" and "where would be a good place to hide" while at work. Not in a super-paranoid, can't-concentrate way but just sort of a takes-up-brain-space type of way. This is what we are encouraged to do, so despite the chances being remote according to my logical brain, my emotional brain goes through these exercises. Playing out the theory of Freakonomics: people are spectacularly bad at differentiating the chances of various threats occurring. They will get a ccw but not take the stairs even though it's probably a million times more likely for them to die of obesity-related problems than by the hand of a criminal. But hey, now I have yet another reason to stay in shape, ha ha. Thwart obesity, cancer, heart disease, missing an airplane flight or bus, AND escape a potential gunman. :~)

[Spartana]

I'm just sad/annoyed/disheartened by the fact that now I've been thinking "what are my escape routes" and "where would be a good place to hide" while at work. Not in a super-paranoid, can't-concentrate way but just sort of a takes-up-brain-space type of way. This is what we are encouraged to do, so despite the chances being remote according to my logical brain, my emotional brain goes through these exercises. If it helps, think of it the same way you think of any other unlikely but possible situation - fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, etc.. Most people think about what they would do various situations and then just store that info without overly worrying about it. Doesn't need to take up too much brain space :-)!