Paris Terror Attack and Lessons Learned

            “Je suis Charlie.” The phrase, which simply means "I am Charlie", has caught on as the slogan to show solidarity in the fight against radical Islamic terrorists. 

            By now, you’ve seen the news and coverage about the brutal terror attacks in Paris. When I was in law enforcement, it was common after a tragedy to review what had happened, especially if it involved an officer safety issue, and look for lessons that could be learned so future police officers in that situation would respond differently and survive the incident. 

            So what lessons can be learned from the events in Paris? To get the most benefit, take a very broad approach, looking for general ideas to prevent a similar tragedy, not just duplicate this exact case, as every situation will be a little different.

            First, these suspects were known to have terrorist ties and were on a no-fly list. Once persons are identified as having terrorist ties, authorities should monitor what they are up to. Of course, this is an ongoing and challenging issue, but society needs to set some barriers to anyone who promotes violence or has ties with those that do. This same type of issue played out in Australia when one person held multiple hostages. That suspect has allowed into the country for political asylum, but was involved in the murder of a domestic partner, accusations of sex assault in 40 cases and had terrorist ties as well. Unfortunately, most of us have no control over this piece, unless the threats are coming from an internal source.

            Second, take threats seriously. One of the most common security mistakes is that of not taking dangerous situations or threats as seriously as we should. In this case, a police officer was assigned to protect the magazine’s editor after threats were made. However, the police officer was not able to stop the attack. Even if he were armed, it was not enough to match the terrorists, who had rifles. If the threats were taken more seriously, the officer should have been able to monitor the approaches to the building and control access before the terrorists could enter the building. Being able to set up a perimeter, either with cameras or an actual physical presence would have helped create an early deterrent or obstacle for any attack. In this case, the terrorists actually went to the wrong address first, and then were stopped by a locked door until an employee was forced to open it under duress. Early warning would have possibly given time for the would-be victims to escape, hide or barricade themselves behind shelter.

            Third, any group that could be a target of terrorists should focus on building security awareness amongst employees and educate everyone to be on the alert for suspicious activity. Any attack follows a surveillance stage. The surveillance stage is really the best opportunity for security personnel or other employees to identify the pending danger. Persons taking photos or loitering around a target location could easily be gathering intel. Attackers will often try to take pictures of security cameras and their locations, as well as watch security personnel making rounds or conducting patrols. Sometimes, an attacker may call in a bomb threat or other type of threat to see what the response is and help identify how many security personnel may be at the site and get an idea of the response protocols. Other ways that a terrorist may test security is by trying to enter restricted areas or parts of a building that are normally for employees only. 

            Fourth, take action. Once these warning signs or even a combination of some, are seen, it is critical to take some action to thwart or divert an attack. In the case of the Paris attack, the death threats may have been the first warning. If employees or security had noted activity around the premise, it is likely that some of the surveillance stages would have been seen. If that had happened, the next step would have been to increase the presence of armed police or security officers, both visible and plain-clothes, to deal with possible attack.

            Of course, the real challenge is our own internal human nature. It seems to be natural to make excuses for threats and deny that anything bad is really tied to the suspicious activity. And the cost of extra protection measures is another big deterrent. 

            That brings me to the last lesson learned. Every organization should create a plan in advance on how to deal with a variety of security issues, including what the response will be when a threat is received. The plan should include awareness, training and a response component, combining all the above lessons learned. 

            Bon sécurité.

Combining his law enforcement and corporate security experiences plus a love of martial arts, Eric Smith created Business Karate, LLC, a Colorado-based security consulting firm. His new book, Workplace Security Essentials, outlines how any business, school, hospital or organization can master the art of self-defense, reduce losses, avoid liability and build a safer workplace. Visit www.businesskarate.com for more. Follow on Twitter @businesskarate
 

Are You Ready For the Next Shooting?

               Military leaders are often accused of preparing the army to fight and win the last war instead of preparing for the next one. It sounds like an obvious mistake, but it is hard to ignore what you know and what you experienced and instead try to analyze or anticipate the unseen challenges ahead.

            Security is no different. Following the latest crime trend or horrific shooting, law enforcement and security professionals figure out what went wrong that time and immediately react by building training and response plans on that event. It is very easy to allow that tunnel vision to keep our focus on the last crime instead of being prepared for different variations. (Read more on crime trends and fads)

            The recent school shooting in Marysville, Washington is a reminder. Many recent school shootings have involved a crazed student or outsider, targeting students for no particular reason. School shooter training has often focused on the response once the first shots have been fired and how to lockdown and secure students in the classroom.

            It is important to remember that these types of active shooters are still relatively rare. Workplace violence, including school shootings, comes in many different forms and often involves disgruntled employees as well as unhappy customers. In fact, while researching my latest book, Workplace Security Essentials, I was somewhat surprised to find that violence at work is almost equally caused by co-workers and customers.

            Another common motive is revenge for domestic situations. The spurned lover seeking revenge. That seems to be the motive behind the shooting in Marysville. A 15-year old student was ‘heartbroken’ after a break-up with his girlfriend. He posted various comments on social media about how devastated he was and that he didn’t know how he could go on without her. For reasons still unclear, he lured his victims, but not the former girlfriend, to meet him in the school cafeteria where he shot them without warning, killing one on the spot and another who died later in the hospital. He then shot himself as a school faculty member rushed him. 

            So what are the lessons? This shooting caught everyone who knew Jaylen off guard and was not expected at all. Some of the traditional threat assessment models taught to schools would not have necessarily alerted anyone to the threat. Most of us probably shake our heads and wonder why a 15-year old could get so upset over a relationship at that age. And yet, we accept, at least on some level, that domestic violence and revenge does happen between adults. Thinking more about it, it only seems odd that we would not ask ourselves why we would expect teenagers to handle highly emotional relationships better than some adults do. 

            Clearly, if school faculty becomes aware of a student upset or troubled about a relationship gone wrong, it is a good idea to pay attention to the situation. Domestic relationships might not be our first thought when thinking about motives of school shootings, but shouldn’t be overlooked either. 

            Remember that violence is caused by different things for different people. What may not bother one person, could greatly trouble another and even incite them to rage. Schools and businesses need to keep that in mind and take any situation with elevated emotions seriously.

            It is impossible to say how every potentially violent individual may or may not tip their hand in advance. Continue to focus on both the recognition of warning signs as well as the actual response when shots are fired. There is no simple, easy answer for every possibility, but avoid tunnel vision and avoid focusing on what happened in the last shooting.

Combining his law enforcement and corporate security experiences plus a love of martial arts, Eric Smith created Business Karate, LLC. His new book, Workplace Security Essentials, outlines how any business, school, hospital or organization can master the art of self-defense, reduce losses, avoid liability and build a safer workplace. Visit www.businesskarate.com for more. Follow on Twitter @businesskarate

Reality of Gun Violence

Once again, we’ve seen a tragic and senseless mass murder, this time in Washington D.C. at the Navy Yards. Twelve victims were left dead after Aaron Alexis walked through the building with a sawed-off shotgun picking off targets.

Too often following these horrific events, the knee jerk reaction is to focus on gun control even over how to identify warning signs.

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There is a great deal of talk about active shooters and many security professionals focus on active shooter responses. Certainly, that is a critical part of a comprehensive emergency management plan and from some of these events it is clear that armed security can be a deterrent or stop the attacks before more people are hurt.

It is wise to take a step back from the hype and look at some of the data behind gun violence to keep it in perspective.

According to FBI statistics, less than 10,000 people are killed by firearms each year. That certainly sounds like a very large number. However, that is much less than many other dangers that garner little, if any, attention.

In comparison, look at the data below and think about where the greatest risks actually are.

            From a security perspective, violence is a very real concern. Understanding of risk factors and identification of red flags should be a top priority. However, be careful not to get caught up in the hype. Leave that to the media and politicians.

 

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense. He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management. Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces. To learn more email Eric at businesskarate dot com.

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at Eric at businesskarate dot com.

The Craze and Fads of Infamous Crimes and Killers

Currently, the top issue in most security or law enforcement publications and websites is the threat of active shooters. Since the horrific murders at Sandy Hook Elementary, the public’s attention has also been drawn back to the topic of active shooters.

Active shooters have certainly become the “crime du jour.” The danger in this is that other would-be murderers will fantasize about mass shootings as the way to carry out some high-publicity and hideous crime. If you look back at past decades, it seems that other trends in crimes have captivated the public and most likely, in some cases, attracted the criminal mind to that particular offense in a search for notoriety.

In the 1930’s, bootleggers and gangsters of the likes of Al Capone filled the headlines. After prohibition, some of the most famous criminals were known for bank robberies and the willingness to shoot it out with police – eventually only to be on the losing end, such as Bonnie and Clyde or John Dillinger.

In the 1960’s, killers turned to assassination as the means to build a name for themselves and garner attention. Some of the assassinations of the period remain the most notorious and well-known today, such as Martin Luther King, Robert and John Kennedy.

The decade of the 70’s saw a move into hijackings as a way to get attention and try to build attention around a cause. The decade also brought us some infamous serial killers, such as Ted Bundy. Throughout the 80’s, serial killers struck fear with the likes of Dennis Rader, as the Bind/Torture/Kill (BTK) killer and Jeffery Dahmer, who was known for necrophilia and even eating his victims.

The 1990’s brought us Columbine and one of the more heinous cases of an active shooter. Since then, we’ve seen many forms of mass murder from China, Norway and in the U.S. Churches, hospitals, Amish schools and colleges have all been targets, culminating most recently in Sandy Hook.

Of course, this is hardly a scientific analysis of criminal mindsets. Many of these criminals tracked the news stories about what they had done or had left messages stating that they hoped to top the last major violent crime with more death and destruction left behind.

This criminal evolution or progression will undoubtedly continue. There is an old saying that generals try to re-fight the last war. It is important to be alert to new tactics that killers may use to commit the latest hideous and disgusting crime to top the charts…at least until the next one after that.

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense.  He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management.  Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces.  To learn more email eric@businesskarate.com.

 

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at eric@businesskarate.com. 

Real Solutions to Active Shooters

After every tragedy, there is a very real risk that only knee-jerk solutions will be offered. More often than not, this is driven by politicians eager to look like they are doing something to solve the problem.

The recent murders at Sandy Hook Elementary have sparked a similar response. The focus has been on gun control, even while at the same time, the same people calling for gun control will admit that it would not have helped prevent this tragic case. It is interesting that in online surveys of security professionals and police officers the vast majority do not agree with further gun control or restrictions. It is also noteworthy that the very same week this attack occurred, one man in China stabbed 22 students and a teacher in what has become something of a pattern there.

If, as a society, we are going to make true strives to stop school shootings, then it is crucial to do a realistic assessment of what happened, what could have been done, what should have been known and how do we prevent this in the future.

In healthcare, after a serious incident, those involved work together to do a root cause analysis (RCA) to come up with a fix. There are a number of ways to do this and generally involve debriefing the incident to find all the events that led to the problem at hand. Asking why each stage happened and looking for solutions at each step is common.

There are some potential steps that will help address the issue and help prevent further tragedies like the one at Sandy Hook.

1.      Focus on the suspect. In many of these horrific shootings, there are some common characteristics of the killers. They have been described as intelligent, often have mental disorders, interested in Goth-style in many cases and very anti-social. Any individuals fitting a combination of these traits should be closely watched, both officially and unofficially. Neighbors, relatives and parents are the first line of defense if someone fits this profile. Once mental health workers become involved, they need to be able to alert law enforcement and follow up must be done.

2.     Along these lines, mental health issues must be taken seriously. For years, there has been talk of the revolving door of the justice system, where repeat offenders are quickly released back into society. The same has become true of mental health patients. Anyone making any kind of suicidal or homicidal statement is brought to the emergency room and quickly released. Part of that problem is the number of people who use that as an excuse to try and get drugs, attention or just a meal and warm bed for a short time.

3.     Schools should have better access control in place. This does not just include exterior access, but even individual classrooms should be easily locked and secured so a gunman cannot easily shoot into nor get into a classroom.

4.     End the ‘victim’ mentality. Police often warn people not to try and resist criminals. While this may be wise in the case of a simple property crime, there is an obligation to help and even encourage people to fight back when in danger. Whether there is an active shooter in a theater, shopping mall, church or school, resistance can distract and delay a shooter and may be enough to stop him completely. In many of these cases, the shooter commits suicide as police arrive, so anything that can delay a shooter and buys time creates more opportunity to survive.

5.     Look at ways to increase security and law enforcement presence in schools. Armed intervention has been used to stop about half of all active shooters per a study done by NYPD. It may not be feasible to place police officers in every school, but even random placement along the lines of the air marshal program may be deterrent. Instead of police sitting at speed traps, redirecting patrols to schools at random could be a lifesaver.

There is no one simple answer to the problem even if it is politically convenient. True solutions will include a multi-faceted approach. No matter what the outcome, it is a reminder that security is a serious affair and needs to be treated as such.

 

 

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense.  He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management.  Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces.  To learn more email eric@businesskarate.com.

 

 

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at eric@businesskarate.com. 

Six Critical Steps to Follow When Domestic Violence Comes to Work

               Scott Dekraai sat on the beach contemplating life – his own, as well as that of his ex-wife.  He was apparently upset over the custody issues with his son and had just lost a court request to change the custody orders.  He was worried, as his son would come home from stays with the ex-wife with bruises.

               Sadly, his meditations led to a series of wrong decisions leaving eight dead and one person in critical condition, Dekraai in police custody and his son in protective care.

               Dekraai got up and went to the hair salon where his ex-wife worked.  He promptly shot and killed her, then shot a co-worker and friend who had helped her through the divorce.  A manager tried to stop Dekraai by charging him with a pair of scissors and he was also shot and killed.

               The suspect continued to fire at others and later told police that they were “collateral damage.”  As he left, he shot another male sitting in his car, as he believed that the victim was an off-duty police officer reaching for a gun.  He later surrendered to police without a fight.

               Fortunately, domestic violence does not always end up at a victim’s workplace in such a deadly manner.  It is, however, common for suspects to search out their victims at work, as that may be the only place they can find the victim.

               After a domestic violence situation, the aggressor is likely going to be taken into custody if any crime has been committed due to mandatory arrest laws.  While the suspect goes to jail, the victim may be offered the chance to move into a safe house or may leave to stay with relatives or friends.

               The suspect will not be in jail forever, perhaps only overnight.  When he (yes, typically he, not she, but not always) gets out, he often wants to get in touch with his wife or girlfriend right away.  If she is in a safe house, he may not have a way to contact her.  But, of course, she will still go to work and he likely knows where that is.  He may have visited frequently, knows how to get in, knows where she parks and knows when she leaves and arrives.

               According to an article in Security Director Report, domestic violence was most likely to happen at the start or end of a victim’s workday, often in the parking lot as they come or go.

               An organization that has employees (and most do) runs a risk of dealing with domestic violence issues at work.  The larger the organization, it is arguably more likely that a victim’s manager or department director will not know about the situation.  If the victim does not tell anyone at work, the business cannot do anything to help look after the victim or others.

               What should be done at the workplace to help the affected employee and protect both them and other colleagues, customers and visitors from a potential attacker?  Fortunately, there are a number of basic steps that any organization should follow to help prevent and respond to violence when it spills over from the home into work.

1. Encourage employees to share with human resources when they are involved in a domestic violence situation.  The written policy should spell out that the case will be reviewed to assess the best steps to protect everyone exposed.  It also needs to be clear that the company will not hold it against an employee or retaliate against them in any way for reporting the problems.  The policy must address the individual’s privacy while ensuring that the issue is only relayed to those who ‘need to know.’
2. Take all domestic violence situations seriously.  Even law enforcement takes these types of family disturbances very seriously and understand the great risks and potential for violence.  When responding to a DV call, police will check for past incidents at the address.  Officers understand that these types of calls are extremely dangerous as emotions run very high and they always respond with cover officers.  Jealousy or loss of control over a loved one can push someone to violence very quickly.
3. Find out if there is a restraining order involved.  Even victims are often confused about whether a restraining order is in place.  Often victims are told that the suspect is not allowed to contact them, but that is due to bond conditions when the suspect gets out of jail.  These stipulate that the bond will be revoked if the suspect contacts the victim, but are different from a restraining order, which is a court order signed up a judge restricting access.  The RO must be served to the suspect if they are not in court.  Get copies of any RO.  This can help facilitate police response if the party does try to contact the victim at work, even by phone, email or through a third party.
4. Protect the victim.  A few simple steps can help keep the affected employee safe.  Changing their work shift even a half an hour from normal can make it harder for the suspect to catch them in the parking lot or as they come or go from work.  It also makes it more likely that the suspect will attract attention or be seen as suspicious if forced to wait in the area longer.  Moving the victim’s parking area is a great option if available as well.  If not, be sure that they are not going to or from their car alone.  Screen phone calls to limit contact by the suspect.
5. Review and assess any domestic violence case.  Find out if there are past acts of violence or threats.  Does the suspect have access to weapons?  What do they have to lose if they become violent, meaning are they at wit’s end or feel like they have lost everything?
6. Involve others.  The victim may not want anyone to know and his or her privacy should be respected.  A few details should be passed on to screeners such as security or lobby personnel to be on the lookout for the suspect.  Ask the victim for a photo and description of the suspect, as well as a vehicle description to help the ‘gatekeepers’ identify the right person.  If the victim wishes to remain private, a general alert can be passed on to keep appropriate personnel alert to suspicious activity or tighten access control measures.

               This is a general overview.  Details need to be adjusted for your specific organization and work environment.  When violence spills over from home into work, it can be very dangerous.  Following these basic steps can help keep everyone safer.

Your biggest risks may not be your biggest worries.  About 33% of small businesses fail after becoming victims of crime.  Ordinary, everyday criminal acts – not high profile terror attacks or disasters. 

Get real solutions for real problems.  Contact eric@businesskarate.com to learn about security coaching and how to help your organization thrive.