To say that the new guidelines are shocking would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions.
It was at first assumed that the new guidelines addressed in the training would apply only to agencies such as FEMA. You can imagine the shock felt by our Border Patrol officers when they discovered that it applied to them as well.
The following is taken directly from ISO-907 - Active Shooter: What You Can Do, the course summary issued by the DHS:
"Good practices for response include:
If you suspect a potential active shooter situation, you must quickly determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life. If there is an accessible escape path, attempt to evacuate the premises.
Always have an escape route and plan in mind even if you are just visiting. And, make sure to leave your belongings behind and keep your hands visible.
If evacuation is not possible, you should find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you. Block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors. Use heavy items to barricade yourself if possible. And, remember to remain quiet and silence your cell phone or pager.
As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, you should attempt to incapacitate the shooter by acting with physical aggression and throwing items at the active shooter. And, call 911 when it is safe to do so. (emphasis added)
If you are a manager or uniformed official, employees and customers are likely to follow your lead. So, it’s essential that you remain calm and take immediate action. The key is to be aware of your environment and any possible dangers.
However, if you do need to respond, remember: try to evacuate. If you cannot evacuate, then hide. As a last resort, take action.
Call 911 WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO! How To Respond
Let’s review the key points from the video presentation. In an active shooter situation, you should quickly determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life. You should:
1. Evacuate: If there is an accessible escape path, attempt to evacuate the premises.
2. Hide out: If evacuation is not possible, find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you.
3. Take action: As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter.
They are specifically forbidden to use their government-issued firearms in self- or defense of others.It is important for employees to be trained so that they can react if they are ever confronted with an active shooter situation. As these situations evolve quickly, quick decisions could mean the difference between life and death. If you are in harm’s way, you will need to decide rapidly what the safest course of action is based on the scenario that is unfolding before you."
Upon hearing that these directives applied to them, local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council posted the following in response:
"Border Patrol Agents Taught to "Run Away" and "Hide" when Encountering a Shooter
07-03-12 Since this information was posted and after media scrutiny the agency has offered to revise and clarify this training. Despite claims to the contrary, the training was clearly mandated for all Border Patrol agents. We look forward to seeing the revised training. We see no reason agents would need this training in the first place, even with clarification. It is a complete waste of an agent's time.
06-20-12 In another nauseating series of "Virtual Learning Center" brainwashing courses that Border Patrol agents are forced to sit behind a computer for hours and endure, we are now taught in an "Active Shooter" course that if we encounter a shooter in a public place we are to "run away" and "hide". If we are cornered by such a shooter we are to (only as a last resort) become "aggressive" and "throw things" at him or her. We are then advised to "call law enforcement" and wait for their arrival (presumably, while more innocent victims are slaughtered). Shooting incidents cited in the course are Columbine, the Giffords shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting.
These types of mandatory brainwashing courses and the idiocy that accompanies them are simply stunning when they are force-fed to law enforcement officers. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that any three of the above shootings would have been stopped cold by an off-duty law enforcement officer or a law abiding citizen with a gun. The Fort Hood shooting would have been stopped cold by someone with a gun as well. The shooters in these situations depend on unarmed and scared victims. It gives them the power they seek. We could go on and on with examples of shootings that could have been stopped by someone with a firearm. One of the videos in this course actually shows a terrified female hiding behind a desk as an example of how to "hide" from some deranged shooter. Multiple quizzes throughout the course and a final test ensure repeatedly that we know that we only have three options when encountering some murderous thug in a public place. 1. Run away; 2. Hide; and 3. Only put up a fight as a last resort by acting aggressively and throwing things at the shooter. Not one mention anywhere of "if you are carrying a gun and you have the opportunity take the shooter out". Calling 911 in these instances is obvious, but we all know that waiting on the arrival of uniformed law enforcement will ensure more people are killed, injured, or taken hostage. Telling law enforcement officers that in all instances they are to run away and hide from some thug while innocent victims are butchered is simply inexcusable and pathetic.
It is always comforting to know that for those of us who carry a weapon when we are off-duty, if we should encounter such a situation, stop a shooter and save countless lives, we can look forward to being disciplined or fired by the Border Patrol because we should have run away to hide and then maybe thrown objects at the deranged killer instead of taking action and stopping him with a firearm. This, in addition to the scrutiny and second-guessing that will come from local authorities and the inevitable possibility of lawsuits and criminal conviction.
Welcome to the New Patrol."
So it is now official policy for federal officers in a number of agencies that they may no longer defend themselves. If confronted with an active shooter situation, they are to either run away, hide, throw things at the aggressor, and hope that they will still be alive to meet other rescuing officers after calling 911.
If you find this as repulsive as I do, then you need to contact your legislators in Washington as well as in your own state legislature. You see, this training applies not only to officers associated with the DHS, it may also apply to agencies in your own state with which the DHS has working agreements - superseding any guidelines they may already have in place to deal with such situations. There is no time to lose; it is no exaggeration to say that lives have been placed in jeopardy by Secretary Napolitano with these new guidelines. Links to your legislators' contact information can be found in the right pane.
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