Harden Your Life

Watching the coverage of the attack on the religious gathering in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1st, I can’t help but be amazed how woefully unprepared that group appeared to be from the coverage I saw.

I have been involved in situational awareness training for over 10 years, having started while I was a detective and an instructor with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. I still conduct a PowerPoint presentation “How to Be Safer in Your Everyday Lives,” so it’s a subject I study and have some knowledge of. To repeat a quote from one of the Boulder survivors, “We never thought something like that could happen here.” REALLY!! The only thing I have heard in observing past violent incidents that makes less sense is “I thought it was fireworks.” Two statements that should be cemented in our minds are “Yes, it can happen here” and “It’s never fireworks.” It really comes down to being aware of our surroundings and having a plan for possible emergencies that could occur at your gathering. This would include some form of security, or at the very least, a conversation about how different emergencies should be handled. Secondly, discuss training and preparing for an emergency, from a medical emergency to how you and your group would handle an actual physical threat. And finally, have actual equipment at hand to handle an emergency, to be proactive before the first responders finally show up. I am not proposing this, but I know of one church in the Orlando area that has remote-controlled seat backs in their church on two of the chairs. The chair backs open to access firearms. When it comes to individual situational awareness and protecting yourself, the answer is easy. The plan is to simply be aware of what’s happening around you and if things go sideways, take care of yourself. Recognize a threat and leave the area. However, when you are part of a group, a religious or political gathering, a club or community activity, running away from the threat - always a great idea - might not be that easy.

So, let’s discuss the plan. First, we must recognize that no matter how benign your group might be, there is always the chance that someone will have negative thoughts and opinions about your group and anyone who belongs to it. In any gathering, we all agree there is always the chance of a medical emergency. So, it might be easier for everyone if the discussion starts with how we would handle a medical emergency when it does occur? Do you have a GO-TO first aid kit you bring along to the club or other gatherings, or on the premises? Has anyone checked where an AED might be in the area? Trust me, go on the PulsePoint app; there are a bunch of them around.

And the best and simplest thing you can do, whether in a religious setting, a club setting, a political group…(the list goes on) is to get first aid training. There are many companies and local fire departments that would be happy to train members of your group. As I like to say, pick out the sheepdogs and get them trained up!

Now we all need to agree that threatening behavior and violence can occur at any time. Then discuss in the group possible threats that could occur. And if we all agree that it can happen, we now must all agree that some plan of action needs to be in place. Like always, the threat needs to be recognized in the first place, hopefully before it’s fully underway. Your gathering needs to have a layer of protection, observers, or at least people in your group who might be more in tune with sounds and actions that could be negative. Look to your veterans, retired or active law enforcement officers, firemen and emergency medical service people - again, your groups' sheepdogs. This group should have discussions about possible threats and possible outcomes. Before any gathering, this group should at the very least have a short “are we all in tune today” conversation. If in your discussions the consensus is that there is a very real threat to your group’s safety, never hesitate to contact your local law enforcement agency. You can ask for extra coverage, ranging from increased road patrol to having officers on site. Realize that most agencies will allow you to hire off-duty officers in and out of uniform to provide a presence. Now let’s talk about training and actual equipment that might be of use from a small disturbance - think an intoxicated person encountering your group - to an actual deadly physical threat, like we just saw in Colorado. This subject can be very controversial, so let’s first agree that there are no easy answers here. I am talking about using everything from a strong presence to verbal commands to actual physical contact, up to and including deadly physical force. Your presence, how you carry yourself, can in many cases stop a disturbance or small threat before it even gets underway. Again, there are perhaps people in your group who understand that standing with a strong posture, a serious demeanor, and a commanding voice can be a positive influence in stopping negative behavior. In my work in the intelligence group with the sheriff’s office, we interfaced with both the Secret Service and Capitol Police for VIP security on many occasions. I made a point of never wearing sunglasses when on a detail. I am not that big of a guy, so I always tried to have a serious demeanor, and I have been told that I sometimes look mean. I used that look to let people in the crowd see I was serious about the level of security I was providing.

Now, in discussing physically going hands on with a person creating a disturbance up to presenting a true threat of deadly physical force; I will repeat what I often say when I am doing a group presentation “I am not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV” so I am NOT giving legal advice here just observations. Becoming physical with someone presents a whole new list of problems. These can range from you yourself being physically injured, think broken hand, to the person you grabbed just falling and injuring themselves way beyond what people would say is “reasonable force.” Think criminal or civil liability. I am not saying don’t get involved physically to stop a threat against a weaker person than the aggressor, or in defending your group. Do what you feel you are capable of doing. But I will tell you, know the laws in your state and how they relate to your actions. Here is an example: I often hear during my presentations, “I’ll just pepper spray the guy.” Okay, well let’s take a quick look at Florida’s use of force statute. A person is justified in using or threatening to use force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other's imminent use of unlawful force. Seems simple enough - if you can articulate that you felt you needed to defend yourself, your actions might be considered justified. But look at one more thing when you use physical force and someone is injured - the question might be, are you obligated to render aid? In the law enforcement world I was part of for 50 years, the answer is always yes. Using the pepper spray example, you just shut down someone’s ability to see, perhaps breathe, and they are perhaps in distress medically. My opinion on this is you better be prepared to, after the fact, at least call 911 if not hopefully before, explain the situation and ask for EMS and a law enforcement response ASAP. My point is your after-action plan MUST be as well thought out and planned as your threat matrix plan.

Now to the big one, the use of deadly physical force. Again, let’s look at the first sentence of the Florida statute. In Florida, the use of force, including deadly force, is justified in self-defense if a person reasonably believes it's necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to themselves or another, or to prevent a forcible felony. When I look at the Boulder incident, I think thank God he didn’t have a gun. My second thought was, could one legally armed citizen have ended that deadly threat before people were injured? I don’t have an answer, and I don’t care to offer any suggestions on what you should do if ever faced with that decision. I can tell you this from personal experience, “It isn’t TV or a movie,” it's someone’s life and it’s your future. If you make the decision to be armed, I can only say, get training, then train some more, and learn your state's laws. Realize what happens when one of your rounds accidentally kills that kid in the McDonald's across the street. Know your weapon, the laws, and then be 100% comfortable in the handling of your weapon. Go to the range, join a shooting group, and have a mindset that involves restraint!

We all hope that we never encounter that person, that sociopath, the predator confronting us, but realize it CAN HAPPEN. The head-in-the-sand approach usually doesn’t work. It’s really a simple answer: be aware of what’s happening around us, have a personal plan, a family plan, and a community/group plan. Then train. If it’s not training to confront violence head-on, that’s fine; get that first aid training and be a lifesaver! BE A SHEEPDOG!