Deploy Alone… or Wait?

 You’re the first responding officer to an active shooter call. You arrive alone, but backup is on its way. So now what do you do? Do you go it alone - or wait? What if the suspect is carrying a bomb and may detonate it? Is waiting for another officer to show up going to change the situation? Are two officers always better than one?

One of the most controversial active shooter topics in the law enforcement community is the choice of single deployment, or waiting for backup. You may have your mind set on your choice of deployment strategies, but knowing what you are going to do in every scenario is impossible. Why? Today’s perpetrator is changing. The intensity and the nature of violence we are seeing from active shooters have abruptly changed from just a decade ago.

Many believe that the Columbine tragedy exposed a new type of violence. Active shooter cases, especially involving children, have become all too real in today’s society. This reality must be in the back of your mind because it’s not diminishing - it is escalating. You better brace yourself because beyond your everyday criminal run-ins, you may be faced with an active shooter or terrorist someday. Today’s active shooter is intent upon complete devastation. The determination and extreme violence is increasing and the “mission” has now become more intense. These shooters are intent on death and destruction- even their own. So, how and when you deploy to a situation could mean the difference between life and death - for yourself and others.

Do you deploy alone or as a team?

This will continue to remain a controversy in law enforcement. There is no definitive answer to this question. So if there is no right or wrong answer, how do you prepare yourself? Perhaps it is your Department’s policy to enter as a team. Determining when to deploy should depend on your situation, the behavior of the individual and the threat the individual poses. Each situation yields a different deployment option.  

Behavior
You are not a psychologist and should not be expected to understand people’s motivations. But you can determine, to a certain extent, what this person is capable of doing. There are several factors to consider when dealing with a person’s behavior. Are you dealing with a suicidal individual who is determined to die, taking as many people with him as he can? Is this a disgruntled individual intent on harming specific people, or just plain destruction? Is this person actively shooting innocent victims or has he chosen which victims he is intent on shooting?

Threat
Every active shooter poses a threat. How intensive is the threat? Is the threat immediate, deadly and certain? If you are waiting for backup, how much destruction is this person going to cause in the meantime? If this person is carrying or wearing a bomb and is intent on detonating it, is it a good idea to wait until more people arrive before you stop this person? Is there going to be a continuous killing of innocent lives until backup arrives? Is this person heavily armed? Remember: If you enter alone and are taken down, that is one more firearm that this shooter is armed with. Some active shooters, however, are prepared for a showdown and do not run out of weapons. (The Columbine shooters had nearly 100 homemade IEDs, 2 9-mms, and 2 sawed-off 12-gauges, for example.)

Where are the victims? Are they able to run or are they confined to one area? People have an 85% chance of surviving a handgun shooting if they are on the move. But what happens when the victims can’t run?

Most officers out there will put their lives on the line and put the safety of others before their own. Those officers, when confronted with an active shooter situation, would likely be the first to respond and the first to enter, with or without their team. Assessing the behavior and threat of the individual, these officers could easily determine whether or not this action posed a deadly threat. However, for the officers who have pre-determined that they absolutely would not enter without backup, the situation is not so easily altered. If you are not prepared mentally to address a situation alone, you will never be ready for it. Your actions have enormous consequences that you must be ready for. Do you deploy alone or wait? You shouldn’t decide that - the situation should.

The information in this article was taken from The Backup's law enforcement course Patrol Response to Active Shooters. Click HERE for more information or to order. Written by Rachel Rogers

As an officer, you should have radio contact. If backup is only a few seconds away that is one thing...minutes quite another. My inclination would be to go in alone and keep dispatch informed...but then most of my career I worked without close backup. No doubt a team...even a 'scratch team' from different agencies...is better but how soon can one be formed and moving?

Good question.