OPINION: Isn't It About Time Security Gets Its Own Crowd Mitigation Laws?

If I were the seriously academic type, I'm quite certain there would be a white paper I could write on how many lives the fire service saves by having cities empowering the fire marshal to enforce fire codes. Seriously, when you sit back and examine the impact fire codes have had in either showing how dangerous crowds can be and how mitigating their growth in dense packs reduces casualties in fire events, it's truly amazing at how well they work in both regards. If people die in a crowded nightclub because of a fire, no one writes a think-piece on what drove the fire or the firestarter. No one even contemplates if we need stricter anti-fire laws. Nope. Within a few seconds of reading there was a fire at a crowded nightclub, we automatically deduce a large amount of the carnage was because the club was too densely packed. What if after every active shooter incident we did the same?

Imagine a set of laws structured around mitigating mass casualties during active shooter events in target-rich environments. At the heart of how we effectively deal with these incidents is how we deal with the crowds. You've heard me say this before but I believe the largest contributor to target selection and engagement is the crowd. With security, there's a misguided public perception businesses will act in the best interests of life safety and business owners and operators will take threat mitigation seriously. For those of us in security, we know this is a daily battle - one in which we suffer countless deaths for. In a world where businesses are rewarded by showcasing demand and not minimizing their risk caused by demand, motivation to encourage, grow, and develop further crowds often outweighs those associated risks. What we require is a set of codes which the authorities can enforce to make those risks unacceptable without effective mitigation.

What would my proposed "codes" look like? As is said in the military, it's all METT-TC or "situation-dependent". That said, here's a very rough idea of what I envision:

• Utilize the same formula and science, the fire service uses in determining acceptable crowd sizes in densely packed areas. This encompasses looking at egress points, potential points of origin, probable incident path, time to egress, and potential secondary hazards.
• Make it mandatory businesses have a minimum number of egress points solely for active shooters. The egress points should be fully expansive and allow for fluidity in crowd movement. There should be more than one way out of an area.
• Ensure employees have a means of ensuring those egress points remain available and unencumbered.
• Fire exits can be utilized for egress but should not be the sole means. Fire and security/LE will likely have different concerns about crowds and their movements.
• Egress should be marked and illuminated. Egress from fire emergency exits should also be alarmed and enunciate at a fire and police dispatch center.
• Every venue where crowds are a consideration and are likely targets of active shooters should have "blue boxes" which would contain a button like fire call boxes. These boxes would sound an immediate alarm with a "tactical response required" notification to the local police.
• Schools and daycare centers should rehearse mandatory crowd mitigation drills. School event planners should attend a mandatory crowd mitigation course which addresses basic event security guidelines to be implemented. Failure to follow the guidelines should be considered violations of the law. Exceptions can be addressed by through an SRO and approved by a department chief.
• All on-duty security personnel should attend a mandatory course on behavior detection and tactical response. Failure to pass the initial and follow-up training should result in a mandatory suspension of their security license. Posting unlicensed and untrained personnel should be considered a violation of law.
• Stadiums and large scale event security should be required to do annual mass casualty event drills. Active shooters should be addressed in those scenarios.
• Businesses must have a crowd mitigation plan filed with their local police department.
• No-notice inspections by the police should be done semi-annually. Inspection failures should be considered for a mandatory 30-day operations suspension, depending on the nature of violation. Serious violations should constitute permanent operations termination.

I know. I know. Too harsh? Perhaps, but I think this is the shot in the butt we all need as practitioners and business owners. These events happen in places we're supposed to be protecting. Yet, everyone pretends like they won't see these incidents, despite evidence which says we don't have a clue as to when, where, or even how they could occur. What I'm asking for takes minimal effort and is ever-evolving as the threat also changes. That's what makes it such a great idea, to be quite honest.