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The Department of Justice report on the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Tx was released today. It is about a 600-page report. I'm just starting to read the report, but I will say that the law enforcement response was an epic failure.
Words matter in training and in my opinion the words 'Hunter Cells' should be used to reinforce the concept that in an active shooter situation the first officer(s) that arrive at the scene are not perimeter builders and should not wait for a supervisor or incident commander to start hunting for the shooter. The only reactive part of searching for an active shooter is the dispatch call. The proactive action is searching for and neutralizing the shooter.
I will try to write a series of posts involving the DOJ report. From the Report:
Phases
The Incident Timeline Reconstruction is organized in five phases. Within each phase, every minute of key
actions and events is detailed and specified per location. Where relevant, associated events and actions
are also included. Each phase represents a span of time that conceptually captures a series of de facto
related events and actions. Notably, the phases are not intended to represent predetermined response
operations by any of the law enforcement agencies on scene.
Phase I (11:21 a.m.–11:39 a.m.) comprises the time period from when the subject shoots his grandmother
through the end of the first responding officers’ initial approach toward the classroom doors.
Phase II (11:40 a.m.–12:21 p.m.) comprises the time period following the officers’ initial approach through
a series of four shots fired at 12:21 p.m., which is a catalyst event within the broader response timeline.
Phase III (12:22 p.m.–12:49 p.m.) comprises the time period following the 12:21 p.m. shots fired
through the breach and entry into rooms 111 and 112.
Phase IV (12:50 p.m.–1:15 p.m.) comprises the time period following the entry though the completion
of medical triage and evacuation inside rooms 111 and 112.
Phase V (1:16 p.m.–3:15 p.m.) comprises the time period from the beginning activities of the
investigation and establishment of investigative command of the scene, through a secondary threat at
the high school.
Discussion (24)
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I may have my differences with the DOJ, but this report should be read by the training division of police departments around the US.
I'm an old school former line cop. My warbag contained a box of 12-gauge shotgun rounds to include 12-gauge slugs. The slugs were supposed to be issued by a supervisor but at o200 hours if you needed a slug waiting for 10 minutes for a supervisor to arrive wasn't going to help me. I wasn't the only officer who carried the forbidden slugs.
Included in the bag were extra copies of every report known to man, 50 rounds of 9mm ammo. I also had my own first aid kit that included a one-way CPR mask and an extra belt for a tourniquet and some tampons to plug bullet holes. A jar of Vicks for homicide scenes.
I had enough rounds to take over a small Latin American country in that bag. I definitely had and have some rough edges. Never had to use any of those items but as the Boy Scouts say, 'Be Prepared'.
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I would hope that police departments study this, as well as reports from incidents where the police shut down the killer quickly.
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Yes, both successes and failures should be studied. After action reports have two purposes. The first is to take a hard look at your training model, the second is to assess the fitness of officers involved in any incident.
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Thanks for the post Doug. And the clarity. I could not for the life of me understand why they did not engage. You either stop the bad guy and answer to your boss on "procedure" ("do your worst boss I just saved some kids") or get hurt / killed trying. It's a no brainer from the cheap seats I sit in.
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If only people of your style of thinking and your well informed heart had been at the scene of the school that day.
Tragically, it's not just law enforcement policies that are in the toilet.
It is across all disciplines. Bureaucrats make up the piles upon piles of rules and those humans who manage to somehow make it across the land mine of rules and regs into positions of power - a number that is few and far between - end up in a tight spot the very first time that a tough decision comes their way.
Should they employ the strategies that their common sense approach to getting things done would accomplish, they most likely would be demoted for having ignored regulation A-237; subsection C.
Our police, doctors, teachers and airplane pilots now face life in that harsh reality. (I remember the tough spot that airline captain Sully found himself in after his quick thinking saved every life aboard the jet that he was flying. But he still had to go through a legal gauntlet, such that you would think he had paid someone to sabotage his plane.)
As Kurt Vonnegut used to say - "And so it goes..."
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