By James ‘Rob’ Robertson, US Army Ret.
Supervising Manager
Übertas Protection Services

There have been multiple mass-casualty events perpetrated in places of worship, on the streets and even in public venues. Most involve firearms, although, recently, a home-made flame-thrower was used because the ‘shooter’ found it difficult to acquire firearms. The often-used phrase: ‘If there is a will, there is a way’ supports the notion that if a deranged person wishes to harm innocents, that person will find a way to execute their plan.

Active Shooters In all cases, the efforts to pose a defense had been frustrated by the unique motivations of the perpetrators.  For example, in the case of Dylan Roof, who murdered nine during a prayer service in Charleston, South Carolina, the shooter stated he committed the shooting to ignite a race war.  Robert Gregory Bowers killed eleven people at the Tree of Life Synagogue near Pittsburgh.  The investigation showed that he had posted anti-Semitic posts on his social media.  This is not to say, racism is the only motivation.  Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 at a church outside of San Antonio, Texas. The investigation that followed showed that the shooting stemmed from a personal conflict with a member of the church.  Establishing a ‘type’ of shooter or event is all but impossible.

However, there are commonalities in active shootings.  First, the perpetrator(s) carefully plan the attack and survey their chosen target area.  They are drawn to the lack of, or the slackness of a security presence.  Secondarily, they study their target area, noting where people congregate, identifying natural bottlenecks in the facility’s traffic flow and then predicting what, if any, the response to their actions will be.  Active shootings are meant to be loud, bloody and public.  A shooter wants to inflict as much damage as possible, in the least amount of time.  They desire as much publicity and the most public shock as possible.  Lastly, the duration of these events all but eliminated a response.  In every recorded case, regardless of the motivation or location, the actual incident lasted less than five minutes.

Considering all the factors stated above, a well thought out security plan is imperative.  Unfortunately, most places of worship rely on local law enforcement to handle any situation, should one arise.  That mindset and type of planning has inherent problems: The average response time for most police patrols across the nation is seven minutes.  In remote or rural areas, it is even higher. As stated above, the average duration of an active shooting is less than five minutes.

Not only is average response time outside any window of opportunity to mount an effective response but most law enforcement officers and security personnel are ill equipped and lack the requisite training to mount an effective response to an active shooter. A proactive approach to an immediate threat of this kind is required.

Administrators of most places of worship approve spending far more money training the choir than investing in a proactive safety program to protect staff, congregants and guests.  Most staffers are of the mindset that the odds are in their favor. They are more than likely never to have to deal with a serious security threat.  Statistically, they are correct. Odds are in their favor. But should their congregation ever face a serious threat, those odds won’t matter much.

Rob Robertson is a veteran of over 30 years of military police and DoS protection service