On last Sunday’s “60 Minutes”, Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier was giving some unexpected advice to people that she knows are probably unarmed:
“According to the FBI 60 percent of active shooter attacks are over before police ever arrive, so now law enforcement agencies throughout the country are trying to educate the public on how to survive on their own.
Cathy Lanier: Your options are run, hide, or fight--
Anderson Cooper: That's what you tell people they should do?
Cathy Lanier: Yes.
Cathy Lanier: What we tell them is the facts of the matter is that most active shooters kill most of the victims in 10 minutes or less, and the best police department in the country's going to be about a five-to-seven minute response.
Cathy Lanier: I always say if you can get out, getting out's your first option, your best option. If you're in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it's the best option for saving lives before police can get there. And that's-- you know, that's kind of counterintuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, "Don't-- you know, don't take action. Call 911. Don't intervene in the robbery"-- you know-- you know-- we've never told people, "Take action." It's a different-- this is a different scenario.
Anderson Cooper: You're telling them that now though?
Cathy Lanier: We are.
It is important to remember that as tragic and scary as these active shooter attacks are, it's highly unlikely you'll ever be caught up in one.
Bill Bratton: You have a very low chance of being a victim of an incident like this. But what we try to do is encourage awareness. The idea is to have an awareness without creating a fear.
Anderson Cooper: A person's chance of actually having some sort of encounter with an active shooter is, like, one in two million. A person's chance of being hit by lightning is one in 700,000. Do you worry about an overreaction? People getting too scared, fearful of something which in all likelihood they will never encounter?
Cathy Lanier: You can be prepared and you can have a society that is resilient and alert and conscientious and safer without scaring people.
Anderson Cooper: You don't want people to be afraid?
Cathy Lanier: No, that works against you. If you educate people on actions they can take to reduce their risk, then you can save some lives. And I think it's irresponsible for us not to do that. I'm not worried about an overreaction. I'm more worried about a numbness to what is potentially a reality.
Anderson Cooper: A numbness?
Cathy Lanier: Yes.
Anderson Cooper: How do you mean?
Cathy Lanier: Just ignoring it and not preparing yourself. That's not an option anymore.”
Has the numbness to a potential reality been hers?
When the movie Independence Day was in theatres back in 1996, when the scene appeared where the alien ship explodes the White House, almost without exception audiences cheered wildly. Washington is even more universally reviled now than it was 20 years ago. If jihadists have to take out something, I frankly couldn’t think of a better choice.
On last Sunday’s “60 Minutes”, Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier was giving some unexpected advice to people that she knows are probably unarmed:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/responding-to-an-active-shooter-60-minutes-anderson-cooper/
“According to the FBI 60 percent of active shooter attacks are over before police ever arrive, so now law enforcement agencies throughout the country are trying to educate the public on how to survive on their own.
Cathy Lanier: Your options are run, hide, or fight--
Anderson Cooper: That's what you tell people they should do?
Cathy Lanier: Yes.
Cathy Lanier: What we tell them is the facts of the matter is that most active shooters kill most of the victims in 10 minutes or less, and the best police department in the country's going to be about a five-to-seven minute response.
Cathy Lanier: I always say if you can get out, getting out's your first option, your best option. If you're in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it's the best option for saving lives before police can get there. And that's-- you know, that's kind of counterintuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, "Don't-- you know, don't take action. Call 911. Don't intervene in the robbery"-- you know-- you know-- we've never told people, "Take action." It's a different-- this is a different scenario.
Anderson Cooper: You're telling them that now though?
Cathy Lanier: We are.
It is important to remember that as tragic and scary as these active shooter attacks are, it's highly unlikely you'll ever be caught up in one.
Bill Bratton: You have a very low chance of being a victim of an incident like this. But what we try to do is encourage awareness. The idea is to have an awareness without creating a fear.
Anderson Cooper: A person's chance of actually having some sort of encounter with an active shooter is, like, one in two million. A person's chance of being hit by lightning is one in 700,000. Do you worry about an overreaction? People getting too scared, fearful of something which in all likelihood they will never encounter?
Cathy Lanier: You can be prepared and you can have a society that is resilient and alert and conscientious and safer without scaring people.
Anderson Cooper: You don't want people to be afraid?
Cathy Lanier: No, that works against you. If you educate people on actions they can take to reduce their risk, then you can save some lives. And I think it's irresponsible for us not to do that. I'm not worried about an overreaction. I'm more worried about a numbness to what is potentially a reality.
Anderson Cooper: A numbness?
Cathy Lanier: Yes.
Anderson Cooper: How do you mean?
Cathy Lanier: Just ignoring it and not preparing yourself. That's not an option anymore.”
Has the numbness to a potential reality been hers?
Promises, promises...
ReplyDeleteWhen the movie Independence Day was in theatres back in 1996, when the scene appeared where the alien ship explodes the White House, almost without exception audiences cheered wildly. Washington is even more universally reviled now than it was 20 years ago. If jihadists have to take out something, I frankly couldn’t think of a better choice.
ReplyDelete