While Texans understandably appreciate the gun freedoms they enjoy, they also understand the heightened need to take precautions against individuals who abuse the privileges of gun ownership.
In fact, it was a team at the City of Houston that originally created the now universal Run. Hide. Fight. protocol as part of an ongoing regional disaster preparedness planning effort in Texas.
In this article, we’ll assess the threat level from active shooters for financial institutions and suggest best practices for reducing it. Using the data, statistics and analytics compiled over the last 15 years, we’ll go beyond classroom instruction and online curricula into the “how to” of acquiring survival techniques and skills.
Assessing the threat level
The data indicates that the threat level is high enough to warrant urgency in providing active shooter defense training for bank employees. According to Gun Violence Archive (GVA), mass shootings in the U.S. increased 257% from 2014 to 2021 (Figure 1).
Several factors must be taken into account to accurately assess the threat level. Rising costs, family disputes, cultural conflicts and global strife are conditions that have statistically proven to increase the number of mass shootings.
The fact that approximately 46% of active shooter events happen in the workplace underscores the risk active shooters pose to employees, customers, facilities and organizations (Figure 2).
Another startling statistic is that a report from the Center for Applied Learning: Workplace Violence is More Common than You Think found “businesses are 18 times more likely to encounter workplace violence or an active shooter situation than a fire.”
Because financial institutions are open to the public, they are twice as likely to fall victim to a mass shooting as businesses that don’t serve customers directly, according to Blair and Schweit’s “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents.”
Figure 1. Source: Gun Violence Archive.
Figure 2. Source: FBI study of 160 active shooter incidents between 2000-2013.
Business impact: The aftermath
Following the tragic loss of life from an attack comes the fallout for the targeted business. The location becomes a crime scene which disrupts operations and revenue, up to half the employees may quit, stock value may plummet, consumer support may evaporate, insurance companies and government agencies will open investigations and lawsuits will likely follow.
Out-of-court settlements for lawsuits arising out of workplace violence average $500,000 per person, with jury verdicts averaging about $3 million. In all, it’s estimated that American businesses lose approximately $36 billion per year as a result of workplace violence. This figure includes monetary costs from lost productivity, legal fees, settlement costs and jury verdicts.
Employees can also sue, claiming the employer failed to provide a safe workplace, pursuant to Section 5(a)(1) of OSHA’s General Duty Clause, which mandates that employers provide employees “employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”
While shootings may seem unpredictable and therefore, outside the scope of the clause, the courts and OSHA now consider active shooter events as recognized hazards.
Lost revenue due to a shutdown is another large residual cost. Whether the shuttering is the result of the crime scene investigation, damage to the facility or emotionally incapacitated staff, the revenue is lost. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, U.S. employers lose an average of $1.47 million on a daily basis in productivity, revenue and costs required to recruit and train replacements for victims of gun violence.
There is hope
“Of 160 active shooter incidents studied in the FBI’s initial research, 21 of them were disrupted and stopped by unarmed individuals,” said Karen Schweit, ex-FBI Special Agent and author of Stop the Killing: How To End The Mass Shooting Crisis.
This is perhaps the most unexpected but hopeful result in the research. 13% of the time, an unarmed citizen took down an active shooter to disrupt the shooting successfully and safely.
A good example is the active shooter incident at a Tennessee Waffle House in 2018 where an unarmed bystander disarmed the shooter and prevented further injury and death.
Equally statistically significant is the number of incidents ended by an armed citizen. From 2014-2021, estimates range from 4.4% to 14.6% depending on the source and criteria used. Whether a hero is armed or unarmed, it’s statistically proven that a hero will not appear, therefore potential victims need to know what to do to survive.
Training is the one proven method that enables people to overcome the shock, fear and chaos of an active shooter attack. Training and the muscle memory developed in drills enable employees to take action and survive when the assault is in progress.
Live mock active shooter training, not classroom instruction
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “The most effective way to train your staff to respond to an active shooter situation is to conduct mock active shooter training exercises.”
DHS is not suggesting that employers offer their staff classroom instruction or online curricula. These modalities, while better than nothing, have proven to be only marginally effective in taking an employee from passive victim to active survivor.
Mindset and muscle memory are the primary factors in surviving an active shooter event.
Surviving does not just happen because you’ve been given a set of instructions. It’s impossible to gain the muscle memory and adopt the mindset required to survive from audio/video instructions or online preparedness questionnaires. Most active shooter events only last two to five minutes. Active shooter defense training drills employees on exactly what to do in those first critical moments.
Susan Carr is the Chief Client Officer at ProActive Defense USA. ProActive Defense USA offers the country’s premier action-driven, Active Shooter Defense Protocol Training for Financial Institutions. Trainers are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Intelligence community and law enforcement agencies.