Response to active shooters
The day that SWAT changed
By: Lee Fuller

We all come to expect it at some point in time, right? Change that is. We all know that no matter how we like certain things or how much we get accustomed to something, it can and most always will change. Modern day SWAT operators now know this all to well. Since our existence we have been called upon by our law enforcement brothers to handle the baddest of the bad. You remember how it was; uniform patrol arrives on the scene and realizes that the situation is beyond his immediate capabilities. He calls the supervisor in most cases, and then the supervisors summon the SWAT team. The SWAT team then receives the page and scrambles to the scene or command post and begins suiting up. The team then receives their briefing; they are told what the situation is and what their assignments will be. Once at their objective or post they usually wait, sometimes hours, while the negotiators talk it out with the bad guy. If that doesn’t work, they usually deploy some type of chemical agents into the structure in order to force the bay guy out. And if there are hostages, well, that will definitely take time right? If innocent lives are in jeopardy, the team can negotiate for hours, even days in some case, around the country.

One particular date made that change forever, April 20th of 1999. The place? Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. This tragic event burns deeply in every heart within the law enforcement community. The story has been told a thousands times, but it clearly changed tactical responses as we know it. We no longer could operate the way we had in the past. Policies changed. Training changed. In a whole, our complete mind set changed. We learned that we could no longer simply evaluate the scene, call for SWAT and wait for an hour or longer for them to arrive and get set up. The problem with that was this horrific fact. Hostages and innocent people can die in those precious hours. That my friends was simply not acceptable. Tactical teams around the country had to take a second look at the way they would respond had that incident occurred in their jurisdiction. Keep in mind, the SWAT team we all saw on TV trying desperately to save the lives of those children did nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, I salute them along with SWAT operators around the world for the job they did. They bravely went into a critical situation and did the job they were called upon to do. The problem was, of course, was that lives were lost before they even had a chance to arrive on scene and deal with the two thugs that were causing the rampage. We realized that we had uniformed officers on scene very quickly but they could only sit by and await the arrival of the SWAT team. This is the way we had always done it, although, the public and everyone else was furious.

One solution to the problem seemed obvious. We would take the first couple of officers on scene and allow them to “deal” with the problem, right? We would no longer wait on SWAT to arrive. But a couple of issues began to arise. First of all, uniformed officers aren’t trained for these kinds of things. They usually are not trained in hostage rescue. They usually don’t have the type of weaponry that would be required. They simply were not trained to handle situations like that. After all, that was what SWAT was for. But the thing we all talked about came crashing into place, change. Agencies began to train their patrol officers on how to respond to an “Active shooter”. In many places, rifles were issued to the officers and they qualified with them to show proficiency. The officers were taught how to conduct room clearing and entry techniques.

Another issue was that a lot of these officers had never trained beside one another, especially in larger departments. Heck, in my department, I have a hard time even recognizing some of my fellow officers, let alone train with them. How many times have you looked at an officer in the hallway or parking lot and said to yourself “Who’s that guy?” or “Is he new?” Now not only did we have to train everyone in how to respond to such an incident, but we had to train together and train often enough to stay sharp. You had to train enough to where you could get the job done despite not knowing who would be along your side. The advantage in SWAT was that you always trained as a team or a unit. You often knew everything about the guys you risked your life with. You knew their strengths and weaknesses. I can remember when I participated in my agencies first “Active shooter” training. I looked around me and saw guys from all divisions within my department. There I was doing building entries with guys that I never thought I would be training with. But I soon realized that it was working. We were all getting it done and coming together. You had to leave that “You’re either SWAT or your not” mentality behind and train as a team. You might no be training as a SWAT team, but now you were a law enforcement team. It didn’t always go flawlessly or well greased, but overall, I was shocked on how well we could all train together. Senior officers, rookie officers, male, female it didn’t matter; we were a single team with one goal in mind. The main focus now overall was this. While there is still and will be a need for SWAT, the time has come that every officer must take action in certain circumstances. In simple terms, if you have an active shooter that is terminating lives, then the first couple of officers on scene will form a team and go in and attempt to stop his or her actions. SWAT will still be called and will have a job to do as well, but a team of officers will already be dealing with the shooter.

Yes my friends, change happens, doesn’t it? By the way, do you think another date changed the face of SWAT and law enforcement in general? How about September 11th of the year 2001? We all look at things differently since then don’t we? At least we know that no matter what happens in this world, today’s officers will do what it takes to get the job done.

Lee Fuller is assigned to a Robbery Task Force and is a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Department SWAT. He can be reached at FullerL@leoncountyfl.gov