Waiting on police to save you? What is their policy/training?

A recent article at PoliceOne.com, entitled “Why 'tactical loitering' doesn't cut it anymore," says more and more respected trainers are concerned about what they call “tactical loitering” and/or “dithering.”

The terms, writes Charles Remsberg, refer to first responders who arrive at the scene of an urgent, life-threatening crime-in-progress — particularly an active shooting — but instead of taking immediate action, they stall, waiting either for other officers or a supervisor to show up or, in the most extreme cases, waiting for SWAT (a la pre-Columbine).

While all three experts, and others, agree that solo officer response is needed to stop active killers, many police departments still cling to the out-dated quad/wedge/diamond entry. All these involve the first officer(s) doing nothing when he gets on scene until he has multiple other officers there for backup. During that time, it is likely that additional people will be killed.

Many of the schools that have looked at authorizing staff to carry firearms have chosen not to after consulting with their local law enforcement. In every such case that I’m aware, local law enforcement, while maybe great in many other ways, simply don’t understand active killer events. Their training is years behind current thinking. They are clinging to out-dated tactics and procedures as much as some people clung to the “flat earth” belief.

"I implore law enforcement to study the issue of the active killer, understand the time frames and be honest," says John Benner, owner and lead instructor of Tactical Defense Institute. "No matter how we train (faster is better) we are simply not there fast enough in the vast majority of cases. Law enforcement “responds” to the scene after someone thinks to call 911, the dispatcher transfers the information over the radio, and we drive through traffic to get to the scene. Think of the TIME we just took and the lives that are lost, not because we’re not trying, we as law enforcement are not being honest in an assessment of our response situation and fail to understand the time. We must change."

Using outdated procedures and tactics is just as wrong in schools and police departments as it is in hospitals. The wrong tactics could cost the lives of you or your children. I highly recommend this article, not just for police, but for all elected officials and churches, business, and school leaders. If your police are going to continue to train to sit around and wait while your people die, ask yourself this question:

Do you have the means to stop a killer from inside? Or are you just hoping for the impossible?

Jim Irvine is the Buckeye Firearms Foundation President, BFA PAC Chairman and recipient of the NRA-ILA's 2011 "Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award" and the CCRKBA's 2012 "Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award."