Crisis Response Plan Police Shootings

Police Shootings Risk Analysis and Activation Protocol

Risk Analysis

There has been an increase in the trend of police shootings in the US. Data from Statista indicates that there were 1,021 fatal police shootings in 2020, 999 in 2019, and 292 in the first four months of 2021 (Statista, 2021). With the rise in police shootings, the organization needs to acknowledge the risk of such incidents taking place within the premises or the likelihood of one of the staff getting involved in such an incident. An incident of police shootings at the workplace would have significant emotional and psychological effects on the affected employee as well as the rest of the staff. The thought of witnessing a colleague go through such an incident would be traumatizing for the staff, damaging to their mental health, and might elevate distress as they may be unsure about their own safety.

The families of the affected employee may blame the organization for failing to defend their loved one and may face psychological distress as they try to defend the character of their loved one (Alang et al., 2017). Generally, such an incident would reduce the productivity of the employees, particularly the affected employee, if they have to deal with disabilities resulting from police-related shootings (Alang et al., 2017). Further, the rest of the staff would need to take time away from work to organize protests, grieve, attend court proceedings, or organize funerals. The organization would be forced to deal with reputational issues that could drive customers away, especially if they believe that more could have been done. Thus, police shootings place a significant risk on the organization. To minimize these risks, there is a need to develop a crisis management plan directing the staff on how to respond and act when faced with a crisis of this nature.

Activation Protocol

Triggers

This plan provides a mechanism to ensure that threats of violence related to police shootings are addressed before they occur whenever possible. The protocol is intended to identify threats of violence and address the threats before they are carried out. The plan applies to any organization-sponsored functions or events, whether or not they are carried out on the organization’s premises. The staff are to immediately put this crisis management plan into action in case of the following imminent warning signs that a police officer if behaving in a way that is potentially dangerous to self or others (Virginia Department of Education, 2002):

a) The officer is carrying a firearm or any other weapon and has threatened to use it

b) The officer has presented a detailed plan (time, method, place) to harm or kill

c) The officer exhibits severe rage for seemingly minor reasons

d) Serious physical fighting between the law-enforcement officer and a colleague

e) Altercation and destruction of property

f) Detailed threats to use lethal violence

Any member of staff, upon perceiving a threat based on these imminent warning signs shall:

a) Assume the threat to be serious

b) Immediately report the threat to the designated authority

c) Be available and cooperative in providing a statement of information to the authorities and their anonymity shall be guaranteed

Next Steps

Once a report is filed, the action taken will depend on the potential threat’s level of urgency. Level 1 represents the lowest level of emergency that can be handled within the context of normal organizational operations. Level 2 represents higher-level threats that require the management to convene a coordinated operational response, while level 3 represents the highest level of emergency requiring a coordinated operational and policy response, and impacting a significant portion of the organization.

All threats related to police shootings will be regarded as level 3 emergencies, requiring the coordinated response of multiple agencies and all members of staff. Once a report is received by a member of the management team available at the time, the member shall:

a) Gather all members of staff and update them on the situation. Direct the staff not to repeat the information until it can be verified. The best means of communication may vary with the nature of the crisis (Virginia Department of Education, 2002). However, the ideal situation will be to avoid using public address systems as these can have unpredictable results when giving shocking news (Virginia Department of Education, 2002). The most appropriate means would be to develop statements/factsheets or internal memoranda written specifically for that purpose.

b) Set up a crisis response team to coordinate the response and assign duties, including notifying family members, preparing a formal announcement, and disseminating information to other agencies

c) In case the scale of the event turns out to be greater than initially thought, the crisis team will prepare a formal announcement or statement, describing the facts of the event to dispel rumors, and organize emergency meetings to plan on how to escalate the response. Encourage staff to dispel rumors whenever possible and discourage ‘glorification ‘of the event