Florida's Response Plan for Emergencies

Emergency Management
The recent mass shooting event at a public school in Broward County, Florida, has brought up the issue once more of how emergence management teams can work together to address these kinds of issues. This paper will discuss the event, identify the legal situations that were being faced, analyze and discuss the main legal situations, and identify how the law in that jurisdiction and the first responder manager could deal with these situations under the law of that jurisdiction and federal law.
On February 15, 2018, a former student of Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County opened fire on students with an AR-15 just before school let out. More than a dozen students were killed. While the motivation for this event is still as of yet unknown, it is no different from many other terror incidents or mass shootings that have occurred in the U.S. in recent years—including in Florida, where another mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub occurred in 2016.
In Florida, the legal operations that have been determined for first responders to an emergency event such as this have been determined in accordance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has supplied directives to all the states on how an emergency response should be conducted. The legal situations being faced in this crisis are complicated by the fact that legislators and responders are still looking for solutions to this complex problem. As Redding and Shalf (2001) note, “in the wake of recent school shootings, communities and legislatures are searching for law enforcement solutions to the perceived epidemic of school violence” (p. 297). Bonanno and Levenson (2014) have found that Levin and Madfis’s Five Stage Sequential Model to Adam Lanza (the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter) can be helpful in formulating “prevention strategies, suggestions for positive school climates, school security for the physical plants, and threat assessments”—however, as of now there is little in the way of guidance for first responders other than to treat them as terrorist incidences and follow the guidance formulated by the state at the local, regional and in coordination with the national level. The media also plays a significant role in handling these situations, as they are the source of conveying information and can aid and assist in crisis and emergency management through professional deployment of news anchors to cover the event and maintain calm in the community (Barbieri & Connell, 2015). A Campbell (2018) shows, schools are taking the issue seriously and are now holding drills for mass shootings—just like they would for fire or tornado events.
From an emergency management perspective, there is only so much that can be done in this type of event. The most important steps, however, have already been provided by the State of Florida’s Terrorism Incident Response Annex (2014), which is a state-wide procedure that has been developed for emergency management responders precisely for these types of incidents. The Terrorist Event Response Process is based essentially on the taking of two precise actions that allow emergency operations management to proceed in an orderly and effective manner. The Annex (2014) identifies these two approaches as: “1) Identifying the event as a known, suspected, or threatened terrorist or cyber terrorist attack; and, 2) Assuring notifications to agencies are made” (p. 3-1).
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, 2002), this two-step approach provides the legal framework for responders to take charge of the situation. In such a climate, where panic and chaos is considerable, it is crucial that authority be represented and that responders and emergency management teams know who is in charge and how to proceed. Without establishing order and control of the situation immediately, the incident can escalate quickly and become worse. Thus, the most important step is for emergency managers to identify the type of situation on the ground and notify the necessary agencies so that the management process can begin to be implemented.
FEMA (2002) recommends that state and local leaders maintain their emergency management organizations in such a way that they display the following characteristics:
· Flexibility to address various types of emergency
· Coordination abilities
· Communications abilities
· Contingency planning
· Public information and media relations plans
· Federal agency integration plans
· Local response plans
· Support services ready
Additionally, FEMA’s (2004) Annex suggests that a “structure for a systematic, coordinated, unified, timely, and effective national law enforcement and investigative response to threats or acts of terrorism within the United States” (p. 1) be implemented for all emergency situations of this nature. Not knowing the motive or the persons involved in the shooting, it is imperative that all responsible parties have the legal authority to begin to work together to address this type of emergency.
Florida’s Annex helps to codify this legal process so that responders are not clueless as to how to react when a situation like this arises. First, a systematic and highly-coordinated method of reaction has been designed and is ready to implement on the local level, which is in keeping with h FEMA’s (2004) recommendations that states have a ready-to-go legal framework available for local authorities. Florida’s Annex describes the necessary official Response Process step by step so that a general overview is given of which agencies are to be involved in addressing the situation in the first response and then in a more detailed manner by outlining how those agencies are to act and coordinate with other agencies. The Annex also addresses how the local response process should be engaged along with how the state and regional response process should be undertaken. Agencies that are involved in these steps are:
· the Florida National Guard
· the Regional Domestic Security Task Force
· the Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Terrorism Response Team
The latter is involved in case the use of biological weapons is a threat that has to be neutralized. In an emergency situation like that at the Broward County school, it is never known ahead of time the extent to which the emergency will be revealed, so it is necessary to take all legal and organizational precautions.
The Annex also discusses how the Federal Response is to be carried out in conjunction with the local response. Indeed, this is important because even the President of the United States stops what he is doing to address the public when a mass shooting of this type disrupts the national consciousness.
Florida’s Annex gives clear directions for how operations are to be executed in the first response. The Terrorist Event Process proceeds in three distinct steps that must be carefully followed in order to provide the utmost safety for all concerned in the emergency. These steps are: detection, notification, and threat classification. Detecting the threat is the first step and must be conducted in order to know exactly what is at stake. Notifying the appropriate agencies for response is the next step as the right parties must be involved to respond appropriately. The third step is to classify the nature of the threat so that responders know what they are dealing with and what precautions and policies to implement.
The State Emergency Response Operations Plan calls for the alerting and activating of the State Emergency Operations Center, which has the task of notifying state-level actors, employing state resources and responding until the situation is contained and cleared. In other words, the State Emergency Operations Center has to be on-task from beginning to end, to help oversee the emergency response. The State Emergency Response Operations Plan also identifies the roles that local, regional and state agents must play in the response plan, and describes the necessary training features that respondents must possess.
This Annex thus conforms with FEMA’s (2002) guidelines and helps to illustrate how efforts to coordinate and work together at the state and federal levels can be instrumental in quickly and efficiently responding to emergency situations like the one in Broward County. However, agencies at both state and federal levels should not be satisfied with this type of framework as these types of shootings are becoming all too common and more needs to be done not only to address them after the fact but to prevent them and prevent harm—just like emergency managers have developed strategies to minimize risk associated with storms moving in or with other types of calamities and emergencies, such as medical ones or chemical spills. Simply stating that “all federal Consequence Management Resources will operate as defined under the NRF” and that “the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the lead federal agency for Consequence Management” is not sufficient to really address this type of situation and prevent future incidences from occurring (State of Florida’s Terrorism Incident Response Annex, 2014, p. 2-7). Indeed, while the Annex briefly touches upon how to use the media for distributing pre-incident information that is ready for dissemination ahead of time, it should have more of a plan in place for other stakeholders—like those in the schools and those who are at risk of a shooting. Unfortunately, there is little in the way of a legal framework or legislation for administrators and school officials to follow. Currently they are left to their own devices, as Campbell (2018) notes—and that is not enough.
In conclusion, the shooting that occurred in Broward County this week is one example of an emergency situation that is becoming more and more common. While FEMA and the State of Florida have prepared appropriate response plans that have a legal framework for how agencies are to coordinate and respond, there are other stakeholders—such as those in schools—who need guidance and ought to have legislation that is built in for them to follow. If there were legislation in place, schools would be obliged to meet specific criteria that could help to save lives in the future and meet the needs of students and community members who are otherwise waiting for the responders to show up and help.
References
Barbieri, N., & Connell, N. M. (2015). A cross-national assessment of media reactions
and blame finding of student perpetrated school shootings. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(1), 23-46.
Bonanno, C. M., & Levenson Jr, R. L. (2014). School shooters: History, current
theoretical and empirical findings, and strategies for prevention. Sage Open, 4(1), 2158244014525425.
Campbell, A. (2018). This is America: 9 out of 10 public schools now hold mass
shooting drills for students. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/16/17016382/school-shooting-drills-training
FEMA. (2002). Managing the Emergency Consequences of Terrorist Incidents.
Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/pdf/plan/managingemerconseq.pdf
FEMA. (2004). Terrorism Incident Law Enforcement and Investigation Annex.
Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1825-25045-5502/terrorism_incident_law_enforcement___investigation_annex_2004.pdf
Redding, R. E., & Shalf, S. M. (2001). The legal context of school violence: The
effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts to reduce gun violence in schools. Law & Policy, 23(3), 297-343.
State of Florida Terrorism Incident Response Annex. (2014). Retrieved from
http://floridadisaster.org/documents/CEMP/2014/2014%20Hazard%20Annexes/2014%20Terrorism%20Annex%20to%20the%20CEMP.pdf




Article:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/16/17016382/school-shooting-drills-training


This is America: 9 out of 10 public schools now hold mass shooting drills for students
How "active shooter" drills became normal for a generation of American schoolchildren.
By Alexia Fernández Campbell@[email protected]  Feb 16, 2018, 1:50pm EST


"Are you kids good at running and screaming?" a police officer asks a class of elementary school kids in Akron, Ohio.
His friendly tone then turns serious.
“What I don’t want you to do is hide in the corner if a bad guy comes in the room,” he says. "You gotta get moving."
This training session — shared online by the ALICE Training Institute, a civilian safety training company — reflects the new normal at American public schools. As armed shooters continue their deadly rampages, and while Washington remains stuck on gun control, a new generation of American students have learned to lock and barricade their classroom doors the same way they learn to drop and roll in case of a fire.
The training session is a stark reminder of how American schools have changed since the 1999 Columbine school shooting. School administrators and state lawmakers have realized that a mass shooting can happen in any community, in any school, at any time, and that they need to be prepared if it happens.
Since Columbine, 32 states have passed laws requiring schools to conduct lockdown drills to keep students safe from intruders. Some states went even further after 20 children died in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. Now, six states require specific "active shooter" drills each year. That means the training must be specifically tailored to respond to an armed gunman out to kill. There is no consensus on what these drills should look like, but several states, including Missouri, require shooting simulations with police officers.
In the 2003-’04 school year, when the National Center for Education Statistics began collecting this data, 46.5 percent of all public schools had conducted active shooter drills with students. By 2013-’14, a year after Sandy Hook, that figure had climbed to 70.3 percent. In the most recent data, for 2015-’16, “lockdown drills” — a broader category that NCES used for that year’s survey — were being conducted in 94.6 percent of schools.
"We are working in schools every day with innocent children who see school as a safe place," said Henderson Lewis, Jr., the superintendent of the Orleans Parish School Board in Louisiana. "We must do everything we can to prepare our kids for an unfortunate scenario."
New Orleans schools have been practicing lockdown drills for years, Lewis said, but they need to do much more. He is finalizing a plan to have school safety officers participate in mass shooting drills with police in empty school buildings.
Javier Zarracina/Vox
The types of shooting drills vary by state and sometimes by school district. But here's what this data really means: Each year, nearly every student at an American public school is trained to cower under a desk or run for their lives to avoid being murdered by a gunman.
The limits of lockdown drills
Wednesday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, has brought renewed attention to gun violence in schools.
Nikolas Cruz, a troubled 19-year-old former student, has been charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder for allegedly opening fire with an AR-15 on students minutes before the final bell rang.
As the shooting was taking place, tweets and video circulating on social media from inside the school showed students under lockdown, barricaded in classrooms, and hiding from the gunman.
The Broward County school district has been holding annual lockdown drills at each school for more than 10 years.
There are basically two types of scenarios they train for. The first is the Code Yellow lockdown. This means teachers must lock doors and can continue teaching but cannot unlock the door until an "all clear" announcement has been broadcast over the intercom five times. When I worked as a crime reporter in Broward County, it was normal for a school to go into a Code Yellow lockdown when police were searching for an armed suspect in the surrounding neighborhoods.
A Code Red lockdown is for a situation like the one that happened in Parkland — where a gunman or intruder is on school grounds. In this scenario, teachers must lock doors, turn off lights, and move students away from windows. No one is allowed to talk or leave the room until the all clear is given. In both lockdown scenarios, teachers and students must ignore all other fire alarms or bells.
It's unclear at what point school staff issued a lockdown alert at Stoneman Douglas. News reports say Cruz walked onto school grounds unnoticed and pulled the fire alarm a few minutes before classes finished. As students and teachers filed out, he began shooting.
Yet a traditional lockdown drill doesn't teach students what to do when they come face to face to with a gunman, and that has led to some new approaches.
Drills that teach kids to run or fight back are becoming more common
After the Sandy Hook massacre, federal law enforcement agencies decided to take a closer look at effective ways to respond to school attacks. In one study of 84 mass shootings between 2000 and 2010, about a third (34 percent) involved schools. The FBI analyzed research on mass shootings and school violence and came up with common warning signs that a person might be at risk of undertaking a deadly attack:
· The person experiences a significant personal loss in the weeks or months leading up to the attack, such as a death, breakup, divorce, or job loss.
· The person recently begins collecting or buying multiple weapons; begins or increases target practice and weapons training; or develops a new and "contextually inappropriate" interest in explosives and fascination with previous shootings or mass attacks.
Few offenders had previous arrests for violent crimes.
The FBI's 2013 report, published with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also urged schools to consider that typical lockdown drills may not enough. They suggested running off school property if possible, or hiding in a locked room if necessary, but even went so far to suggest fighting "the shooter to survive and protect others from harm."
That was a new idea for schools, and many districts began to take their advice seriously.
The Ohio-based ALICE Training Institute, referenced in the video above, is one of the companies that drills school police officers, teachers, and staff to do more than just hide. They teach students to barricade their classroom doors, run, scream, and throw things at a gunman.
About 4,200 school districts and 3,500 police departments have ALICE-trained personnel, according to the company's website.
These companies even provide the option of staging elaborate shooting drills, complete with fake blood and masked men with plastic guns (in one instance, involving a different company, a traumatized teacher in Oregon sued the school district for not making clear that it was just a drill).
Shortly after the Newtown massacre, a task force created by the Ohio attorney general's office released a report encouraging school staff to be more aggressive:
If an intruder enters and begins shooting, any and all actions to stop the shooter are justified. This includes moving about the room to lessen accuracy, throwing items (books, computers, phones, book bags) to create confusion, exiting out windows, and confronting (assault, subdue, choke) to stop the intruder. Tell students to get out anyway possible and move to another location.
Not everyone has embraced these tactics. There has been concern among school psychologists about the potential negative impact on children who participate in staged shootings. In 2014, the National Association of School Psychologists issued guidelines asserting that lockdown-based drills are ideal, as research shows they can be effective in minimizing injuries. Not much research has been devoted to the "run, hide, fight" approach, they cautioned, and schools should not make active shooter drills mandatory:
While one of the primary goals of crisis preparedness is to develop a sense of empowerment and control, armed assailant drills not conducted appropriately may cause physical and psychological harm to students, staff, and the overall learning environment.
This trend is super depressing
All the different views about the best way to train students to respond to mass shootings overlook the sheer insanity that such a conversation is even happening. It's depressing that the normal policy response to these tragic events has been to stage mass shooting drills at public schools, instead of developing policies focused on making the world less violent.
"We are going through tough times," said Lewis, the schools superintendent in Louisiana.
"The world is changing."