Emergency Management and Legal Response to School Shootings

Introduction: The Broward County Shooting and Emergency Management

The mass shooting at a public school in Broward County, Florida, brought the issue of emergency management into sharp public focus once more, raising urgent questions about how emergency management teams can work together to address these kinds of incidents. This paper discusses the event, identifies the legal situations that were being faced, analyzes those legal situations, and examines how the law in that jurisdiction — along with federal law — can guide first responder managers in their response.

On February 14, 2018, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County opened fire on students with an AR-15 just before school let out, killing seventeen people. While the motivation for the attack was still being investigated in the immediate aftermath, the incident was not unlike other mass shootings that have occurred across the United States in recent years — including a 2016 mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub in the same state.

Legal Framework for First Responders in Florida

In Florida, the legal procedures governing first responders in emergency events have been developed in accordance with directives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has supplied all states with guidance on how an emergency response should be conducted. The legal situations arising from this crisis are complicated by the fact that legislators and responders continue searching for solutions to what is a deeply 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 applying Levin and Madfis's Five Stage Sequential Model to the case of 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 the time of the Parkland shooting, there was little guidance for first responders beyond treating such incidents as terrorist events and following procedures formulated at the local, regional, and national levels. The media also plays a significant role in handling these situations, serving as a primary channel for distributing information and assisting in crisis and emergency management through the professional deployment of reporters to cover events and maintain calm in the community (Barbieri & Connell, 2015). As Campbell (2018) documents, schools have been taking the issue seriously and now hold active shooter drills — much as they would conduct fire or tornado drills.

FEMA Guidelines and Emergency Management Characteristics

From an emergency management perspective, there is only so much that can be done once an event of this type is underway. The most important steps, however, have already been provided by the State of Florida's Terrorism Incident Response Annex (2014), a statewide procedure developed for emergency management responders precisely for these types of incidents. The Terrorist Event Response Process is based on 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 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 are considerable — it is crucial that authority be clearly established and that responders and emergency management teams know who is in charge and how to proceed. Without establishing order and control immediately, an incident can escalate quickly and become far worse. Thus, the most important first step for emergency managers is to identify the type of situation on the ground and notify the necessary agencies so that the management process can begin.

FEMA (2002) recommends that state and local leaders maintain their emergency management organizations so that they exhibit 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 for deployment

Florida's Terrorism Incident Response Annex

Additionally, FEMA's (2004) Terrorism Incident Law Enforcement and Investigation 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. Given that the motive and the full scope of a shooting are often unknown in its immediate aftermath, it is imperative that all responsible parties have the legal authority to begin working together promptly.

Florida's Annex helps to codify this legal process so that responders are not without clear direction when a situation like this arises. A systematic and highly coordinated method of response has been designed and is ready to implement at the local level, consistent with FEMA's (2004) recommendations that states maintain a ready-to-go legal framework for local authorities. Florida's Annex describes the necessary official Response Process step by step, providing a general overview of which agencies are to be involved in first response and then, in greater detail, outlining how those agencies are to act and coordinate with one another. The Annex also addresses how the local response process is to be engaged alongside the state and regional response process. Agencies involved in these steps include:

• The Florida National Guard
• The Regional Domestic Security Task Force
• The Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Terrorism Response Team

The last of these is involved when the use of biological weapons may be a threat requiring neutralization. In an emergency situation such as that at the Broward County school, the full extent of the emergency is rarely known in advance, making it necessary to take all legal and organizational precautions.

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: detection, notification, and threat classification. Detecting the threat is the first step and must be carried out in order to determine exactly what is at stake. Notifying the appropriate agencies is the second step, ensuring that the right parties are 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 which precautions and policies to implement.

Conclusion

The shooting that occurred in Broward County is one example of an emergency situation that is becoming increasingly common. While FEMA and the State of Florida have prepared appropriate response plans that provide a legal framework for how agencies are to coordinate and respond, other stakeholders — such as those in schools — need guidance and deserve legislation specifically tailored to their needs. If such legislation were in place, schools would be required to meet specific criteria that could help save lives and better serve students and community members who are otherwise left waiting for emergency responders to arrive. Developing that legislative foundation is the critical next step in a comprehensive approach to preventing and managing mass shooting events.

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, R. L., Jr. (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