Case Study: Mumbai

On March 1, HSTV brings you an exclusive case study of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. This program follows every step of one of the most meticulously planned and executed terrorist attacks since 9/11.

Starts March 1 at 9:00 am ET.

This is a must see series on the evolving threats we face. There happening elsewhere on different scales, Mumbai is one location, don’t for a minute think it cannot happen here.

The fact is that an active shootings can take place in any environment—in the streets, as in the case of gang related violence or cornered criminals in an effort to gain the advantage; at the workplace, often by a disgruntled employee; at a shopping mall, perhaps by a kid who lost his girlfriend or job,; even in nursing homes, hospitals and neighborhoods.

We are witness to a worldwide evolving threat from highly trained active shooters. Terrorists have used small arms and small unit swarming tactics at luxury hotels, restaurants, train stations, community centers, cinemas, police headquarters and other public locations. Recent examples include the coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India and the premeditated shootings at Fort Hood, Texas and the gangs and narco-terrorists on the Mexican border.

Readiness for these types of attacks. means each cop on the street or patrolling a city, town, university or campus, a security officer on a post or military personnel defending the country abroad must possess more knowledge in understanding conflict and its resolution and the mastery of individual and small team skills to launch successful operations dealing with conflict and violence inherent in an active shooting situation. Applying this knowledge, connecting strategy and tactics, is operational art and is the often missing link in law enforcement responses.

~Fred

Littleton Math Teacher Tackles Gunman at School Shooting

LITTLETON, Colo. - The gunman was walking through a middle school parking lot and taking shots at students with a hunting rifle as terrified teenagers ran for their lives. He had just wounded two students and seemed ready to unleash more violence when a math teacher named David Benke sprung into action.

 
Benke confronted the 32-year-old gunman, tackled him and pinned him to the ground with the help of another teacher, stopping what could have been a much more violent encounter in a city all too familiar with tragic school shootings. The shooting occurred less than three miles from where the Columbine High School massacre happened nearly 11 years ago.

Initiative driven action prevented this tragedy from evolving to a full scale massacre. David Benke is a hero in my book. Lesson: Much more involved in school safety than just lockdown procedures!!! ~Fred 

3 Calif. officers shot by barricaded suspect

Two Fresno County deputies and a police officer were shot Thursday by a man who then barricaded himself inside a house and kept firing on law enforcement officials, authorities said. A neighbor said he heard what sounded like hundreds of shots.

Killed Because They Were Cops

This past year has been punctuated by intense bursts of violence against our nation’s peace officers. Fifteen law enforcement officers have been shot to death over the last 12 months in just five separate multiple-death incidents.

Don’t ever forget what you do for living…Protecting and serving…It’s honorable and takes dedication. Some may just want to kill you for what it is you do.~Fred

Media strategies following use-of-force incidents

Officer James Peters of Scottsdale (Ariz.) PD just had his sixth OIS — some reporters have decided there's something wrong with that on its face

Police officers should avoid press accounts of their justifiable use-of-force incidents, even if their public information officers are getting the facts to the news media in as quickly as possible. Investigators need to thoroughly investigate officer-involved shootings while police administrators need to shun the policy of appeasement and settlement in use-of-force cases. Why? Try to imagine the following newspaper article being written in 1945:

This is a great article, period! ~Fred

Workplace Violence: Nurses often get hit at work

Many nurses are assaulted by the very patients they’re trying to help.

Experts say most of these assaults take place in emergency departments or psychiatric units where patients and visitors might have used alcohol or drugs, or were improperly medicated.

Nurses often take the brunt of patients’ frustration and fear because they’re on the front lines more than other medical staff.

“You can have people hit, slapped, knocked about and thrown against walls,” said Jan Lanier, deputy executive officer of the Ohio Nurses Association. “It’s a tense situation.”

“Forgotten victims” Doctors, nurses and staff at hospitals are victims at a rate much higher than the norm in the workplace. this article touches on some of the reasons why. We should be more initiative driven when it comes to prevention efforts in this area. ~Fred

Story of UAH Shootings Takes on Broader Dimensions

“I do not wish to divert responsibility for these heinous crimes away from the perpetrator, but I am compelled to admit the university’s administration does share a modicum of the blame for fostering an environment that welcomes this type of tragedy. By routinely treating the faculty and staff as expendable livestock, and by regarding the students as blank checks ripe for cashing, the university has spawned an atmosphere of doubt, fear and animosity. Such conditions will always breed radical responses from the chronically oppressed.

The most unfortunate part of this event is that three innocent people died before we realized the deplorable working environment which permeates the university.” ~Samuel N. Parks, a former student-body president at UAH.

The signs and signals are most always present. it time we open our eyes, observe and orient to what is going on around us. Then and only then will we be able to make quality decisions and take preventive actions. ~Fred