Author: Ryan Thorpe
FM Issue: March/April 2017
Another article about security? Can we talk about something else…anything else? To be honest, I feel the same way you do and I wish the answer was yes. We could have a nice conversation about business, or sustainability, or diversity. But the reality is that none of that matters if all of us don’t arrive home safely at the end of each and every day. Security will continue to be the number one priority for venues moving forward.
I do not consider myself an alarmist. I am generally a very positive person and I certainly don’t enjoy thinking about worst-case scenarios. But I also feel an overwhelming responsibility to make sure that every person who steps foot in my venue is as safe as humanly possible. You feel the same way, it’s an integral part of what venue managers do. It’s also the reason you’re reading this article.
It seems that each time a major security incident happens, we all want to get back to “normal” as quickly as possible. Like Linus from Peanuts, we just want our blankie back. We want to feel secure and we don’t want to think about the possibility of terrible things happening at an event.
After the active shooter situations in Paris, San Bernardino and Orlando, security conversations ramped up across the industry. Event organizers were requesting to see venue security plans and discussing enhanced security measures. Most venues and events were willing to spend a little more on security and they were partnering to make it happen. The needle was moving ever so slightly. And then many of us took a deep collective breath and got back to “normal.”
When forced to think objectively about security, we grudgingly acknowledge that venues are soft targets and that an active shooter or other type of security incident will happen at an event venue again. Fortunately, there are actions that we can take that will help our staff survive if things go horribly wrong. And you know as well as well as I do that the next incident is not going to happen at a convenient time, when there is plenty of supervision to help guide the response. It is going to happen when we least expect it, because it will be planned that way.
I started calling my venue coworkers “initial responders” a few years back. Venue staff will be among the first people on the scene of a security incident, probably several minutes before the official First Responders. We need to get comfortable with this idea (as uncomfortable as it makes us). Our staff will be in the lobby, at the gate, or in the event space when the incident starts. They will be taking tickets, cleaning, serving food, etc. Their quick response can help save lives and minimize the damage if they have received active shooter training.
There are currently two main types of active shooter response training offered by most U.S. police departments, CRASE and ALICE. CRASE stands for Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events and ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. Both of these programs represent the latest thinking and tactics for surviving active shooter situations. Both programs are also substantially more involved that the previous “Run, Hide, Fight” approach. The programs differ slightly in philosophy, but their goal is the same; help civilians survive a situation where an aggressor is armed and the authorities have not yet arrived.
I reached out to the organization that runs the ALICE program shortly after the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting last year because I was literally losing sleep over the fact that I felt we could be doing more to prepare for these types of events. I found out that they are based in Ohio and they conduct training around the world. We talked at length about schools and hospitals and how the “standard of care” is changing from automatic lockdown to more informed action based on real-time conditions. I learned a lot through my research. I also learned that the Columbus Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office do not subscribe to ALICE, but instead espouse CRASE.
The obvious takeaway here is that you should hook your wagon to whichever program your local authorities use and teach. We meet regularly with our local PD to discuss downtown security issues and we inquired about doing CRASE training for our staff. They were enthusiastic about reaching a broader audience with their training program and we have since started doing quarterly sessions. The training is free, so we also offered it to our stakeholders and partners. Our class in early January was the largest local CRASE class ever, and had over 70 participants from the convention center, industry contractors, hotels, etc.
The mantra of CRASE is Avoid, Deny, Defend. If you take the class, you will learn practical things that you can do to minimize the chances that you will be a victim. The class empowers students to act, and to utilize every resource available to survive.
Training is key to survival in active shooter events because as we were taught, your body cannot go where your mind has not been. There are many things that we can do to be better prepared for the unthinkable. Venues can send key security staff to IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety & Security or work with their local authorities to host an active shooter response class. Or better yet, both.
You will likely never feel that you are fully prepared, but personally, I sleep a little better at night knowing that we are doing everything possible to give our team and stakeholders the proper tools to survive if an active shooter incident happens at our venue.
Ryan Thorpe is assistant general manager of the Greater Columbus (OH) Convention Center/SMG.
