By Sunayana Prabhu
“If you see something, say something” is a Department of Homeland Security campaign that has been running nationally since 2010 to raise public awareness and encourage people to report suspicious activities to state and local law enforcement.
However, with the rise in mass shootings this year despite such campaigns, law enforcement agencies have started reaching out to communities to help devise security plans to keep individuals safe at work and at home.
A panel of federal, state, county and local law enforcement officials spent three hours Aug. 18 at Squier Hall on the former Fort Monmouth addressing growing threats and ways to mitigate them. They emphasized the urgency and significance of having a written plan in place for an emergency, should a homeowner or business owner face a threat situation.
“If you were to look at 2022 threat assessment, you would see that the two highest threats are coming from white motivated extremists and homegrown terrorists,” Charles Ambio, acting bureau chief, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJODHS), said at the press conference organized by Red Bank-based nonprofit HABCore and New Jersey City University.
The panel discussions centered around how to prevent, prepare, mitigate and recover from active shooter threats. Ambio said NJDHS encourages the public to use templates and resources on its website to prepare policies and plans for safety and security.
“We have the active shooter plans if you go on our website,” he said. “If you don’t have an active shooter plan already, I recommend you get one, as active shooters basically dominated the news of late with the attacks we’ve seen in Uvalde, Highland Park, Tulsa, Buffalo.”
“There are a lot of resources to help you get ready,” Ambio said.
Two River-area business owners and employers, in addition to leaders of religious organizations and nonprofits, attended the panel discussion for insights on security preparedness. Law enforcement officials who shared their expertise along with Ambio included Ron Hurley, associate vice president, Department of Public Safety, New Jersey City University; Shaun Golden, Sheriff, Monmouth County; Brendan Liston, assistant unit head, New Jersey State Police Infrastructure Protection Unit; Jack Jupin, founder, Jupin International, retired supervisor FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force; and Edward Dickson, vice president of global security for Johnson & Johnson.
The panel members shared their experiences in creating and utilizing safety plans and procedures in public, private, nonprofit and corporate settings. Golden shared statistics that showed, although school shootings get a lot of media attention, businesses are targeted more often in violent crimes. “Schools are a very small percentage of active shooters as defined by the FBI in the United States,” he said.
Schools have been mandated by the state to set up threat assessment teams for security purposes, but the majority of businesses still don’t have any security plans in place, he noted. “In 2021, there were 61 active shooters. Over 30 of them involved places of business and commerce. A very small percentage involved… open parks, government buildings and some other religious institutions,” he said.
As a first and important security step at businesses, Golden encourages human resources staff to be sure they have collected badges, terminated internet access and emails from former employees.
Jupin transitioned from the FBI into his own private consultancy offering vulnerability assessment and active shooter training to businesses and organizations, among other security services. He noted that hiring a security company might not be affordable for everyone, but “there are a lot of grants out there,” he said. Jupin also said security plans can create a cost savings: “Perhaps, in corporations, your insurance premiums actually go down when you certify that you’re doing training for your people,” he said.
Not a lot of organizations are aware that security plans now include active shooter threats with other emergencies, said Steve Heisman, HABCore executive director. He noted HABCore was in the process of setting policies in its emergency disaster manual for natural emergencies but was looking to add a section for dealing with “active threats.”
An active threat could come in the form of an active shooter, a bomber in close proximity, or even an unexpected climate calamity like flash floods or wildfires. The press conference largely addressed the need for a vulnerability assessment of structures, both externally and internally, while noting some of the advice from security companies and emergency manuals might not be feasible.
“What we worry is about our frontline staff,” said Daniel Staehs, association director of facilities and properties of the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County. He shared how a completed security assessment had good information but not all the advice was relevant.
“We had a security assessment of the building,” he said. “Everybody likes to give advice on security practices, but I’ve gotten advice that the front glass doors are vulnerable and, let’s face it, if there is an active shooter, there are going to be casualties.”
Staehs said the YMCA was “told to put blinds on our front doors and if you see an active shooter come, then have somebody drop the blinds. Who’s going to do that?” he asked. “Nobody is going to run up when they see an active shooter to drop a set of blinds. So, you got to be careful on the advice you get also from certain security companies.”
If an active shooting incident does occur, how does one recover from it? Ambio discussed creating a continuity of operations plan – basically a document that outlines how to keep an organization running after an event has occurred. He said planning ahead of time with details like the names of the personnel appointed to report the emergency, backup communication plans, where classified documents are stored and what happens if they are destroyed, is important. Both NJODHS and FEMA have templates online for individuals and families to help build a continuity of operations or continuity plan.
According to gunviolencearchive.org more than 400 mass shootings have been verified in the U.S. this year as of Aug. 23. As businesses and residents plan activities, marking their calendars for backyard cookouts, block parties, large gatherings at fall festivals or back-to-school events, Jupin noted “situational awareness” is important.
“Looking for unusual things is going to keep you safe,” he said, noting that this awareness is essential in everyday life.
“It is the kind of thing that’s just not when you’re sitting in church or a synagogue or the mosque. It’s when we go to the shop, right? You’re at the mall and knowing your surroundings – a man pops in here with a trench coat and it’s a beautiful 85-degree day. Something might be wrong there.”
But even though planning and being aware should be part of life, “We are not looking for heroes,” Jupin said. “Pick up the phone and call law enforcement. Law enforcement is never going to beat you up for making that phone call, even if you’re wrong.”
The panel equivocally urged community members at large that defending oneself is no longer just local or state law enforcement’s task: The onus to protect lives has fallen upon everyone in the community.
The article originally appeared in the September 1 – 8, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
