Do what?!?

[vaskidmark]

http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/kinggeorge/2012/08/23/county-plans-an-active-shooter-drill-next-week/

County plans an ‘active shooter’ drill next week

King George County will simulate an event that’s in the news all too often these days when it holds its second full-scale emergency services drill next week.

A shooter will be on the loose in a public place.

Officials are keeping the location of that place, and other details of the drill, under wraps to “increase the realism,” said Lt. Steve Lynd of King George’s Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.

The exercise will take place over two days, Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 29 and 30.

The simulated shooting will take place the first day. About 150 fire and rescue workers and officers from the King George Sheriff’s Office will respond.

They will set up a command structure at the county’s Emergency Operations Center. It’s housed in the Fire and Rescue headquarters on State Route 3.

The drill also will involve some type of hazardous materials.

On Thursday, the respondents will gather at the Emergency Operations Center to evaluate the response and focus on planning for such events.

The exercise is funded by a grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. And it’s definitely real life, Lynd said.

“The planning team created a very realistic scenario,” he added.

Last August, the county held its first full-scale drill, a simulated spill of toxic pesticides, which ended up contaminating a water system.[/u]

Take note of their success last fall in "simulating" something.

And somebody calling themself MikeNYGuy defends the plan!  Why am I thinking Mikey's last name is Bloomberg?

Fitz, would you like to spend those two days visiting anywhere else?

 

stay safe.

[Fitz]

My letter is being typed as we speak

[griz]

I saw a "school shooter" drill on CNN last week.  They had a man with a paintball gun be the bad guy and proceeded from there.  My first thought is it would be far too easy to end up following a script, even unintentionally.  The fact that they called the major news outlets to cover it (and presumably told them what to expect, where to film) tells me they had at least some plan for how it was supposed to happen and be resolved.

Other than that, hazardous materials?  Does that mean the bad guy has a bomb?

[Tallpine]

And who's going to volunteer to be the "active shooter" in a CCW state 

 

[Fitz]

this just went to the sheriff. The fire chief is a personal friend. I am heading to his house now

I read the recent report about the active shooter drill coming up. In particular, this piece of info caught my eye:

"A shooter will be on the loose in a public place.

Officials are keeping the location of that place, and other details of the drill, under wraps to “increase the realism,”

Bear in mind that King George county has many, many residents who are lawfully armed. Conducting a drill of this type with any type of secrecy regarding location and time is monumentally stupid.

I hope this does not backfire on you, and I hope that every single armed, law abiding resident of King George gets the info before one of your "actors" ends up dead.

[Fitz]

As a side note: i will be out of town. The details of the trip are hush hush until after the trip when the PAO releases info. But it's a big op at work. :-D

[Perd Hapley]

Last August, the county held its first full-scale drill, a simulated spill of toxic pesticides, which ended up contaminating a water system.

   Not overwhelmed with the writing skills of this one. I hope the contamination was just a part of the hypothetical scenario, but this is not clear, as written.

[Fitz]

 Not overwhelmed with the writing skills of this one. I hope the contamination was just a part of the hypothetical scenario, but this is not clear, as written.

I don't think the simulation contaminated the water. I think some of the people involved didn't readily KNOW it was a simulation, though.

My friend isn't home. I'll get clarification. Let's all withhold judgment until we hear the real story, since the author of the article seems a bit.... inept.

[Jamie B]

What a recipe for failure this is.....

[RoadKingLarry]

I'm reminded of a security drill they did on the sub base back in the '80s. Some admiral's wife was forcibly proned out at the commissary.  She was not amused. Things went downhill from there.

[vaskidmark]

Yes, but she was alive to be unamused.

With almost every gun board filled to overflow with folks declaring that they are ready for an active-shooter situation, and many "practical shooting" get-togethers focusing on some variation of that there are, using a scientic term to quantify, "bunches" of folks ready and/or itching to get involved in putting down an active shooter.

The problem is that, like all other counties in Virginia, KG is self-insured.  Well, that and the fact that the whole place is not worth 1/10th of what some ambulance-chasing attorney would be asking for when this goes at least as horribly wrong as we are anticipating.

stay safe.

[Hawkmoon]

This sounds like the recent case where a chrch decided to teach the kids about real life so they arranged for some people (including, IIRC, a couple of police officers) to kidnap them. There were many unintended consequences, and the Monday morning quarterbacking suggests that it was a dumb idea.

Ah, yes ... here 'tis: http://abcnews.go.com/US/church-stages-fake-kidnapping-youth-group-students/story?id=16012844#.UDbm1xpvwoM

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183503/Glad-Tidings-Assembly-God-Church-staged-fake-raid-youth-group-faces-criminal-charges.html

[vaskidmark]

 Not overwhelmed with the writing skills of this one. I hope the contamination was just a part of the hypothetical scenario, but this is not clear, as written.

I don't think the simulation contaminated the water. I think some of the people involved didn't readily KNOW it was a simulation, though.

My friend isn't home. I'll get clarification. Let's all withhold judgment until we hear the real story, since the author of the article seems a bit.... inept.

We are talking about KG County - they have a reputation to live up to, as evidenced by this:

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/092011/09212011/653201

The Fairview Beach Fire and Rescue Company's building sounds like a firefighter's nightmare.

Smoke detectors are broken or missing, air filters are dirty and fire extinguishers don't work, according to a consultant's report.

The building is sound structurally and should last another 30 to 40 years, but its maintenance issues pose a threat to volunteers who work in the building and residents who use its community hall, according to the report from Wiley/Wilson of Richmond.

"These maintenance issues have caused the facilities to have a poor appearance, which if left uncorrected, could result in a loss of public confidence," according to the report.

But as for the 2011 drill - it was a simulation and the reportologist needs to return to 5th grade to bone up on writing a sentence.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/082011/08102011/644439/

stay safe.