Whenever you visit the market, attend a concert or play, or see your doctor, you are in someone’s workplace. In fact, many places qualify as workplace settings. Literally thousands of workers report being victims of workplace violence in America annually, while many more incidents go unreported out of fear of reprisal, alienation from other workers, loss of job, or other repercussions. Based on typology and offender profiling, criminologists have concluded that actions, relationships, and the offender’s perceptions make the events in or arising from workplace violence worthy of focus. In 2020 (the most recent year on record), the National Safety Council reported that assaults are the leading cause of workplace death in the United States (2023).

The phenomenon of the active shooter, including other active threat mechanisms used to threaten or endanger others, occupies a unique challenge for criminologists seeking to find links or characteristics that motivate perpetrators. Is every active shooter deranged? Is the individual reacting to societal pressures? Are they motivated by some external driver, such as having lost the companionship of another, or have they been rejected through labeling for so long they can no longer take it? There appears to be no common denominator, only categories under which those who commit workplace violence crimes act out. While the driving forces behind the commission of an active threat or workplace violence crime may be similar to others, each event is unique.

Safety in the workplace is nonnegotiable. Dating back to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discriminatory practices in the workplace against individuals or protected classes under federal law have been prohibited. The Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause (1970) requires employers to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all workers covered by the act, and legally requires them to take reasonable steps to prevent or abate a recognized violence hazard. That said, acts of workplace violence are being perpetrated at a rate that is unacceptable in a civilized society.

Certain industries are recognized as being prone to violence. Examples include the health care profession, law enforcement, the service industry, and education providers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, taxi and other for-hire drivers are over 20 times more likely to be murdered on the job than other workers (National Safety Council, 2023). Part of the reason for this involves the vulnerability that comes from working alone, often in unfamiliar areas, and having cash on board.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) divides workplace violence into four classifications (1996):

1. Bona fide criminal intent is demonstrated, as in robbing a convenience store.
2. Customer-client relationship devolves into violence.
3. Worker-on-worker violent episodes occur, borne out of anger, perceived slight, and the like.
4. Personal relationship (whether in the workplace or coming to it from the outside).

Places of worship, cemeteries, symbolic ideologies, or even subtle expression of personal belief structures have also triggered violence in the workplace. Some components of mental illness may promote or exacerbate violent attacks.

Society has witnessed some of the examples above progress to active shooter incidents. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines an “active shooter” as someone “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area” (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, n.d., para. 1). These events typically do not last more than a few minutes, but they are often devastating in terms of the impacts felt in the workplace, for the families and friends of the parties involved, and throughout the community.

What can we do? First and foremost, remain situationally aware at all times. Know what is going on, what looks, sounds, and feels right. If something sets off an internal alarm, pay attention to it. The phrase If You See Something, Say Something® suggests that you take the initiative to immediately report a condition or person that alerts you to a potential threat. Using environmental design strategies, maintaining physical separation between workers and customers, providing well-lit interior and exterior work spaces, and utilizing cash control systems, alarms, and other security devices are all wise precautions. Administrative controls involving a system of background screenings and using receptionists or security guards to screen people entering the workplace can help. Staff training in areas of verbal de-escalation, nonviolent response approaches, and conflict resolution is strongly recommended. Finally, should you find yourself under an active shooter or active threat siege, utilize the principles of RUN-HIDE-FIGHT™ to maximize your immediate safety chances (Albrecht, 2014).

Schools in the United States, whether public, private, charter, career and technical academies, or otherwise should never be the scene of acts of violence. Yet they are at alarming rates and result in unfathomable consequences. While the American conscience was shocked awake on April 20, 1999, with the horrors of the Columbine, Colorado, shootings, there were at least 16 active threats and shootings resulting in death and injury in schools prior to that date, the earliest occurring in Pennsylvania in 1764 (Strait, 2010).

Today’s students, in large part due to the many actual and threatened incidents of active shooters, are trained early in the actions they should take if an emergency occurs during their time in school. Many resources in the form of grants, donations, tax expenditures, and corporate assistance have been utilized to “harden” the targets of schools across the nation. Examples of such target-hardening efforts include installation of alarm and lockdown systems, security cameras, door barriers, safe rooms, and ballistic glass. In some communities, school resource officers (SRO), police officers selected for the assignment, are placed in schools as a form of security; in others, the controversial topic of arming teachers is considered. While all these actions are well-intentioned, students are entitled to safe and nurturing spaces in which to learn, and parents and guardians should have equal reassurance for the safety and security of their children while at school.

The police tactical role in active shooter events changed drastically after the Columbine High School massacre (Martaindale & Blair, 2019). Up until then, most police departments considered the entry and takeover of a business or school as a kidnapping or unlawful imprisonment. First-arriving police often waited for hostage negotiators, crisis intervention specialists, and supervisors to arrive on scene before deploying. The hostilities at Columbine made clear that entry and confrontation of a shooter in order to stop the threat of continued violence could not wait. Most departments today prepare well in advance by training with other responders in their region before an active threat event occurs. Then, if an active shooter situation arises, the first-arriving officers immediately enter and conduct a systematic search to identify the source of the shooting and stop it immediately in an effort to save lives.

If you find yourself in an active shooter incident, follow these recommended precautions:

• Know your surroundings, be situationally aware, and understand the principles of RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.
• Shut off your phone’s ringtones and notifications and remain silent. DO NOT carry your phone in your hand, as it may be misconstrued by police as a weapon.
• When police arrive, raise your hands in the air and follow their orders. Do not talk or argue with them.
• Make no sudden movements at any time.

Attributions

1. Figure 3.21: “Criminal man in hidden mask pointing the shotgun while robbery the money on the bank” by h9images on www.freepik.com, used by Freepik license.