Active Shooter Training

This story is actually old- two years ago today. For anyone who needs a reminder, that would be 9 days after the 2016 general election and tensions were high all around.

We had an “active shooter training” at the library today. There were like 70 people in attendance from all different branches, all library staff. The idea was for us to be prepared in the event that someone comes into the library and opens fire. In theory, this is a great idea. In practice…

We spent two hours listening to a racist, xenophobic police officer from the PPD spew Bush administration-era fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It got ugly fast.

At first, I just ignore it. Everyone else in the room is quiet and most are looking kinda bored, so I’m starting to think they’re all thinking the same thing as me: That this guy is just full of shit.
But that’s not what’s happening. As I’m sitting there, I get this weird vibe in the room, and pretty soon I’m watching everyone watching his presentation like he’s preaching gospel.

Meanwhile, in his presentation, he has encouraged us to:

• Keep a close eye on our neighbors and report “suspicious” activity
• Look at every human being and assume they’re about to attack us
• Stop protesting in the streets because really, Trump deserves a chance

When he opens the floor to questions, several people in the audience are asking “where can I get a gun” or “Recommend me a martial arts school” or “who do we have to lobby to get tighter security at the library, ooh and a metal detector too!”

At this point (with a little prodding from my friend Kirill, who’d been texting me during most of the meeting), I spoke up. I asked him, in 2016, with the lowest violent crime rates in the history of the United States, in a country where we have to take off our shoes in the airport for an organization that has been proven to be utterly ineffective at stopping violent attacks, why it was necessary or appropriate to terrify a group of people into spying on their neighbors and arming themselves. Keeping people nervous and on edge, especially if they’re arming themselves, is a great way to get someone hurt simply because they were scared of their neighbors.

Detective Alt-right came back with a canned response of “Oh, I’m just keepin’ it REAL” and at that point, the room full of 70ish peers, friends, and coworkers cheer and applaud the officer for his stellar defense of our country. Some people even stand up. I say something else (I don’t remember what- it was something adding to my previous comments) and somebody boos me.

That was the end of the presentation and the officer leaves and I grab as many free donuts and juices and stuff as I can carry. As I’m face-stuffing, several librarians pull me to the side and thank me for speaking up, because they thought he was an asshole, too. It was really nice to have a little confirmation that I wasn’t just shooting my mouth off for the sake of telling off “the Man” for the hell of it but it didn’t change the fact that I was shaking from a combination of embarrassment and anger for the next two hours.
It really sucked, but it was necessary. I wasn’t the only person in the room who felt that way, but I never would have known that if I hadn’t spoken up- and neither would anyone else.

What I experienced today was bullying and abuse of power, and I won’t tolerate it. Neither should you. Here’s a photo of the world’s best service dog.