Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1258433
the reaction needs to be asked here as well. Unfortunately no, this does not boil down to a simple statement mentioning „a good guy with a gun". Sometimes a witness can neutralize or kill the attacker. In most cases though, this does not happen. For in - stance, during an attack in Orlando, at a nightclub, a policeman on site, working as a security guard, despite having the weapon on him, was un- able to stop the terrorist. To save the people at Bataclan, CT units were needed. Fortunately, they managed to arrive quickly. However, this would not always be the case. This is exem- plified by the painful lessons that the Norwegians learned, during the Utoya island shooting. On the other hand, in some cases, especially in the UK, the police intervention was quick and the neutralization took mere minutes. The British example is interesting for another reason, as the ordinary policemen in the UK do not bear arms. Only some of the police offi - cers have a right to use a gun, and even a smaller group is assigned to the Armed Response Vehicles tasked with rapid interventions in a situation when armed police are necessary. Furthermore, policemen with weap- ons are also present in the locations exposed to potential attacks. These officers protect important facilities and persons. Similar, but not identi- cal solutions have been introduced in France, Germany, and Italy. In the United States of America, a different solution has been adopted - special police units have been created at the local level, known as SWAT. Usual- ly, SWAT units consist of policemen and it sometimes happens (as it did in Vegas) that the intervening team is mixed, and composed ad hoc. Regardless of the organizational model adopted, creating a situation in which the Police appear on the crime scene as quickly as possible, with proper ar- mament and equipment necessary to contain the situation, neutralize the perpetrator and interrupt the attack is the primary issue here. This makes it possible then, to help the victims. The quicker the reaction is, the fewer victims we would have, and the easier will the attack be to contain. ANALYSIS