Various online resources are available to design an active shooter plan, including the FBI Active Shooter Resources (https://www.fbi.gov/about/partnerships/office-of-partner-engagement/active-shooter-resources) web page and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Active Shooter: How to Respond booklet (https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf).
The strategy includes approaches like the following:
- Premises security - fences, locked doors, entry card systems, alarm systems.
- Evacuation plan - particularly evacuation routes.
- Good lighting systems - easier to observe intruder and for employees to see what is going on.
- Hallways and doorways - wide enough for evacuation.
- Having visible security measures - such measures serve as a deterrent, such as security officials.
- Training - most commonly once a year active shooter response training.
This article is part of our February 2023 Newsletter.
View newsletter online
Download the newsletter as a PDF
Related Content
Get Email Updates
Receive newsletters and alerts directly in your email inbox. Sign up below.

The EEOC and DOJ Issue Guidance on DEI
In the Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) released March 19, 2025, the go…

Considerations When Government Officials Show Up and Request to Meet with Individual Employees
Occasionally, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, or those from other state and local agencies, come to an employer’s facil…

How Jurors Evaluate the Fairness of an Employer’s Actions
Fairness is a fundamental human instinct. For example, whatever the rights and wrongs of an employee’s firing, the manner in which the emp…

Some of the Controversial Issues Currently Being Faced by Employers in Light of Recent Developments
Although the list of current issues that are relatively new and critical affecting employment decisions could get quite lengthy, this autho…

Frequently Asked Questions About Recent Immigration-Related Actions
What is the status of workers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who were granted parole pursuant to the CHNV programs?

Issues on DEI from EEOC and DOJ
DEI is one of the most controversial issues that is most current. The issues are so major that a significant portion of Fortune 500 compan…