Shasta County law enforcement says the same could not be said if there were a shooting in the North State. Compared to Southern California, Shasta County has substantially fewer law enforcement officers, and depending on where those officers are within the county, response times could be stretched well past four minutes, local law enforcement officials said.
But Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko says his department does not lack the resources to combat an active shooter.
Bosenko lists a number of available resources, including an armored vehicle, SWAT personnel, mobile communication units and bomb response team.
All local agencies, including California Highway Patrol, local police departments and deputies, have training needed to engage active shooters, but with a limited number of personnel those agencies would have to work together, officials said.
Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti said any type of mass shooting would receive an “all hands on deck” response from law enforcement.
Cohesion, Paoletti stresses, is vital to engaging an active shooter, right next to response time, which he thinks is on average above 10 minutes for emergency personnel.
“We hope to God we’re preparing for something that doesn’t happen,” Paoletti said in reference to the training his officers receive.
At Mercy Medical Center, staff receive training on active drills and emergency procedures can be put into effect in the case of a mass shooting in the community. Orchestrated through the hospital incident command system, staff can shift patients with elective procedures to make room for victims of a shooting. Staff could also set up a tent to establish a triage outside the ER.
As the regional control facility, Mercy works closely with emergency medical services so the hospital would be able to easily transfer patients to other facilities, according to Chief Nurse Executive Kim Shaw.
All off-duty personnel would be called in the event of a large scale emergency.
“Though it has been my experience also that staff and physicians often just respond when something major occurs,” Shaw said.
In the short term, law enforcement is prepared but limited in its numbers, Paoletti and Bosenko said.
There are 6,700 concealed weapon permit holders in Shasta County, according to the sheriff, and though Bosenko sees the likelihood of one of those permit holders being in the vicinity of an active shooter, he would caution citizens don’t interfere with law enforcement on the scene.
“They could be adding to the confusion in that situation. That situation could end up with that good person getting shot,” Bosenko said, either by an active shooter or law enforcement.
With regards to a permit holder who finds themselves in the vicinity of an active shooter situation where law enforcement is not present, that person could potentially intervene and prevent the loss of life if they choose to do so, Bosenko said.
“But they would have to lay down their weapon and follow an officer’s orders,” when they arrive on the scene, Bosenko added.
Both the Sheriff’s Office and Redding police have been in talks to form an official management plan for an incident like what happened in San Bernardino.
Bosenko has also been in contact with regional FBI officials in regards additional training for his deputies. About a year ago, local law enforcement participated in a table top training exercise.
“We are prepared, we are well trained, but we are limited with our personnel,” Bosenko added.
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