Arundel police consider new means to confront shooters

‘After-action’ review takes a candid look at performance

Anne Arundel County police say that after reviewing their response to last month’s mass shooting that killed five Capital Gazette employees, they are considering significant changes to the gear and weapons officers use while confronting active gunmen.

County police were widely praised for their response to the shootings at the Capital Gazette newsroom, but as a matter of policy they review their performance after major events.

The AR-15 assault-style rifles some officers carry were found to be too long and unwieldy to smoothly maneuver through crowded offices, and weapons with shorter barrels are being considered. New earpieces are also on the list, to allow officers to talk over radios without their conversations being overheard.

These are two of several ideas raised when up to 200 officers, dispatchers and crime-scene technicians gathered in the Broadneck High School auditorium to candidly dissect the response to the June 28 rampage by a man who shot his way into the office at 888 Bestgate Road and fired a shotgun at members of the staff.

The police meeting was closed to outsiders, but Chief Timothy J. Altomare provided some insight into the discussions during an hourlong interview Thursday with the Capital Gazette. The information will be part of a report that could take up a year to conclude.

“No matter how well we handle a situation of that enormity, there are things that we could have done better,” said Altomare, who became chief of the 741-member department in December 2014. “The more we can do to give cops the things they need on a bad day, the better.”

Jarrod W. Ramos, a 38-year-old man holding long grudges against the newspaper, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Killed were Rob Hiaasen, 59, an editor and columnist; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent; Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, 56, a longtime sports reporter; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant. Two others were injured.

Such reviews, called “debriefs” or “after-action reports,” are typically done by police agencies following large-scale or unusual incidents, and are used internally to adjust tactics, improve equipment and decide whether guidelines should be revised. Altomare said the review is the agency’s largest and most complex. The last such report Anne Arundel police did evaluated its response to help Baltimore police during riots in 2015.

Altomare praised his officers for their quick response to the Capital Gazette shootings and for immediately teaming with the county sheriff’s office and the Annapolis Police Department in entering the building and confronting the gunman. Altomare said the officers who responded quickly in Annapolis overcame minor complications and synced their radios so those with different agencies could communicate. Many already had keys and were familiar with the building’, as its owners allowed officers to use the bathrooms, even when offices were closed.

“I didn’t think there was anyone on earth who could have done it better than them,” Altomare said. “They made it run remarkably smooth for how bad this was.”

In addition to discussing what new equipment might be needed to take down doors or maneuver between office cubicles, the officers at Altomare’s meeting recounted the horrors they encountered, and at that moment had to ignore. One officer recalled hearing the ringing cellphones of people who had died. “Every human instinct in the world makes you want to pick up that phone and help the person on the other end of the line, and they couldn’t do it,” Altomare said. “Twenty-year SWAT guys were crying.”

Part of the self-review will examine whether counseling services are sufficient. That officers cried is a good thing, the chief said. “If it becomes normal for us to see [such violence], and it’s not having an impact in some way,” Altomare said, “then we probably ought to be medically retired. If you don’t maintain your humanity, you’re no good as a cop.”

Altomare said that based on what he has already heard from officers, he has begun making changes. He asked the training academy to research new rifles with shorter barrels. The chief also said the department will look into getting officers backpacks to replace bulky bags that hold battering rams, which one officer told the chief slowed them down. He said elevators will be shut down sooner to ensure people are identified and escorted outside by police in a “controlled way,” typically lined up and ushered down the stairs.

The chief said his department has long trained for the possibility of an active shooter. “We have too many high-value targets in this county that it wasn’t going to come here at some point,” he said. “We’re trained to stay ready. We knew it was coming sooner or later.”