ORLANDO, Fla. – Ten years after the Pulse nightclub shooting changed Orlando forever, the lessons learned from that night are still shaping law enforcement training across the country.
I recently sat down with longtime law enforcement officer and trainer Steve Kelley of Decision Tactical to talk about how active shooter response has evolved from the days of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 to the reality officers face today.
Kelley explained that Columbine was a major turning point for police agencies nationwide.
“I think it was April 20, 1999, the Columbine shooting,” Kelley said. “That one, for lack of a better term, spanked us as law enforcement.”
At the time, law enforcement tactics focused heavily on staging officers and building organized response teams before entering an active scene. But as incidents evolved, so did the understanding that time equals lives.
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After tragedies like Columbine High School massacre and later the Pulse nightclub shooting, training shifted dramatically toward immediate action.
“Law enforcement decided we can’t afford to wait,” Kelley said. “We’re going to gunfire. I’m going.”
Today, officers are trained to move toward the threat as quickly as possible, even if they are alone.
“Most of us nowadays ride as individual officers, so I’m a team of one now,” Kelley explained. “I’m going to update headquarters on my location, but I’m on search and destroy.”
That aggressive response philosophy is now deeply embedded in modern policing and starts at the academy level.
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“It’s part of basic training nowadays,” Kelley said. “Then when they graduate and get to their agencies, we’re still training throughout the year to make sure they are highly proficient and skilled.”
The purpose behind the training is simple: reduce the threat as fast as possible and save lives.
Kelley said officers continually prepare for situations they hope never happen, knowing their actions in the first moments can directly impact survival for victims and fellow officers.
As Orlando approaches the 10-year mark since Pulse, Kelley said it is also important to recognize the law enforcement community that lived through those events and continues carrying those lessons forward today.
Their training never stops.