WASHINGTON – The leader of one of the D.C. area’s largest police departments is reacting to a mass shooting that unfolded in Las Vegas Sunday night.
Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger, who is also the president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said his heart goes out to the Las Vegas community.
“This was just an unbelievable tragic event,” Manger said.
He said this shooting is another reminder for police departments and the communities they protect that training officers for possible terrorist acts is important.
He said police departments have to have a similar mindset to that of the Secret Service, an agency prepared for unthinkable acts in order to protect the president.
“It’s important for any police department to train and have policies, training, have the equipment ready so they can respond to these types of incidents,” Manger said.
He said police departments will learn from this shooting, as it has other tragedies in the past. Preventing, observing and securing public events, when a venue is near a high-rise building, is now something Manger said departments will have to discuss.
The public also plays a role moving forward. He said oftentimes Americans can forget tragic events, such as the shooting in Las Vegas, as time elapses without a similar incident.
“If things don’t happen for a while, people start to question, ‘Well do we really need to spend all this money on prevention initiatives,’ and this is a reminder of ‘Yeah, we do,’ unfortunately,” Manger said.
Manger said it also takes the cooperation of the public who may get annoyed by the increased security screening measures they may have to endure at venues.
Manger said he realizes these events can also leave some frightened to attend similar events.
“You’ve got to live your life, you can’t live your life in fear,” Manger said.
But he reminds people to always trust their instincts and not tempt fate by being reckless.
“We do live in a world where these kinds of things happen, but we also live in a world where there are mostly good people,” Manger said.
