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Orlando Sentinel article on FDLE’s Pulse Nightclub After-Action Report mischaracterized the findings of the report

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Setting the Record Straight

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) sets high goals and demands the best of its members. The goal of the After-Action Report was to analyze FDLE response efforts, identify strengths to be maintained and built upon, identify potential areas for improvement, and support development of corrective actions.  These types of reports have become a best practice following mass casualty events.
This article indicated FDLE’s role quickly expanded to include helping the FBI with the investigation, identifying the victims and notifying families who lost a loved one and that led to chaos and miscommunication at times.
Fact: FDLE members responded to the incident in an officer-involved shooting capacity. However, due to the scope of this event, the department soon transitioned to provide other assistance including the role of identifying victims and notifying their next of kin. And while the department does not have protocols in place for this type of process, FDLE command staff accepted this role to assist its partner agencies. Nowhere in the report does it state helping notify victim families led to chaos and miscommunication. Instead the report specifies “When FDLE members arrived at the hotel for next of kin notification, they encountered chaos and no plan of action for the operational processes.” Additionally, it goes on to state “Despite these challenges, SASs (supervisors), intelligence analysts and special agents displayed exceptional team work in these roles. FDLE SASs (supervisors) took leadership roles, provided direction and coordinated the various agency representatives working at the sites.” Encountering chaos is not the same as causing chaos. In fact, FDLE members were able to positively identify 48 of the 49 victims by 7 a.m. Monday.
Further, the Sentinel wrote the report also detailed problems that led to a statewide intelligence agency not immediately sharing information about the shooting, which led to a significant delay in getting details to law enforcement.
Fact: There were no delays in providing information to law enforcement. Notifications began around 4 a.m. Due to the type of intelligence being gathered and the level of the investigation being conducted immediately following the event, the Florida Fusion Center was directed by FDLE command staff not to disseminate specific pieces of information. This was a terrorist event and whether there were other potential targets or impacts had yet to be determined. Until the information and intelligence had been vetted, it could not be distributed to non-law enforcement FFC partners. Similar steps are taken following any event of this type.
Many of Orlando’s Regional Domestic Security Task Force resources were deployed to the Pulse incident immediately.  Task Force chairs (FDLE Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks and Osceola County Sheriff Robert Hansell) were on scene communicating with other regional task forces ensuring deployment of additional resources from law enforcement to medical personnel to bomb squads.
It is unfortunate the Sentinel chose to sensationalize the report by providing inaccurate information.
By overstating the recommendations for improvement, while failing to mention the strengths noted in the report, the article is unbalanced and unfair to those law enforcement members who put their lives on the line the night of the Pulse attack and tirelessly worked the days following to ensure a safer Florida.

Lawmakers Unveil Gun-Safety Legislation That Targets Assault-Style Weapons

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fl-coalition-to-prevent-gun-violence-fcpgvProposed legislation to ban assault-style weapons in Florida will be unveiled this afternoon at a news conference held by the Florida Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
Sen. Linda Stewart and Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith are introducing the bills, which also include banning large ammunition feeding devices.
“Assault weapons are the gold standard for mass murder. They are weapons of war, designed for war and have no place on our streets or in civilian hands,” said Smith. “We all have the right to defend ourselves and our families with a firearm, but nobody needs military-style assault weapons to do it.”
Pointing a finger at the gun lobby and what he called its “stranglehold on Tallahassee and their extreme agenda,” he added, “It’s time we take back the conversation with a bold, comprehensive and common-sense approach to gun safety. This legislation is just the beginning.”
“If not now, when?” asks Stewart. “We don’t need any more tragedies like Pulse.”
The bills target the type of weapon used in June’s Pulse Nightclub shooting, which killed 49 people in the deadliest U.S. shooting in modern history.
The Florida Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, initiated by the League of Women Voters of Florida, was created after the Pulse massacre to promote smart, common-sense gun legislation and helped set the course for the legislation being unveiled today.
The Coalition quickly gained momentum and has grown to include more than 100 local, state and national organizations. It includes such diverse groups as the Hispanic Federation, Interfaith Council of Central Florida, Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus, Florida PTA, and Doctors for America.
In addition to pushing for a ban on assault-style weapons, the Coalition also calls for comprehensive universal background checks.
“We are no longer going to allow the NRA to dictate gun laws in Florida,” said Patti Brigham, Co-chair of the Coalition and 1st Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Florida.
“Florida cannot wait nor do we have to wait for our federal government to take action. We can and should follow the lead of seven other states that already have in effect what we are proposing today,” Brigham said, adding that ordinary citizens do not need weapons such as the Sig Sauer MCX, brandished by the shooter at Pulse, to hunt, defend ourselves, or to show them off because we can.
Strong, outspoken support for the Coalition and the proposed legislation comes from a number of diverse groups, demonstrating the far-reaching passion for the assault-weapons ban and the safety of our community.
Not mincing words, Andy Pelosi, executive director of Campaign To Keep Guns Off Campus, said, “Assault rifles, like the one used in the Pulse shooting, where 49 people were killed and another 53 injured, are weapons of war, designed to kill and injure large numbers of people in a short period of time.” He added that the state legislature should immediately act on the proposals unveiled today.
Also strongly supporting the proposed legislation is Equality Florida, an organization dedicated to securing equality and justice for the LGBTQ community. It was an early member of the Coalition.
“The Pulse massacre compelled us to confront two realities: the systematic dehumanization of LGBTQ people and the far too-easy access to weapons of mass slaughter,” said Hannah Willard, Public Policy Director for Equality Florida.
The Rev. Bryan G. Fulwider, CEO of Building US and a member of Friends Talking Faith With The Three Wise Guys on WMFE, says faith “leads us in the way of peace.”
“We recognize that people of faith may differ on the way we feel about guns, individually. Nevertheless, honest faith leads us to foster and build a more peaceful community and society,” he continued. “Military-style assault weapons are not part of creating a more peaceful and safe community. They have only one purpose, mass casualty shooting. These weapons may be a tool of war, sadly, but they have no place in a society and community committed to creating peace and safety for all people,” he said.
The Florida PTA, also a Coalition member, likewise applauds the efforts of Stewart and Smith.
“Given the history and tradition of strong support for the safety and protection of our children and youth, and with the desire to encourage common-sense legislation that can potentially prevent future tragic scenarios involving our most precious resource, Florida PTA offers unwavering support banning the sale and possession of military-style semi-automatic assault weapons,” said Angie Gallo.