The Mandalay Bay Shooting

Since my huge career change almost 2 years ago, I have become extremely dedicated and proud of what I do for a living. I don't get any kudos or credit - from the public, from my co-workers, or from the public. I am the first point of contact for someone who needs help, but I'm forgotten. I am the lifeline for my agency -- I gather information, get leads before officers arrive, check for warrants/officer safety issues before officers arrive, maintain order/calm, organize responses, maintain timeline records for report use later, and am expected to know EVERYTHING about EVERY situation for immediate recall (during or after an incident).

Last night, a terrible event occurred. A mass shooting at a country concert in one of my favorite cities in America. I woke up to the news this morning. And all I could do initially was cry. Cry because that's an event that I would absolutely attend. Cry for the fear that thousands experienced. Cry for the officers who only wanted to rush in and stop the incident but had a HUGE area of containment and a HUGE number of people to sift through to get to the bad guy. Cry for my fellow dispatchers who were inundated with calls, radio traffic, confusion, and stress. Cry for my country as it continues to struggle with division, hate, and violence.

But I wanted to share a few things here.

This is a radio recording on just one of the Las Vegas channels just after the shooting. As I listened to this, my heart couldn't have swollen with more pride for those dispatchers. They had complete control. They gave information. They remained calm. They facilitated the communication between officers when one officer didn't hear another. To put it simply -- they nailed it. And I am so so so proud of them. Not to mention they inspire me. To continue to push myself to excel in my field. To be the best dispatcher I can be. To foster continued trust and relationship with my officers so they know they can trust me and that I can do the job. My officers put their lives in my hands on a daily basis, and that is not a responsibility that I take lightly.

Another thing I wanted to share were some short videos that showed the attack as it began from a concert goers viewpoint. I was so stunned at the reaction. While there were screams, from what I saw, the chaos was relataively calm.  There were people yelling to protect others ("Get down!"), people laying on top of others to protect them, yelling of when it was all clear (between magazines/clips depending on the weapon used) for people to make a mad dash.  There were people stripping off their clothes to bandage wounds. Carrying wounded strangers to safety and medical care. For such a chaotic situation, people responded with common sense and relative order. I am so proud of them too. That's my America.

https://bluelivesmatter.blue/mandalay-bay-terrorist-attack-video/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurageiser/las-vegas-shooting-photos?bffbmain&ref=bffbmain&utm_term=.yirDWo9Jq#.aeWzR2M1k

But lastly -- I just want to share my prayer that this nation will stop pointing fingers at each other and instead embrace eachother with love and acceptance. This judgment and hate has to go. This division has to go. This turmoil has to go.  Turmoil is how evil wins! ("Our best weapon is turmoil." - Adolf Hitler)