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Professional Development

room. No shots were heard after 22:20, but there was concern that he might have booby-trapped the door. In a very unpopular move by the media, TV Networks broadcast film of Officers phoning home to say goodbye to their wives and children. These were Officers who feared they might not return from that night’s duty, exploited for TV ratings.

ACC Ciaron Irvine opened the seminar with a few words of thanks to Ken for making the trip. He ended his introduction by saying that he was “genuinely excited to hear what Ken is going to tell us.” His Force had certainly gone the extra mile in making the seminar happen, stepping up to pay the inflated flight costs after the Thomas Cook bankruptcy. In Nevada, the 1st October has become almost as emotive a date as 9/11 is to the rest of America. The whole culture in Las Vegas has gradually changed in recent years. Although many people still go there to gamble, the tourist population is steadily moving towards conventions and outdoor events. It was one of these events, the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival, that created a target-rich population for Stephen Paddock, and changed the lives of so many people forever. Ken’s presentation started with a very moving few minutes, as a slide show of the 58 victims played silently. It took a surprising length of time for the names, ages and photographs of the victims to scroll around. Not a sound could be heard in the auditorium as the images played. Many of us imagine all the big city Police Departments in America to be huge in size, with countless Officers available. But the Las Vegas Department is comparable with many of our own County Forces. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department merged with the Clark County Sheriffs in 1973, with all the uniform Officers adopting the brown uniform, typical of all Sheriff’s Departments. Its 3182 Officers and 1610 Staff make it roughly comparable with Kent, Merseyside and Northumbria, although in culture and demographics, Las Vegas is an entirely different environment. The resident population of Las Vegas is 2.2 million; similar to Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. But this is increased with 42 million tourists each year. The weekend increase is more than one million people, each and every weekend. They average around 5000 calls for service each day through their Control Room. One of the big cultural differences in policing Las Vegas, is that many Officers take home their car, weapons and other equipment. So, although off duty, Ken was able to respond very quickly as reports of the first shots came in, a few minutes after 10pm. The news coverage must have been very graphic, as it was the first time Ken’s son had ever expressed concern about his dad’s job. He asked him not to go, saying that he did not want him to be killed. The 14 minutes of gunfire had ended when Ken arrived in Las Vegas, but he was ideally placed to get quickly involved in the investigation. The first 911 emergency call was made at 22:05, although CCTV times the first shots at 22:02. Paddock discharged roughly 1000 rounds from the 24 guns he had taken to his 32nd floor hotel room. The gunfire ended at 22:16, but emergency calls continued, with 899 calls being taken in the first hour. Many of these calls created a false impression of multiple shooters, as the victims moved around the area. We heard a recording of one call from an off duty Special Forces soldier. It was noticeable how long it took the Police Operator to understand what was actually happening. This was not something you expect to happen, even in Las Vegas. Hotel security responded to Paddock’s room shortly before he began shooting. The sound of drilling had been reported, prompting the check. Paddock had placed Baby Monitors in the hall to provide him with video surveillance and he opened fire on the guards. Ken described this 200 yard long hallway as a “fatal funnel”. Having frightened off the hotel security, Paddock commenced shooting at the crowd. As well as the 58 people killed, there were 451 people wounded by gunfire, and several thousand injured as a consequence of the stampede. Later analysis of the hotel’s heat and motion detectors suggest that Paddock shot himself at 22:20, although it took until 23:30 for Police to breach the door to his

The shooter’s view

October the 1st was the start of 28 consecutive shifts of very long hours that Ken and his colleagues were to work. Among the many lines of enquiry, 21,560 hours of video were reviewed. With Paddock’s death, the investigation’s focus turned to his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. She was at first considered a possible suspect, but she quickly became a witness as the search for a motive went on. Paddock was 64 years old and worked as an auditor. He was fairly wealthy, having made some very successful property deals. A previous job had been in Government service, so he had been vetted. He had no criminal history, and in fact the first crime he is known to have committed, was his first shot from the hotel window. He was a regular gambler and was known to the casino as a medium level client. Marilou had worked in the casino, where she met Paddock. She had become financially dependent on him since moving in. Motive is still very speculatory, with mental breakdown being the most likely reason. He had no political or religious affiliations and no debts, but there was some evidence of a changed state of mind in the previous 12 months. Around this time Paddock had begun to stockpile weapons and became very hypersensitive to smells. There was also some family history of deviant behaviour, as his father was a prolific bank robber, featuring on the FBI Most Wanted List. His brother too was a criminal, with a history of child pornography. An interesting piece of procedural difference was revealed when Ken spoke of the US tactic of introducing stress into interviews. Throughout the early interviews, officers worked hard to build a rapport, just as we are taught to do. But during the later sessions, they check the consistency of answers by putting an interviewee under stress. They shout and throw stuff around the room; all this is usually agreed previously with the lawyers, as it is an accepted interview tactic. As you might expect, much has happened, both procedurally, and in the lives of the Officers since 2017. All of the attending officers were subject to critical stress debrief. All of their physiological treatment was provided in addition to any health insurance. It is rumoured that some officers falsely claimed to be there, with one possibly receiving an award he did not merit. As you might expect, there were some Officers who froze and could not go forward. One in particular was disciplined after unreasonably refusing to enter Paddock’s room and ordering his junior officer not to do so either. The date of 1st October has attained great significance to the local Officers. Detectives are required to join their uniformed colleagues in wearing their uniforms as a mark of respect, on just three days each year; Police Memorial Day, 9/11 and 1st October. A memorial medal has also been produced for 1st October.

POLICE WORLD Professional Development Supplement

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