Rebuilding and Refocusing After Workplace Violence Occurs
Jana Monroe was CSO at Southern California Edison on December 16, 2011, when a gunman opened fire inside a Southern California Edison office building in Irwindale, California. The gunman, Andre Turner, killed two employees, and wounded two others, before committing suicide.
“For two years after that incident we rebuilt and reframed our corporate culture [towards active shooter policies],” Monroe says. “But the most immediate action items included things that people didn’t read about in the media, including providing Uber rides, food and water to many employees, as 3,000 were evacuated from the building. Our corporate executives attended the funerals of the victims and provided security to the victim’s families for five days. After that, we formed a panel that included HR, Legal, Ethics and Compliance, Corporate Security and Psychologists who spoke to employees to determine the culture that was in place. From there, we put in place new policies, procedures and training to mitigate a shooting incident from occurring again and to be prepared if another incident should occur.”