Officials with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told the News4 I-Team the agency has launched a sweeping review into whether its officers are under-equipped and under-trained to handle major emergencies, including mass shootings, on local naval bases.
A naval official said the Sept. 16, 2013 mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. exposed possible vulnerabilities for NCIS officers.
Not all NCIS officers carry body armor, have vehicles equipped with emergency sirens, and carry the type of “long guns” that are often utilized by emergency responders, a naval official told I-Team's Scott MacFarlane.
All of these precautions could have better served the agency as it responded to shooting, in which 12 people died.
The NCIS internal review will include a study of how many agency employees should be better equipped. It will also include a review of the level of emergency response training received by agency workers. A naval official said the agency’s director wants all NCIS units worldwide reviewed for their readiness.
An NCIS agent was the first to respond to the shootings inside the Navy Yard’s Building 197. A recent report in the Navy Times said the agent ran to his car to retrieve body armor before entering the shooting scene. The report quotes a retired NCIS agent saying many others don’t carry such equipment.
