VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Since the mass shooting in Virginia Beach five years ago, the city has implemented new tools and training aimed at preventing another tragedy from ever occurring again.

One such tool is the Rave Panic Button. The mobile app allows employees to alert authorities and each other to emergency situations from an active shooter to a fire or medical event.

City and school staff have activated it dozens of times since it was implemented in October 2022.

City security director Mike Freeman said more than 80% of those activations were for emergency medical situations.

“Proving that employees and school staff are using it to save lives,” Freeman said.

Earlier this year, the city deployed R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Report Employee Situations Promptly to Enable Change Together). Using the portal, employees can now report violence, harassment, discrimination or other concerns 24 hours a day, and they can remain anonymous.

At the time of the mass shooting, the city did not have a centralized system for tracking employee complaints.

Freeman, who spent 24 years working as an FBI agent, also implemented the FBI’s Run Hide Fight training. The program, offered to all employees, teaches people how to respond in an active threat situation. After completing it, Freeman’s team also offers office walkthroughs.

They go into an employee’s workspace, showing them how to survive using what’s in reach — something as simple as a stapler can be used as a survival tool. They also help the employee think outside the box to develop a plan — and a plan B.

The new city hall, Freeman said, is an example of how building security has changed.
The lobby is protected by armed security. Security partners with police for training and they meet weekly.

A threat assessment expert also evaluates security throughout the municipal center, determining where to add things such as cameras or lights, all to ensure employees and the public are protected as much as possible.