Annapolis Fire Chief David Stokes has served over 40 years in public safety. He is the only person to have served as fire chief of both the Annapolis Fire Department and the Anne Arundel Fire Department. I’ve been to many different forums with the chief where people have asked him “Chief, what is it that keeps you up at night?” His response is always “active shooters.” The chief’s nightmare is well placed. Year after year, month after month and lately week after week media coverage of active assailant incidents have invaded our daily consciousness. There is no widely accepted definition that describes this behavior. An active shooter and active assailant are terms that describe an individual who is actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people.