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The First Three Minutes: Law Enforcement’s Role in Crisis Management
Captain Dennis L. Potter, Jefferson County (CO) Sheriff’s Department, is a 32-year veteran of law enforcement and holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University. His experience in crisis management includes assignments as the Incident Commander at the 2002 Hayman Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history, and Operations Officer in charge of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. Captain Potter lectures widely on critical incident management and is co-author of Managing Disorder: Law Enforcement’s Role in Critical Incidents (Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall Publishers, 2003), ISBN# 0-13-112509-5; www.policetrainingstore.com.
Law enforcement is an unforgiving business. The expanding scope and sophistication of critical incident management requires everyone in law enforcement to employ immediate and decisive action in order to lessen the adverse effects of the incident on the community. Whether the crisis is a school shooting, a hostage situation, a major wildfire, a sniper, a homicide, a riot, a line of duty death, or any other really bad thing, agencies must rely on their first responders to adapt, plan, and react appropriately under the most complex and stressful of situations. In the initial three minutes, as the crisis unfolds to varying degrees of severity, the first responding officers make the decisions that will forever impact the agency, the community, and, ultimately, their careers. Any failure to manage the chaos within this time frame, serves only to interfere with the agency’s future ability to successfully manage the consequences of the incident.
Retired San Diego Police Sergeant William Wolf gave an excellent presentation of the “Incident Command System” at the San Diego Conference in 2001 (See CALEA Update No. 78). Lieutenant Tim Jones also wrote an interesting article in the October 2002 CALEA Update (No. 80) describing an innovative training curriculum used by the Roanoke City (VA) Police Department to raise “the tactical and technical proficiency of first responding law enforcement officers to…any type of potential terrorist threat” (Jones, 7). The critical incident management perspectives of both of these police departments speak to my contention that agencies must provide options for first responders. Since first responders cannot develop a static response plan or use a “grand theory of incident command”, providing options in determining response priorities will facilitate their ability to immediately problem solve and make decisions. This is vitally important to consider.
When something really bad happens, the initial response strategies are developed from the front seat of a patrol car, not from a command officer’s desk at headquarters. First responders should be expected by their agency to adequately predict the future evolution of the crisis, be creative in deploying themselves and others, and have courage, self-confidence, and flexibility. From these expectations, first responders make their decisions. It is incumbent on agency managers to give first responders the latitude to make these initial decisions. You may not agree with the decisions made by your first responders, but you must work with them. Understand that they are on the scene doing the best they can.
Decisions made by first responders are normally influenced by five factors. The first factor is the first responders’ selection of deployment protocols, such as tactical deployment, setting up perimeters, or initiating evacuations. The effectiveness of agency policies in dealing with critical incidents is the second factor. The third is the professional maturity of the first responders. The furtherance of partnerships between the Agency and other emergency providers is the fourth factor. The fifth factor concerns your agency preparedness through training.
Deployment Factor – the Options: Within seconds of arriving on the scene of a critical incident, the first responder must select a deployment option based on the totality of the circumstances. Determining the most appropriate course of action is not easy, but must be quickly made to keep chaos from escalating. Based on the circumstances, the standard, appropriate response can include the evacuation of affected people, setting up perimeters, and establishing incident command. However, tactical intervention by first responders is an issue with which many agencies find it difficult to deal. SWAT teams are not the answer. SWAT is used for specific problems that do not require immediate attention, such as a surgeon operating on a tumor, and not for stopping blood loss in an emergency room. In reality, first responders are in the best position to stop the bleeding and stabilize the scene, not the SWAT team. Problems surface when police agencies instruct their first responders to set up perimeters and wait for the SWAT team. This may not be practical. Emotionally and professionally, first responders want—and are expected by the community—to tactically intervene when necessary.
If tactical intervention is not necessary, first responders must choose another deployment option. Setting up a perimeter may be acceptable, as long as this option is effective. The purpose of a perimeter is to isolate a threat, prevent unwarranted trespass on a crime scene, or provide security. In the event of a shooting at a high school, it is an act of futility for first responders to successfully keep students from fleeing simply by establishing a perimeter. However, two responders can maintain an adequate perimeter on a single house suspected of harboring a suspect. The value of setting up perimeters during a crisis is contingent upon the ultimate goal of keeping people in, or keeping people out.
Evacuations may be necessary, however, the urgency of the crisis will dictate whether the first responders physically relocate the citizens, or simply “evacuate in place”. Notifying citizens to lock their doors and windows, pull their draperies, and stay away from windows is an option. If citizens are displaced through evacuation, they become wards of the agency, and first responders must be aware of providing housing, security, and care for those evacuated.
Initiating incident command is the function of supervisors and managers who arrive on the scene subsequent to the first responders. Incident command is excellent methodology for command and control after the chaos of the crisis is under control, but is premature if first responders have not made their initial tactical decisions. Perhaps a better term for “incident command” is “consequence management”. Since the decisions made in the first three minutes by first responders define the course of the crisis through its entirety, incident command is the methodology used to manage the consequences of those initial decisions.
The Role of Your Policies: Keep your policy manual simple. With few exceptions, your employees will consult their policy manual only when they are under disciplinary review, are transferred to other duties, or seeking a promotion. Develop a more “user-friendly” policy manual. Separate training issues from policy issues. Remove the word “shall” from any performance-related policies, e.g., “you shall set up a perimeter” to “setting up a perimeter is an option based on the totality of circumstances”. In addition to defining procedural concepts, the agency policy manual should underscore your agency mission statement and values. Value statements define the character of your agency. They become shared performance expectations for all employees. Agency values, such as innovation, partnership, accountability, integrity and courage, should be used to set agency standards for recruiting, discipline, training and commendations.
Professional Maturity Factor: Decisions made by first responders in the first three minutes will be judged operationally and politically. Chaos escalates without timely decisions. First responders analyze crisis by determining what is the real problem. They develop plans to mitigate the problem, reduce as many hazards as possible and then decide on the best course of action. One of the rules of law enforcement is that no excuses for failure are ever any good. It is not a profession in which forgiveness in readily given. Heroism is encouraged, heroics is not. First responders must have enough force and leadership to display the phenomenon of “cold courage”. According to noted historian Douglas Southall Freeman in the 1993 study on Leadership (Stuart W. Smith, ed., White Mane Press, Shippensburg, PA), personal courage is the self-mastery of soul and mind. It becomes a sense of purpose. Freeman uses the term “cold courage” to describe the type of courage that somehow gives a person a sharper mind in times of crisis. In law enforcement, cold courage comes from a person’s faith in their training, their physical fitness, their support from agency management, their equipment, and their faith in others who will be tested in the same way. No one can tell who is going to rise to the occasion until the test comes. Agency management must understand that some responders will fail, and some will disappoint. Innovative leadership and constructive management can prevent first responders from losing their initiative during crisis. First responders should feel assured that well-intentioned mistakes will not lead to professional ruin.
Partnership Factor – Collaboration: Meet with fire/EMS, other law enforcement agencies, representatives of private industry, special districts, regional emergency management agencies, local and regional hazardous material responders, and volunteer organizations to discuss the mutual benefits of coordinated response to critical incidents. A communications plan should be established. Protocols or interagency agreements should be created to share in the responsibility of providing necessary equipment for use by participating agencies. Meetings among all collaborating agencies should be scheduled every quarter.
Training Factor: Your agency’s training program should include sessions on decision-making and real life applications of various response options during times of crisis. Your training program should include realistic skills training, such as movement firearms shooting and barricade shooting. Realistic training provides the assurance needed for first responders to adapt, react and intervene with confidence during the most dynamic of tactical situations. First responders must be trained in various disciplines of tactical intervention. Although many agencies are adopting the National Tactical Officer’s Association RAID technique for tactical interventions, the new Close Quarter Battle or Emergency Intervention Team training taught by military personnel and adapted for civilian use, should be explored as another option.
Many training courses in “incident command” are available. The National Wildfire Coordinating Group, Louisiana State University, and FEMA are only a few of the myriad of suppliers who offer courses in consequence management. Testing your agency’s efficiency in consequence management is best done with an annual tabletop or mock critical incident exercise. These exercises should evaluate the effectiveness of your training, analyze the management strength of your police commanders, and test your policy and your procedures. Using community members, such as educators, business owners, and clergy, as evaluators of your exercises will only strengthen your agency’s credibility with your citizens when a real crisis occurs.
· Identification of Rank - Adhere to standard military definitions. This will prevent confusion during multi-agency responses. The rank of lieutenant and above represents command staff, while sergeants represent line supervision. Confusion begins when the rank of “commander”, or “special duty officer” or “manager” is introduced to crisis management. Your agency rank structure may be sound in your judgement, but may be confusing to other assisting agencies.
· Recruiting and Promotions - Assign your best employees as recruiters, who will naturally select extraordinary people. Recruit problem solvers. Adhere to uncompromising recruiting standards, even though maintaining the sanctity of the standards may affect the agency’s ability to readily fill vacancies. Be prepared to sacrifice numbers of eligible applicants for a lower number of quality applicants.
· Promote only those employees who represent the best your agency has in chaos management. Design promotional evaluations to measure the applicants’ history of managing chaos, ability to emotionally deal with stress, prior demonstration of leadership and innovation, decision making under pressure, and the ability to solve problems involving complex scenarios. Peace officers are seldom better than the leader who commands them. It is important to select those who demonstrate leadership qualities. This will ensure the spirit of confidence and faith throughout your agency.
· Award Programs - Re-evaluate what standards your agency uses to issue performance awards. Be very careful that everyone is considered when making decisions on what actions are really above the call of duty. For example: a SWAT officer apprehending a suspect is expected, and therefore, should not rise to the level of an award. However, a records clerk who volunteers to be the administrative aid to an incident commander at a crisis scene, clearly would perform above the normal duty assignment, and therefore, due recognition. Failure to issue awards judiciously can ruin the morale of your agency. Consider issuing “unit citations” instead of individual awards.
· Profile Your Employees - It is important for agency managers to know if their employees have faith in their training and their equipment. Managers need to know whether their employees have faith in their peers’ commitment to duty. Employees should feel empowered by management to make decisions in times of crisis. They should feel motivated to perform and feel encouraged to increase their personal responsibility and achievement. The level of pride employees harbor toward their agency provides a strong foundation for stability among responders during a crisis. Take the time to talk with your employees.
· Equipment - Consideration for tactical equipment should be mutually distributed between Agency SWAT teams and uniformed officers. All uniformed personnel should have access to Kevlar helmets, ballistic shields, goggles, gas masks, and other items appropriate for tactical use. In addition to tactical equipment, all supervisors should have access to area maps, satellite photographs of high-risk installations such as dams, government buildings, abortion clinics, and schools. The agency should have plans for the deployment of COWS (Cells on Wheels) to prevent any disruption of cell phone usage between scene personnel and dispatch. Dry erase markers make exceptional tools in making urgent diagrams on the hood or trunk of a patrol car!
· Line of Duty Deaths - Your agency must be prepared to submit the necessary decedent benefit reports and forms to the appropriate sources within a reasonable period of time to prevent unnecessary delays in spousal/family benefits. These forms include the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund, IACP Tribute to Slain Officers, Worker’s Compensation, employment insurance claims, Veteran’s affairs and Social Security. Agency Management should be trained in the processes and requirements associated with peace officer funerals and burials. Be assured that every employee, as well as the decedent’s family, will be scrutinizing your management team’s competency in dealing with the line of duty death. Criticism from your employees is more hurtful than you will ever receive from the community.
Your agency will be forced
to alter traditional police practices in order to support the extraordinary
tactics and
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