CBRN and Hazmat Incidents at Major Public Events: Planning and Response

CHAPTER 9

Police, Law Enforcement, Intelligence, and Security Preparedness

Prevention of and response to CBRN/HAZMAT incidents sits upon the bedrock of good conventional security and policing practices. An event can have the best CBRN/ HAZMAT responders in the world but still fail miserably if the conventional security effort is in shambles. But there is every chance that a good conventional security effort can cover up for a shambolic CBRN/HAZMAT effort merely by doing a good job at deterrence and prevention.

The law-enforcement and police sector plays a critical role in emergency preparedness. Unfortunately, in many places around the world, readiness to operate in CBRN/ HAZMAT conditions and to effectively deal with the aftermath of such incidents lags behind that of colleagues in the fire service or the military. However, the responsibility of enforcing laws and providing for the safety of a nation's citizenry does not evaporate the minute the operating environment becomes difficult. Police, law enforcement, and security services need to ensure that they can properly support preparedness and response at major events. This section highlights some of the steps that can be taken in this regard. Having been a CBRN specialist in a law-enforcement agency and having been embedded with police officers at many major events, I can assure you that this section is drawn heavily from personal experience.

Like the other chapters in Part III, this section concentrates on the planning and preparedness ...