The Role of a Police Forward Commander - Assignment Example

Constable Development Section CDP3-2 Managing an Incident' (v2011) Assignment Template (v2011) Note: you must be on pay point 1.4 to submit this assignment Name : Triple click to enter your Name Reg No : Triple click to enter your Reg No Direction : Part 1: You are required assume the role of a police forward commander and discuss your duties and response to a major incident as outlined in the scenario. You are required to address all of the areas as outlined in the marking guide. Part 2: Evaluation is through the completion of four short answer insert questions. Word Limit: 2900 words Please ensure you complete the Assignment Cover Sheet and sign the 'Declaration' on the first page. Note: There is a maximum word limit for each insert. The limit is indicated at the beginning of each insert. Your word limit should remain within ten per cent either side of the maximum allowable. Assessment Part 1 Title: Evaluate the Major Incident outlined in the following scenario, taking into account your responsibilities as the Acting On-Scene Commander for the management of the incident and management of the scene. Introduction: Part 1 of your assessment will allow you an opportunity to illustrate how well you can express yourself in an analytical way. Preliminary: Part 1 assesses your learning skills associated with this module. You should have substantially completed the module Time Out activities before attempting this assignment. How your assignment will be assessed: To be assessed as competent in your presentation you must demonstrate your ability to address all of the legislative and procedural issues relating to the management of the incident and management of the scene. A breakdown of the criteria upon which the assignment will be assessed is presented in the marking guide attached to the cover sheet. Each of the issues raised in the marking guide should be incorporated into your assignment. Insert 1: 2000 words You are working a 2pm – 10pm shift and you are the senior officer in the car when VKR requires you to respond to a traffic incident at the intersection of Michel Road and John Street, Dalby at 3.30pm. The information you receive is as follows: You are advised that a vehicle appears to have lost control and smashed into Anklebiters Day Care Centre. The informant at the scene states that the truck owned by Heck’s Waste Disposal (a local company) has lost control as it turned at the intersection and collided firstly with a parked Ford Sedan before crossing the footpath and smashing into the front wall of the day care centre. The damaged Ford Sedan is partially blocking John Street. The informant provides information that there appears to fuel leaking from the truck. Injuries are unknown at this time but the informant states she can hear children screaming from inside the day care centre. The informant also advised there appears a number of people who they think are parents of the children have arrived at the scene. You are required to write an essay response in relation to how you would respond to this incident as the senior officer. Identify and evaluate the action you would take at incremental steps during the management of this incident, assuming the role of the Police Forward Commander. You are to ensure that you cover all of the areas as per the Marking Guide. (HINT: Use the IMP as a guide and reference legislation and policy to support your actions, you may wish to use headings as per the marking guide to ensure you cover all the areas.) As a senior officer responding to a traffic incident that occurred at an intersection of Michael Road and John Street, Calbly at 3.30 pm. As a Police Forward Commander, this paper will discuss my respond to the management of the incident. When I first arrive at the scene of the accident as a Police Forward Commander I had to ensure that certain police protocols have been followed. First, the police officer which were dispatched at the scene of the accident have reported to the location of the accident to their respective dispatch or department. Second, police officers should take note of the area in which the accident occurred such as passing vehicles or amount of speed allowed at the road, the number of lanes which was affected by the accident and the road surface conditions. It was necessary to make sure police officers and fellow responders to equip themselves with necessary protective gears. One of the ways in which this was possible is through the establishment of a “control zone” to allow the traffic to continue on the other section of the road without endangering either the police officers or the victims of the accident. The third factor which I consider to be of importance was the actual accident and the parties which were affected by the accident. Because the victims involved at the accidents were mostly children, I had to asked for medical assistance for the affected parties, for example I had to asked for assistance from fire and rescue department. The next step I did after establishing the safety of both police officers and other responders have been guaranteed. I went ahead to “cordon” the scene of the accident. I did this for the reasons of rescue and emergency services. In addition, this scene of the accident qualifies as a crime scene and I had to take the necessary steps that will ensure the scene of crime was protected. On the rescue phase, I was able to co-ordinate the rescue activities at the accident scene to rescue the children who were stranded at their classroom at the same time to recover the evidences as part of the accident investigation that would be carried out later after the accident victims have been rescued. Together with Fire and Rescue Department we developed a plan to rescue the children stuck at the Anklebiters Day Care Centre. This process involved the formation of a Scene Evidence Recovery Group, which was made up H & S advisors, Fire and Rescue Department, and the police officers at the scene of the accident. This group main objective was to determine protocols and priorities for operating and ensure safe operating practices. However, in this situation, as a senior police officer I established a normal operating system of scene access control. This system involves logging and escorting people who need urgent access to the scene of accident and the inner cordon area such as utilities companies, specialist medical staff, salvagers, district surveyors and conservators. In the rescue plan, any unauthorized person will not authorize to gain access to the ‘rescue zone’ without the authority of the on-site fire service commander. There were some injuries at the scene of the accident. In order to expedite treatment and care to those seriously injured, and to avoid wasting medical resources on those victims who are less seriously injured or not injured at all. As a senior officer, I was in-charge in developing a system of rapid “triage” called “START” ("Special Triage and Rapid Transport"). In our situation, parties which were involved in the accident were evaluated by ambulance crews. Initial findings such as vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate, level of consciousness and respiration are recorded on the triage tag, in order for the victim to be monitored and to “retriage” if the condition of the victim improves or becomes worse. The “First Priority” (Red) was given to the driver of the lorry and his assistance. The two victims were given the first priority because they had life-threatening injuries such as head injuries, severe bleeding, and internal injuries. The “priority one” victims were given first aid at the staging area before being rushed to the nearest hospital for further treatment. The “Second Priority” (Yellow) was given to pass-by near the Day Care Centre. This involved moderate injured victims of the accident; and they involved the secretary and parents which were dropping off their children at the centre. In the “Third Priority” (Green) it involved children at the Day Care Centre. This involved victims which are not seriously injured or not injured at all. In this situation, the children were escorted to a staging area out of the “accident scene” to await delayed evaluation and treatment. Although, the children at Anklebiters Day Care Centre were not injured, I directed the police officers at the scene of accidents together with ambulance personnel to calm the children who were appeared to be shocked from the incident. One of the roles and responsibilities of police officers and ambulance crew members is to be able to stabilize and treat the victims involved in an accident before they are being taken to the hospital safety; it is importance for police officers to take care of the incident immediately whilst be in control and to remain calm. “Log of Events” is an important tool that has been found to be beneficial to police officers when carrying their investigation of the occurrence of an accident. The primary benefit of “log of events” tool is to allow a senior police to keep written records of what inspired during the accident in a chronological order. The “Log of Events” tools will also come in handy when the police officer is relieved, either by the court or when conducting an accident debriefing either with other police officers attending the accident or senior officers. Additionally, the “log of event” tool will allow the police officers to properly scrutiny how the accident was managed and which course of action could have been best used by the senior police officer. In the case study, on the confirmation of the accident that occurred at the intersection of Michel Road and John Street, Dalby at 3.30pm. As a senior police officer I started by recording the time in which the accident occurred and the date of that particular accident; and this was in accordance with Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000. In addition, I went ahead to record the name of the police officer who indicated the incident to the VKR. Other important information that would have helped the police officer investigating the accident were also recorded into the “log of event” tool. The information included: the full description of the accident when I arrived at the scene of the accident; with the help of digital camera I was able to capture this part; the specific location of the accident; which was at the intersection of Michel Road and John Street, Dalby at 3.30pm; I was able to record the boundary of the scene of the accident; I also recorded which type of resources was allocated at the scene of the accident; how many police officers were deployed at the scene of accident; in our situation, only 20 police officers were deployed at the scene of the accident; and lastly, I was able to record the material and equipment that were used in the rescue and emergency services that were deployed at the scene of the accident. It was part of my responsibility to record and preserve the evidence as it existed at the scene of the accident after all the victims of the accident have been rescued and appropriate treatment given to them. In the documentation of the accident at the scene, I photographed the scene, interviewed the eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident, and briefly inspected the lorry which was involved in the accident. Additionally, I was able to measure and documented all other evidence that was believed to be associated with the accident. Schedule 6 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 give the law enforcement officer powers to investigate the car accident scene in order to determine if there are any traffic rules violations, but not toward a civil lawsuit. Many a times evidences at the scene of accident such as glass deposits, tire treads, side mirrors, luggage racks may be preserved till the conclusion of the investigation. In addition, knowledge of the location of the vehicle which has been involved in the accident is important since it will help the accident investigator in reconstructing how the accident occurred. With the help of the accident reconstructionist we were able to inspect the scene of the accident immediately. This accident reconstruction allowed me to document and gathers all the relevant evidence that were importance to my investigation. The whole process included: taking pictures of the roadway, the vehicles itself, and all relevant physical evidence. In addition, I also carried out preliminary evaluation of the condition of the lorry which was involved in the accident. This preliminary investigation included: lamps, tires, brakes, steering system, and occupant safety systems. Preliminary investigation gave me a distinct advantage before the vehicle was towed and the recovery process of the lorry would have caused further damages. In the investigation of the accident, I found that the left-front wheel of the lorry “busted”. This evidence was supported by an eye witnesses accounts that were present when the accident happened. They told me that they heard a loud noise which followed the lorry swaying in both directions. In addition, the eye witnesses also told me the lorry was seen to over speeding moments before the accident occurred. The last bit at the scene of the accident was to involve the media. The reason for doing this was because the accident was in the public domain. In addition, during the month many accidents happened in Queensland particularly at the same intersection. All these accidents that occurred, the police officers were blamed for not maintaining law and order in the roads. The extent of the media response to the accident is dependent upon the nature of the accident. In our case, the accident was a major one although there were little casualties involved. Therefore as a senior police officer, and the one in charge of the investigation into the accident, I became the representative of the QPS and it was my role to respond accordingly to the media questions. Immediately the accident occurred, as the senior officer at the scene of accident, I was able to use the media to assist me in directing other motorists to use other routes in order to avoid other accidents or congestions in the same road since it was closed for the better part of the evening. Assessment Phase 2 Insert 2: 300 Words Describe the Incident Command System (ICS) as utilised by the QPS. Include a discussion on the five interlocking functional roles. Incident Command System (ICS) is a management tool for control, command and coordination of a response and provide a mean to an individual to coordinate rescue efforts of stabilizing the accident or incident and protecting property, life and the environment. In most situations, Incident Command System (ICS) have been noted to use principles that have been readily proven to improve effectiveness and efficiency in a business setting and the same principle have been found to work the in the emergency response. Incident Command System (ICS) can be applied to any type of accident or incident and has been based on five interlocking functional roles, which include: Command; Operations; Planning; Intelligence; and Administration and Logistics. Command: each parties that are involved in the operation reports are supposed to take orders from one supervisor. This will eliminate confusion as a result of receiving conflicting orders from different people or variety of supervisors. when all the parties are reporting to one supervisor it improves flow of information, increase accountability and help with coordination of operation efforts. Operations: this is responsible for carrying out the response activities described in an Incident Action Plan. Planning: Involved how best rescue operations can be carried out. Intelligence: this involves collecting relevant information that concern the accident or incident such as safety or hazard information. Information should be collected according to the section 17.3.9. Administration and Logistics: this consist of: information officer; communication officers; administration and logistics officers; and any necessary assistant(s). The responsibilities of these people is to acquire facilities, materials and services that will be used to manage the incident or accident. Insert 3: 300 Words At approximately 10.00a.m you have been directed by VKR to attend an address (16 Jones St) regarding a possible domestic violence matter. You are a senior constable partnered with a junior constable. As you approach the door to the house you are informed verbally, by the male occupant, to leave the property as he has a gun and will use it. As the Police Forward Commander (PFC) you will have two uniform units and one dog unit to assist you (total of seven staff including yourself and your partner). 1. Draw on the following map to show the placement of your resources as justified in your response to part 2 of this insert. Include the positioning of your forward command post and positioning of vehicles and officers. 2. Outline what action you would take as the Police Forward Commander? Your response is only required to meet the objectives of isolation and containment and justify your positioning of your resources and the FCP on the map provided. (HINT: use the IMP as a guide.) Triple click to insert your response Insert 4: 300 Words You are requested to attend the scene of a major bush fire which is now threatening a residential area. An Inspector has been designated as the PFC. Upon taking up with the PFC he or she outlines that the Incident Command System will include you as the planning officer. You are directed to develop an evacuation plan for the residential area involved. Outline your knowledge of evacuations in incidents and what would you consider before presenting the evacuation plan to the PFC. Triple click to insert your response Reference List (Complete in alphabetical order) Triple click to insert your response Please ensure you complete the Assignment Cover Sheet and sign the 'Declaration' on the first page and include all relevant documentation as outlined in the module when sending in your assignment. Read More