San Bernardino Attack and Coordination among Agencies to Emergencies - Case Study Example

Case Study: San Bernardino Attack and Coordination among Agencies to Emergencies December 2, 2015, 11. 30 A.M staff of the environment and health department are gathered inside the Inland Regional Center (IRC) for training. The venue of the meeting was used previous year for a drill on active shooter by the members. Just like to replay the events of the year before, a masked man storms the conference hall, he starts shooting indiscriminately. Confusion rings the area as people try to free the room for safety. A female assailant masked and clad in all black follows. By the time guns are silent, 36 people lie lifeless, and 59 others are injured. The staff later confirm the two assailants as a man and his wife (Rizwan Farook). Furthermore, they confirm that Farook is a co-worker. Importantly, Farook had attended the meeting earlier in the day but left acting strangely (Sutton et al., 2014). Further conversation reveals that Farook was a gentle and kind man, but his behaviors changed since he visited the Middle East and brought a wife. The paper will use the example of the San Bernardino attack to show the relationship between the federal, state and local government in responding to terrorism. The first responders to the incident were not specifically trained tactic units such as SWAT, they were regular (typical) law enforcement officers. The first four officers that arrived at the scene were a lieutenant, detective from SBPD, patrol and motor officer. The team of officers from these different units and department organized into an assault team and entered the building (Corrado, Cohen & Davies, 2017). A second team consisting of a similar mixture of officers entered the room from the North. Now the two team closed in on the attackers. However, by this time the assailants had already left the scene. Being as it may, the officers went floor to floor clearing up and checking for the shooters. As the news trickled in, the operations got more organized obviously for expediency in gathering intelligence that could help apprehend the perpetrators or neutralize them. The San Berahidno police chief took charge of the situation which was majorly chaotic as emergency and police vehicles moved in. The police needed first to search the room for secondary devices. It is a strategy of terrorists to start with a minor attack, wait for people to gather (onlookers) then unleash the second wave of attack (Cutter, Richardson & Wilbanks, 2014). Purposely, it explains the importance of crowd control in the case of any emergency situations. The FBI SWAT unit discovered a suspicious package on the first floor. It turned out that it was Farook bag that he had intentionally left behind containing an improvised Explosive Device (IED) for the purpose of detonating upon the arrival of the first responders. The Sherriff brought in the bomb squad, and everybody was asked to move to a safe distance. The bomb squad then detonated the device. The building was now clear, and responders could enter the crime scene to rescue the wounded. As Lieutenant recounted, the arrival of the probation officers, FBI, SPBD among others brought confusion since there was not a chain of command. Some of the officers were just moving in and out of the IRC, and others were wondering what to do with the wounded while others stood sentry training their weapons on the third floor where they suspected the active shooter was. Establishing a chain of command is paramount in safely dealing with a problem such as what happened at San Berahidno. Importantly, it improves coordination in the actions of each group, prevents incidences of friendly fire exchange among other possible blunders. By talking to some witnesses, the police gathered information about the attacker and a black SUV that had been seen leaving the area. Witnesses had trouble remembering the number plates of the SUV. However, police acted on every evidence that was given conducting the search for names of the suspect and the car. Eventually, the police traced the SUV to Redlands neighborhoods. However, the suspect left the compound just when the police were arriving. The suspect took an interstate lane and was speeding away from the pursuing police vehicles. Along the way, traffic patrol officers were looped in (Bowman & Kearney, 2015). The confrontation between the assailants and the police took place at a traffic snarl-up location. The blaring sirens of the police vehicles were meant to make the suspect surrender. For the moment, nothing seemed too happened, then the Deputy Sheriffs who was driving on a raised embankment reported seeing the suspects putting on something that looked like bullet vests. Suddenly, bullets started flying in the direction of the police officers. The officers responded and pursued the SUV until when it rammed into a roadblock. The shooting at this point became intense as the shooters refused to surrender. By the time shooting ceased, three police officers were nursing bullet wounds. The suspects had taken more than 13 bullet hits to the body and the head. The case illustrates the need for coordination among the different groups responding to a terrorist attack. The events of 9/11 gave the government reasons to develop a coordination mechanism in responding to this kind of the attack. The first step is to create integrated command incidents and posts. Such integration allows for the easy control and utilization of the available human resources. For example, the lieutenant took charge of the situations so that every group that arrived got the briefing from the post. Upon the arrival of the state and federal agents, he rescinded the command to them specifically because they have a better experience in crisis management. Furthermore, coordination allows for different agencies to cooperate and thus rely on the strengths of each unit to better resolve an issue. For example, SWAT team is better equipped and skilled in handling an actual shooter incidence. However, SWAT may not be competent in controlling the crowd that would gather out of curiosity. The FBI provides experience and expertise in investigating the suspecting and tracking them down. The Sherriff may be charged with relaying news or updates of the incident to the public. Collectively, the team works to locate the suspect and arrest him or her quickly. Secondly, it combs the scene for secondary explosives (Cutter, Richardson & Wilbanks, 2014). Once the area is cleared, rescue teams are brought in. The FBI and other federal agencies such as Department of Homeland Security carry on with the investigation of the attack to unearth whether other attacks could be in the pipeline. Consequently, the agencies will use the intelligence to avert any further attacks. In conclusion, the United States has been a target of the terrorist group for several times. The 9/11 stands out as the most severe and gruesome. However, attacks such as San Berahidno presents even bigger challenges due to the dangers posed by lone wolfs. The solution in averting such attacks lies in coordination and collaboration among the state, local, and federal agencies. References Bowman, A. O. M., & Kearney, R. C. (2015). State and local government. Nelson Education. Corrado, R. R., Cohen, I. M., & Davies, G. (2017). 11 Terrorism Crime Prevention Policies in Liberal Democracies: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Options. In Crime Prevention: International Perspectives, Issues, and Trends (pp. 283-316). CRC Press. Cutter, S. L., Richardson, D. B., & Wilbanks, T. J. (2014). The geographical dimensions of terrorism. Routledge. Hambridge, N., Howitt, A., & Giles, D. (2017). Coordination in Crises: Implementation of the National Incident Management System by Surface Transportation Agencies. Homeland Security Affairs. Retrieved from https://www. hsaj. org/articles/13773. Sutton, J., Spiro, E. S., Fitzhugh, S., Johnson, B., Gibson, B., & Butts, C. T. (2014, May). Terse message amplification in the Boston bombing response. In Proceedings of the 11th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 612-621). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University. Read More