Incident Management Systems Assisted

Public safety agencies such as police departments have long recognized this problem and have worked to develop a system of emergency management incorporating the use of common terminology span control, resource tracking, and de concept of creating a modular system. This concept of modular system is the key to the success of incident management because not all incidents are the same size. In other words, some incidents are big and required many people to be coordinated and managed. Law enforcement agencies play an important role in the incident command system.

They are designated to protect areas when is suspected terrorists or criminal activities, such as investigation, isolation of hot zones, and securing access where other first responders are performing their tasks. For example, the law enforcement agency; FEMA has and des settle and designed the equipment and personnel for different levels of explosives squads, observation aircraft such as airplanes and helicopter, mobile ground force teams, and special weapons and tactical (SWAT) teams.

These different teams are intended to help and assist when is requests between jurisdictions, ensuring that agencies count with the specific resource needed when a different agency request any help. Incident Management Systems assisted Responders from law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies which include State Police, Highway Patrols, County Sheriffs, Municipal Police and other agencies which pose officers sworn to enforce laws are those first responders that in one way or another are present on the scene when a terrorist incident occurs.

Some of these officials’ first responder’s tasks include:

•Securing the incident area or scene

•Providing emergency medical aid until help arrives

•Safeguarding personal property

•Conducting investigations

•Serving as incident commander

•Supervising scene clearance

•Assisting disabled motorists

•Directing traffic (Herron 2013).

The law enforcement jurisdiction varies over a wide area from state to state and even within a state.

State Police and Highway Patrol’s perform duties jurisdiction on State highways, county, and municipal instead police have jurisdiction off the State highway system. These two agencies have statewide coverage and many lack of resources to adequately respond to incidents on State highways in urban areas. In many locations, law enforcement agencies receive assistance from county and local agencies, but sometimes overlap jurisdiction that belong to other agencies. (Herron 2013).

Law enforcement agencies are first responders when traffic incident occurs, providing 24 hours 7 days a week emergency response. Many times, at most traffic accidents, law enforcement officers have to act alone and trained to make unilateral command decisions. The nation's law enforcement leadership is working trying to redirect efforts toward fighting terrorism; the Department of Justice had to design a program that assist local law enforcement to responding terrorist attack and threats. The name was COPS, which was put in service right after the attacks in September, 2001.

COPS helped local law enforcement to accomplish their tasks and response to terrorism by improving data and intelligence collection and processing, drawing advantages on technology, contributing to the progress communication with other public safety agencies, and encouraging helping local agencies to respond to citizen fear and prepare to assist potential victims. (Herron 2013). The best successful response to terrorism implies an array of activities, many of which are dependent on intelligence gathering activities and productive partnerships with local law enforcement, CIA, and FBI among others.

In the meantime each local community force remains distinct, and federal participation increases the level of coordination in activities. (Chapman 2002). Local law enforcement have at their disposition a large number of tools for controlling data and intelligence such as in-field laptop computers, computer aided dispatch systems, records management systems, and geographical information system. In contrast to 911, the number set aside purely for emergencies, 311 is for non-emergency calls to police, and for answering citizens' questions. Chapman 2002). Another example of an integrated information management system used by the local level is the crime analysis workstation developed in COPS grant. Also they use the crime mapping software; this instrument can be used for traditional crime situation analysis adapted for emergency terrorist event. Under such conditions, peace officers might consult it to locate critical facilities such as fire stations and hospitals, or to provide emergency mobilization maps to all officers on patrol. (Chapman 2002).

Read also: Sales and Collection Cycle

Crime mapping and information management could be used to protect against terrorism situations, usually by combining law enforcement data (arrests, citations, and accidents) with non law enforcement data such as credit records and finances, census information, taxes, license registrations of any kind, and so on. Also included among varieties of non-law enforcement information is geographic data such as floor plans, aerial photographs, three-dimensional images of buildings, sewer and water system, zoning, parcel or real states information. Chapman 2002). By using such information and materials, authorities could, obtain information on companies such as plant or farm supply stores that can be utilized as potential reservoir for ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient used in many explosive devices. In case of thievery were to occur at one of these factories or facilities, this law enforcement information could be combined with the non-law enforcement information obtained earlier to track the possible use of explosive material for terrorist purposes.

On the other hand, if officials’ investigations track an important increase in sales of any medication at pharmacies or drug stores, this could indicate and lead that a biological attack had taken place. (Campbell, Flournoy 2001). The whole system of incident response in the United States has been reconfigured and retasked since September 11, 2001 attacks. Today, first responders, law enforcement, firefighters, medical emergency personnel, and others, are able to work together, as will agencies at all level such as at the federal, state, and local.

This integration of resources will increase cooperation gathering agencies whose role in upholding public security is not recognized by the entire country. Some of these agencies are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, are associated with and in situations involving chemical, biological, and/or nuclear hazards. (Campbell, Flournoy 2001).