Emergency Operations Plan Essays

Emergency Operations Plan Essays Emergency Operations Plan Essay Emergency Operations Plan Essay Emergency Operations Plan Roland Brown University of Phoenix Critical Incident Management CJA/560 Ian Moffett November 22, 2010 Emergency Operations Plan Emergency planning has changed very much since the 9/11 attacks. Law enforcement agencies focus more on prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. With planning and efforts made by law enforcement agencies, the law enforcement community can provide a comprehensive emergency management and security program (EMHSD/MSP, 2009). The first phase in producing an effective emergency program is prevention. This phase of emergency planning prevents emergencies from occurring. The importance of proactive patrolling is crucial in the prevention of some criminal activity that could lead to an emergency (EMHSD/MSP, 2009). The second phase in producing an effective emergency plan includes the preparedness of law enforcement agencies. Preparedness includes developing, researching, and testing of risk assessments, emergency personnel, notification systems, resources and supplies, and information dissemination. Preparedness will also help coordinate and develop plans to save lives. The third phase in emergency planning is response; this phase provides the assistance during an emergency to prevent further injuries, property damage, and help to accelerate recovery. The response phase also includes the implementation of emergency operational plans, the issuance of public warnings, field operations, and development of incident action plans, and the command, and control of the incident (EMHSD/MSP, 2009). Next, recovery is the fourth phase in emergency planning; this phase is responsible for the recovery and restoring of all systems. Recovery in short-term operations focuses on the return of all vital life support systems including roads, power, water and sewer, and food services to minimum operations. Part of the recovery process also include relocation, counseling, financial aid, and housing. The final phase is the mitigation phase; this long-term phase is designed to prevent the probability of a disaster. The mitigation phase includes activity that will reduce the effects of disasters that include planning, educating the public, enforcing codes, and the use of land management. Planning for an emergency can help ease the cost of a disaster (EMHSD/MSP, 2009). The city of Detroit is a major urban city in this country with approximately 850,000 residents; the city is no stranger to major incidents. In 2004, at the International Freedom Fireworks, a lone gunman fired shots into a large crowd resulted in nine people hurt. The pandemonium this event caused was astronomical, not only was it difficult to attend to the victims, the search for the shooter and setting up a perimeter was difficult. The city of Detroit emergency plan as illustrated by the Detroit Police Department was designed and calculated to handle most emergencies in the event of a major incident. City of Detroit Emergency Plan Emergency incident response was designed to provide general guidelines for responding to a broad range of emergency situation. Examples of these emergency situations may include a barricaded gunman or woman, civil disorder, bomb threats, hazardous material, disasters made naturally or man-made or other incidents of occurrence where a rapid and organized response is needed for an emergency situation. The city of Detroit Police Department shall institute the Incident Command System when responding to an emergency situation. Whenever the Detroit Police Department is the lead agency in responding to an emergency, the responding officer shall assume the tactical control of the emergency as the incident commander. However, in those instances which the Detroit Police Department is not the lead agency such as a hazardous material response or three alarm fires, then the first officers arriving on the scene will provide the initial command until the lead agency arrives (DPD, 2010). Thereafter, a supervisor of the lead agency will then take over the command of the emergency situation. The first officers arriving on the scene will remain and continue to provide law enforcement duties and assist at the direction of the incident commander. In the emergency response procedures the fundamental priorities for officers include Preservation of life Scene stabilization Suspect apprehension Property preservation Evidence collection Environmental protection (DPD, 2010). The City of Detroit emergency plan provides comprehensive instruction for every person involved in responding to the emergency. The first arriving officers on the scene shall perform in sequential order several important procedures: Make an initial assessment of the situation Advise dispatch the nature and scope of the emergency Identify equipment needed and proper personnel Advise on safe avenue to approach scene Notify officer in-charge of district desk (DPD, 2010). The incident commander when arriving on the scene shall first notify dispatch that he or she is taking command of the situation. Second, the incident commander will establish a field command post and staging area in a safe location. The incident commander will also find a way to contain and isolate the situation by setting up a perimeter around the situation. The incident commander is also responsible for providing other key functions including: Delegating authority for other essential operations Site isolation Perimeter security Strike forces Media relations In emergency situations which the Special Response Team is activated the commanding officer of the unit will then assume control of the situation from the incident commander, and all communications will flow through him or her. The SRT commander will not make any decisions without prior consent from the assistant chief or the Chief of Police. In the event the ac or chief is not available, the SRT commander will make any final decisions (DPD, 2010). After careful review of the City of Detroit Emergency Plans several improvements to the plan need revising. In using the SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats), the city of Detroit Emergency Plan is evaluated in the below synopsis. |Strength |Weakness |Initial Officer observation |In most cases an officer’s observation may not gather all the information needed to make an | | |assessment. | |Proper notification to dispatch |Most agencies use the same frequency channel, in the event of an emergency jamming up the | | |channel will lock out other units from responding to other emergencies. | |Identifying other personnel |When officers first arrive on the scene, if the officer does not make the proper assessment | |needed on scene |he or she will slow down the efforts of containing the situation. |Proper approach to the scene |None | |Notification of desk personnel |Oftentimes officers arriving first on the scene may not have all the correct information to | | |provide to the desk or in some cases time to inform the desk supervisor if immediate care is | | |needed. |Delegation of authority |Unfortunately, the Detroit Police Department uses a mobilization system that notifies | | |executives when such an emergency occurs and when executives arrive on the scene right after | | |each other the command structure is lost. |Site isolation |None | |Perimeter security | During an emergency situation security personnel cannot always secure the scene if casualties| | |and the wounded need attending to during the initial contact. | |Strike forces |None | |Media relations |The incident commander may allow too much information out to the media that may cause | | |citizens to worry. |Opportunity |Threats | |Preserving life |Conditions at the scene could pose a problem for the victim and the first responders. | |Controlling the scene |The scene conditions could fall apart and pose a threat to first responders at the scene. | |Apprehending suspects at the |If the suspect remains at the scene, it is possible he or she may use other citizens in a | |scene |hostage situation. |Preserving property |While at the scene minimizing the destruction to property would help avoid hazardous | | |conditions once the emergency situation is under control. | |Collection of evidence |Based on the emergency the collection of evidence may cause a hazard if the collection is | | |made immediately when conditions are unstable. |Environmental protection |During hazardous waste emergencies the contamination of the scene will cause irreparable harm| | |to the community. | The emergency plan identifies certain issues a law enforcement agency can achieve in a reasonable amount of time. In addition, law enforcement agencies should avoid overly simplistic goals. However, the goal of the agency should challenge the officers within the boundaries and capabilities of those working toward the goal. The creation of a goal-oriented agency can lead to new enthusiasm among the officers and the mission he or she serves (NetMBA, n. d. ). References Detroit Police Department, (2010). Detroit Police Manual. Series 300 Support Services. Retrieved on November 22, 2010, from the DPD network system. EMHSD/MSP, (2009). Local Emergency Planning Workbook. Retrieved on November 22, 2010, from the website: http://michigan. gov/msp/0,1607,7-123-1593_3507-14743,00. html NetMBA, (n. d. ). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved on November 23, 2010, from the website: netmba. com/strategy/swot/