BY CHRISTOPHER TRACY
In an age of international and domestic terror, fire service and law enforcement representatives are working collaboratively with the private sector and media across the country to find ways to enhance their response capabilities and better secure their emergency scenes. This article addresses the critical role information and intelligence management plays in a terrorism incident, from the preincident development of interagency collaboration and media relationships to the coordination of information and intelligence gathered and shared by responding agencies from the event’s inception through its resolution, and addresses message control with the media, concerned parties, and the general public. Information management has become a key component of terrorist response. This article also provides background and tools to help responders better prepare and more effectively control and communicate information at terrorist events, especially in jurisdictions outside of metro and large urban areas.
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| (1) A Fairfield County (CT) Hazardous Incident Response team exercise at the Fairfield (CT) Regional Fire School. (Photos by author.) |
The fact that you are reading this indicates that you understand that you’re facing more complicated issues than the routine structure fires and motor vehicle accidents that make up most of what you and your crews prepare for. Still, if you’re not responding in Washington, D.C., or New York City, chances are you’re thinking “terrorism can’t happen here, not in my hometown.” Think again, my friend. Consider the locales of the following terrorist-related responses.
SOME TERRORIST-RELATED INCIDENTS
In Alton, Illinois, a mob burned a print shop and shot the abolitionist printers; in Lawrence, Kansas, one person was killed by falling masonry as two printing offices were destroyed by an incendiary device. In Chicago, an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police who were dispersing a public meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight police officers. In Washington, D.C., an American president was assassinated at a public performance of “Our American Cousin” at the Ford’s Theatre. And that was way back in the 1800s.
In the past quarter of a century, firefighters have responded to the following incidents, among others:
- The Murrah Building attack in Oklahoma City, which took 168 lives.
- The 1993 World Trade Center (WTC) bombing in New York City that killed six and the September 11, 2001, attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people at the WTC in New York City; in Arlington County, Virginia; and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
- Anthrax attacks that took five lives in Oxford, Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Boca Raton, Florida; and The Bronx, New York, along with countless nonlethal incident and false alarms across the country.
But, we’ve also been called out to the following types of terrorist attacks:
- Animal Liberation Front fire bombings, arsons, and malicious destruction in Tucson, Arizona; Davis, Orange, and Petaluma, California; Chicago, Illinois; North Vernon, Indiana; Franklin Township, New Jersey; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Eugene, Oregon; Lubbock, Texas; and Bellingham and Puyallup, Washington.
- Multiple bombings claimed by the Aryan Nations in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the American Front Skinheads in Tacoma, Washington, along with unattributed synagogue fire bombings in Syracuse and The Bronx, New York.
- Jewish Defense League bombings in Northridge and Santa Ana, California; Paterson, New Jersey; Brentwood, New York; and New York City.
- Ted Kaczynski’s mail bombs sent to Berkley, Sacramento, and Tiburon, California; New Haven, Connecticut; Ann Arbor, Michigan; North Caldwell, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Auburn, Washington.
- Earth First sabotage in Phoenix, Arizona, followed by Earth Liberation Front (ELF) arsons in Visalia, California; Bloomington, Indiana; East Lansing, Michigan; Suffolk County, New York; Clatskanie, Eugene, Glendale, Monmouth, and Portland, Oregon;, and the Seattle Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington.
- Eric Rudolph’s Olympic Park bomb in Atlanta, Georgia, and the clinic bombing in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Revenge of the Trees’ arson in Olympia, Washington.
And that was all before September 11, 2001. Do you still think terrorism won’t happen in your first-due district?
THE TERRORIST GOAL
So now that we’re agreed it can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone, let’s take a look at terrorism from the perspective of our adversaries. It doesn’t seem to matter much whether their cause is earth or animal liberation, Jewish Defense or the Aryan Nations, Islamist extremism, or defense of the trees. All terrorists share one common goal—the desire to control the media and manage the message to influence the widest possible audience—or, as has been said at university campus exercises in my community, “… the grenade in the office will get them on local television; it’s the secondary device in the lobby by the alarm panel taking out the entire initial response that’ll get them on CNN.” Without media control and message delivery, the incident may be viewed only as an isolated, local-based event.
Emergency responders may not have the ability to keep terrorists from spreading their message locally, but with sufficient foresight, planning, and networking, you may well be able to influence what is disseminated to the national media stage, with the added bonus of sending all of your personnel home to their families that night—or at least the following day. The combination of effective intelligence collection, information distribution, and message management will almost certainly minimize the political value of your target, the potential impact that a terrorist or an organization may make by attacking it, and the collateral damage on civilians and emergency responders should the terrorists choose to inflict it.
It’s critical to distinguish between general information and specialized intelligence or investigative information early in a possible terrorist event and throughout the incident (and, for that matter, any incident). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines specialized intelligence or investigative information as “information that either leads to the detection, prevention, apprehension, and prosecution of criminal activities including terrorist incidents or information that leads to determination of the cause of a given incident such as public health events or fires of unknown origin.” The Intelligence/Investigations function may be performed within the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in a variety of places, depending on the incident and the needs of the incident commander (IC) or Unified Command: within the Command Staff Operations or Planning Section or as a separate General Staff Section—a growing trend in law enforcement applications of the incident command system (ICS).
PREINCIDENT NETWORKING
Let’s face it. Historically, the fire service has viewed outside agencies—whether law enforcement; private owners; occupants or their representatives; or, worst of all, members of the press—as a nuisance at best. But as law enforcement challenges have grown to encompass meth labs and letter bombs even as their ranks have been diminished by highway fatalities and budgetary downsizing, a greater respect for and understanding of each agency’s role has led to shared and coordinated responsibilities and resources, most notably in the critical area of communication.
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| (2) First responders at the BowMac Simulator in March 2011. |
In all likelihood, the mutual-aid relationships you’ve developed over the years with surrounding fire departments are your strongest and most comfortable, if only because of your long-standing agreements and shared responsibilities. But do they effectively address today’s potential risks and the realm of communications considerations: dispatch and emergency scene communications, responding and available resources, interoperability with other governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and even common terminology? If you’re not absolutely certain of what you are sending and what you will be getting; how the other participants will communicate en route and on the scene (not just the radio frequency they will use but also what language to ensure true two-way communication in the giving and receiving of orders); and whom your crews may be working with and how they’ll be operating and cooperating, then you’d better have a couple of serious conversations on what’s expected by you and of you as soon as possible.
EXPANDING THE EMERGENCY SERVICES INFRASTRUCTURE
The same information and communications issues compound exponentially when you look at other governmental first responding agencies and disciplines. For example, how do you communicate with local and state law enforcement; public works; public health; building officials; and, yes, elected officials? How about the federal agencies that will surely be descending on the scene? Although their roles may vary, they all share the need for information and may require intelligence your agency has acquired, and they will almost certainly interface with audiences beyond the incident scene. Some considerations include the following:
- Are you relying on cellular technology, which the adversary may compromise, or do you have alternate means of radio communication with all other responders?
- Do all of the incident players speak the same response “language”? Incident command posts; staging areas; public information officers; and hot, warm, and cold zones are common terms that must have a common understanding.
- All emergency response operations start and end at the local level. If you are having difficulty gaining local support, start simply. Take some of the terrorism scenarios previously introduced and ask how that scenario would play out in your local community.
- What about the private sector? It also has a vested interest and a variety of resources available, including staff and tools to manage all types of emergencies. Do you know these people and their functions/resources? Have you discussed and practiced with them how to manage an event on their campus, in their offices, or at their CEO’s residence?
- Don’t forget the nongovernmental organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and local church groups and the volunteer agencies such as Civilian Emergency Response Teams. Consider the impact church organizations throughout the devastated region made on post-Katrina response; many consider it more comprehensive and effective in addressing the needs of Katrina’s victims than most of the governmental agencies who were there to help. Talk with your peers throughout the first responder community; make up a list of the area’s nongovernmental organizations that might serve your needs at a terrorist event. List their leaders and contact people and how you would acquire and control their resources if they are needed.
DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
All of these conversations are predicated on having a mechanism of information and intelligence collection, security, and sharing already in place. Your agency may not need to know what criminal activity law enforcement agencies are currently monitoring, but if that activity may lead to your department’s response to incidents involving arson or anthrax, bathroom bombs, or structural collapse, the time to figure out who has a “need to know” is well before the emergency. For example, do your fire investigators work closely with their peers in local law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms? Are your hazmat technicians in regular communication with the alphabet soup of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and others who wind up at the same emergency scenes on a regular basis? Do your police, fire, medical, and public health leaders meet frequently to discuss the means for disseminating critical information and intelligence as well a list of the people who will be in place to make sure the policy is followed? What secure communication channels coming into and going out of your agency are available so you will know what you need to know when the tone hits?
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| (3) The Fairfield County Hazardous Materials Unit Command and Communications van. |
Data management systems generally refer to computer-based programs, and there are plenty out there to choose from. But with all of the open source and unclassified information available online and by request from the many governmental and private sector agencies tasked with terrorist response, not to mention industry magazines that add to your information resource library and responder knowledge base, evaluating and disseminating critical information to the appropriate members of your organization on an ongoing basis require time management, a strong organizational structure that delegates areas of responsibility, and a mechanism to channel information to the appropriate recipients in their various disciplines. Without these structures, your mailbox, voicemail, and inbox will soon surpass your ability to scan the incoming data, much less process and forward it for future use.
TAKING THE SPEAKING TRUMPET
Finally there’s the “goesouta” public information officer (PIO) aspect of this whole thing: using the media to manage your message. We’ve all seen video on the evening news of firefighters hurrying away from the cameraman or directing him to the nearest white helmet on the scene, but are our personnel educated and prepared to address the increased demands of a terrorist event? If someone in your department or community isn’t already assigned as PIO, start there. Develop a list of contacts for each of the print, television, radio, and online media outlets that cover your jurisdiction.
The PIO should start making contacts and sending out regular releases immediately and get to know the reporters, photographers, and editors responding to their requests in a timely fashion. As a corollary benefit, this will help in the marketing of your budget and recruitment and retention of your firefighters. More importantly, you will develop the media’s trust and a personal relationship when you need it most. And on a side note, if you don’t yet have a policy controlling images and statements coming out of your emergency scenes—in particular, keeping them from being disseminated in the social media—your department is a grieving family’s lawsuit just waiting to happen.
Why do all this when the odds clearly favor your initial assumption that “it won’t happen here”? Because preparation beats perspiration every time, and we all agree that the incident command post in the pouring rain is no time to start meeting your peers and asking pertinent questions. So now that your contact and resource lists; your data collection and dissemination instruments; your communication tools and terminology; your private sector and media relationships; and, of course, your equipment, personnel, and training are all in place and well exercised, you’re as ready for the call as you’ll ever be.
“911—WHAT IS YOUR EMERGENCY?”
Once the initial 911 call is received, your opportunity for preplanning and preparation is gone. However, the need to brainstorm, network, improvise, adapt, and overcome expands exponentially with ever growing incentive and intensity. Departmental procedures and programs may be stretched, and personnel will inevitably be heated, stressed, and ultimately strengthened by the incident’s annealing process, no matter how well you’ve tested your systems or how things play out. Interagency relationships will be similarly challenged; their strengths will be highlighted and their areas of weakness illuminated by the harsh light of media attention and public scrutiny.
It’s possible that responders will know right from the start that something extraordinary is unfolding: A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device has brought down half a building or a plane has flown directly into a structure. However, far more likely is the scenario where initial arriving units will be faced with a problem and have to start to “connect the dots” as information and intelligence are received.
If you have good preplanning and information-gathering systems in place, you will be more likely to know what occupancies or individuals within your jurisdiction are potential targets of terrorism. However, don’t consider that as an absolute—of the two local residents positively identified as having been targeted by animal rights activists and even Bin Laden in recent years, one was entirely predictable while the other was a retired executive whose background was completely unknown to local first responders. Your seventh-grade science teacher was right: Never assume.
MANAGING THE PROBLEM: EIGHT-STEP PROCESS
How do you proceed once terrorism appears to have reared its ugly head on your emergency scene? What do you do when the umpteenth white powder call suddenly begins to present evidence of a credible threat? As in all aspects of the fire service, it’s time to rely on your planning and training. What’s the tactical appropriate approach to a possible HM/WMD scenario? A number of tactical-based systems can be found throughout the fire service. We like the Eight Step Process© developed by Greg Noll and Mike Hildebrand (Hazardous Materials: Managing the Incident). It’s simple and logical, reflects the tasks that we perform at just about every special operations incident, and has been in use for more than a quarter of a century. The Eight Step Process© is presented below:
- 1. Site Management and Control.
- 2. Identify the Problem.
- 3. Hazard and Risk Evaluation.
- 4. Select Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment.
- 5. Information Management and Resource Coordination.
- 6. Implement Response Objectives.
- 7. Decon and Clean-Up Operations.
- 8. Terminate the Incident.
The first critical steps of controlling site access, identifying the threat, evaluating the risk, and acquiring the necessary resources and equipment to respond are essentially the same as at any hazmat scene, with the clear understanding that law enforcement and federal agencies will take the lead in the criminal case and its eventual prosecution. Keeping your personnel out of harm’s way or at least minimizing their exposure must remain your primary goal, though the knowledge, skills, and equipment your agency brings to the scene (or that arrived there prior to the recognition of criminal intent) may well prove key to its resolution.
Let’s look at that fifth step, formally identified as “Information Management and Resource Coordination.” If your preparation is effective, you should already have the tools and contacts to manage information and intelligence as they come from your personnel and coordinate your response, including and especially calling for additional resources as needed. Intelligence communicated back from the scene, starting with the first reports from responding units, has been confirmed and clearly transmitted through to all who need to know, including next-due units about to be dispatched to the scene or staging, outlying companies that may be rotated through the scene to supplement or allow initial responders to rehab, and mutual-aid assets arriving from outside the jurisdiction.
INTRAAGENCY INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
That sounds routine, but in most departments there are some folks in the parade, some folks watching the parade, and some folks saying, “There’s a parade.” To get an accurate idea of where you currently stand, look at how routine information flows throughout your agency and see where the disconnects occur. Is your radio system clear and its coverage effective, or are there dead spots, especially within certain types of structures? Do your personnel transmit information accurately and completely? Are your telecommunications personnel disciplined in passing that transmission forward to the necessary recipients without degradation? Are all the necessary recipients included in that transmission? Finally, do the recipients positively confirm receipt of the message? If the answer to any of these questions is less than strongly affirmative, you can rest assured that Murphy’s Law will come into play in an extraordinary event.
Now add the additional complexity of a potential terrorist scene with significant portions of intelligence needing secure transmission and limited access. Outlying houses and emergency communication centers alike will become flooded with calls and visitors with a panoply of questions, almost all of which can’t or shouldn’t be answered at that time. Think about the challenges faced by an agency as large as the Fire Department of New York in the hours following the 8:46 a.m. impact of having had the American Airlines Flight 11 plane fly into 1 World Trade Center in terms of disseminating the necessary information and intelligence throughout the department, and then apply those challenges to your department.
INTERAGENCY INTELLIGENCE SHARING
Now add the fact that multiple local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are descending on your emergency scene. Those trusted contacts you developed in preparation for the event will be key in ensuring that your agency is kept in the loop on vital intelligence you need to know and that you will know to whom to pass your critical intelligence. That’s not to say that you or your personnel will be privy to every piece of intelligence gathered or that you will be apprised of other agencies’ evolving plans moment by moment. What does need to happen is that some member of your agency be briefed on all aspects of the operation that might put your personnel in harm’s way, particularly by criminals whose goal is to gain public attention.
Just as operations-trained personnel at a hazmat scene may be tasked with setting up a decon line without the full scope of information and intelligence provided to the technicians making entry, your personnel may not need every detail to accomplish their mission at a terrorist event. What fire service personnel do need to know is the following:
Look at your involvement from the perspective of a risk evaluator. At the same time, be cognizant that you and your personnel, especially those first-in companies, may have key information and intelligence that other agencies will need to know. Make sure that you or your liaison is readily available and in regular contact with your peers in law enforcement, medical response, public health, the governing body, and any other governmental organization or agency with jurisdiction and interest. A unified incident command post is an integral element in maintaining situational awareness among all of the players.
PRIVATE SECTOR INTEROPERABILITY
The private sector owns approximately 85 percent of the critical infrastructure in the United States. In addition, its personnel and employees are often the first on scene at any event. Although terrorists like the Unabomber may choose an individual or a residence for their attack and government buildings within your jurisdiction should always be preplanned as potential targets, there’s a good chance you’ll be responding to a site with private security and communication and administrative assets. Once again, your preparation will save you a great deal of perspiration, as the contacts you’ve developed reach out to you or your personnel with early intelligence and site information that will be key in keeping your responders safe and positioning them where they can be most effective.
But the role played by private sector interests won’t and shouldn’t stop when your first-arriving unit takes command of the scene; communication with the employees and customers (especially those whose children they’ve taken responsibility for) will be a tremendous resource as your scene unfolds, but you will have to control it carefully. What are the tools the private sector uses to notify employees and customers of critical information, and how much has already been disseminated? Is clear language that has become the standard throughout most of the emergency response community being used, or are there code words and technical phrases that may be misunderstood or forgotten in the heat of the moment?
In addition, most private entities have an administrative infrastructure that may be helpful if harnessed. It is essential that private sector organizations coordinate their internal and external communications with emergency responders, most especially their media interactions, from the very start. Find out what they have done and what they are planning to do, and involve their liaison as much as possible while embedding a liaison from your agency with them if resources allow. They may have additional resources to help with site management, paging or texting systems in place for communicating critical notifications, and remote headquarters from which decisions and communications are made. You need to have a handle on all of these elements throughout the event.
VARYING PUBLIC INTERESTS
Interested parties ranging from family members to the media will insist that they have a legitimate need to know every detail you learn the moment you learn it. Each of these parties has a varying degree and focus of interest, and each will work for or against you (and occasionally both) unless you manage their requests in a timely and measured manner. Remember, all parties come to an incident with their own specific agendas. Identifying and keeping a record of the individuals expressing interest in a terrorist event are critical functions of law enforcement’s investigation and possible prosecution, so it’s crucial that you have a mechanism in place to forward callers and individuals who present themselves to your agency as interested parties to the appropriate collection point for processing. Law enforcement representatives can then employ the appropriate tools and training to answer, dismiss, or question the individuals further and document their interests.
USING THE MEDIA
Unified commanders at a terrorist event must often balance the need to provide information the general public needs to know to stay safe with the need to maintain the integrity and security of the law enforcement investigation process. The PIO and the Joint Information Center both play a critical role in maintaining this balance. The response “no comment” is widely recognized as insufficient and inappropriate in today’s 24/7/365 media coverage. A multiagency-coordinated message that provides the media machine with a timely response and regular updates will usually keep them from taking the investigation into their own hands, especially where professional relationships have been developed before the event.
Remaining mindful of media deadlines (which are more nebulous than ever given most media outlets’ extensive online presence and moment-by-moment updates) and respectful of their messengers are essential to controlling the message throughout the event. Off-the-record conversations explaining your reasons for maintaining that control are often more effective than a terse information blackout, and although they may not remain off the record, provide another opportunity to disclose only that information that serves your mission while defusing the terrorists’ power of passing along their propaganda.
MANAGING THE MESSAGE
None of the activities cited in this article happen in a vacuum; in most instances, the fire department will not be the lead agency. However, your initial actions will dictate how the ensuing hours of an incident will unfold and, often, the outcome. Knowing how to control the site and manage the scene will ensure that you and those who follow have the best opportunity to manage the message, leaving the terrorists without a platform from which to speak—or at least forcing them to compete with the volume and scope of your messaging system. Depending on the nature of the incident and how it has unfolded, your PIO may remain the lead spokesperson, particularly if he has a long-standing relationship with the local media or a convincing presence. Think of Assistant Chief Jon Hansen of the Oklahoma City (OK) Fire Department or Chief Charles Moose of the Montgomery County (MD) Police Department.
Even if law enforcement or federal agencies take over media responsibilities, maintaining a presence and assisting as required will help effect a smooth transition from the initial event and local coverage to the extended standoff or search and rescue and national attention that ensues. Once again, preemergency networking will help facilitate this while minimizing the turf wars, interdisciplinary jealousies, and resulting breakdown of message control that might otherwise occur. Mutual trust and respect for other agencies, the private sector, and the media are developed over time. Practicing them at routine calls, training exercises, and public education events will ensure their readiness when you need them.
GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME
Remember, the call’s not over just because you’ve taken up and are backing into quarters. That is the time to put some notes together for a hotwash, critique, or postincident analysis: the agencies involved, whom you met on the scene, how the performance of all the personnel met or did not meet your expectations, where you would improve or change your decisions and operations, which tools or resources were lacking, and where would you acquire them next time? All these and many other questions should be running through your head as you ready your rig for the next call; write them down before you forget them. Time, money, geography, and bureaucracy may limit your ability to exchange these ideas with all participants in a formal hotwash, but speakerphones, virtual meeting programs, e-mail, and postincident interactions are all opportunities to assess and improve all agencies’ readiness, resource awareness, interoperability, and response limitations.
We’ve come a long way since 9/11, but we’ve also got a long way to go before we’re fully interoperable and in control of the myriad of information and intelligence disseminated within and without our department. In today’s world, first responders more than ever need to actively reach out to one another, to other public agencies and agents, to the private sector, and to the media. We have to take the time from our busy schedules now, before the emergency, to make those connections, develop those plans, and practice their implementation. If not, as they say in the old cliché, the bad guys win.
●CHRISTOPHER TRACY has been a member of the Fairfield (CT) Fire Department since 1990, where he is assistant chief. He began his career in the fire service as a volunteer in the Easton (CT) Fire Department and as a civilian fire dispatcher for the Westport and Norwalk (CT) Fire Departments. He spent a decade on the line as a firefighter, an EMT, and a hazmat technician with the Fairfield County Hazardous Incident Response Team. He sits on the National Fire Protection Association’s 472 Hazardous Materials Technical Committee and the Connecticut Fire Service Association’s Education Committee; he is the Fourth District vice president of the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut. He has taught extensively as a certified fire, police, Red Cross, and hazardous materials instructor for the past two decades.
