OPERATION RED CAP
ARSON INVESTIGATION
Rapid response to the scene of a suspicious fire and securing public confidence and community acceptance are key components of this anti-arson program.
Operation Red Cap, an anti-arson program tested and adopted in one of the nation’s highest fire and crime areas, has proven to be extremely effective.
Since its creation three years ago, Red Cap has played a major role in reducing arson activity by 27% in the areas in which it operates. Red Cap also has been successful in increasing the number of fire-related arrests from 24 to 252 over the last three years, and in identifying the communities’ fire problems through statistical data and analysis.
Key elements of the operation
There are two main components of the Red Cap operation. First, the physical presence of fire marshals responding in pairs around the clock to all suspicious fire incidents. The marshals are highly visible, wearing bright red caps and driving white cars marked with the fire department and fire marshal logos.
A similarly marked white trailer, 20 feet wide and 40 feet long, serves as operations headquarters. This trailer is strategically placed in a centrally located portion of the target community for easy access by residents. It contains support equipment for examining fire scenes, collecting evidence, conducting surveillances, processing reports and otherwise running efficient investigative operations.
To insure a quick response, fire alarms are monitored from the trailer and the marshals are dispatched by radio. This means that the Red Cap units are on the scene with or before responding fire companies, unlike “after-the-fact” fire investigations where the fire officer in charge requests an investigation due to suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire. Such calls at best mean a 30-40-minute delay in the arrival of an investigative team.
Early arrival offers tremendous advantages to the investigating marshals:
- It allows them to see the fire in progress and make a quicker determination as to its cause and origin.
- The operating fire personnel are
- available at the scene for interviews.
- Overhauling operations can be supervised to insure the preservation of evidence.
- Key witnesses at the scene can be interviewed while facts are fresh in their minds and hostilities toward an arsonist are at their peak.
- The arsonist may still be at the scene.
Statistics indicate that this early approach is far superior to “after-the-fact” investigations in securing arson arrests. In addition, the appearance of “redcapped” marshals at the scene enhances public image, allowing them to become more effective in gaining the community’s confidence. Public confidence is one of the most important aspects of the program.
The second main component of the Red Cap operation involves a special educational program given to organizations and community groups, which spread the information to the community at large prior to the arrival of the marshals and their trailer. This presentation includes audiovisuals, lectures and the distribution of literature. Eight early warning indicators of arson also are examined and discussed:
- Any vacant building that is unsealed or reopened after being sealed.
- Strangers or children loitering near or entering vacant buildings.
- Anyone carrying suspicious containers or boxes into vacant buildings (possible flammables).
- Possible storage of flammable liquids on roofs or anywhere within vacant or partially occupied buildings. Fires are most likely to be started at the top rear floor of partially occupied buildings.
- Any building having problems (tenants moving, violations, etc.).
- Valuables (furniture, belongings, etc.) being removed during the night.
- Stores that do not replace their stock and have many empty shelves.
- Verbal threats of fire during an argument.
The educational program emphasizes the role of community witnesses and their importance in successful arson prosecutions by getting clear descriptions of suspects, possible addresses and auto license plate numbers. Cooperation and understanding is the goal of Red Cap’s educational component. After the actual arrival of the Red Cap units, this atmosphere is strengthened by the fire marshals.
Supervisors attend community functions and meetings, exchanging information and asking for assistance in specific investigations. While on patrol and during fire investigations, the marshals give out literature, engage community members in conversation, and generally try to create lines of communication. During this period, Red Cap’s 24-hour hotline number is distributed with instructions to call in information with the assurance of prompt, confidential assistance.
Statistical data
Statistical analysis plays an integral part in the Red Cap operation. The frequency of monthly fire incidents are recorded before and during Red Cap’s presence and after Red Cap’s departure in an area. These results are then compared against the same time frame the previous year (see table). Arrest data is compiled in a similar manner. Once all the reports are reduced to analytical form, these results are used in several ways:
- Site selection. A statistical profile is especially helpful in deciding where Red Cap is needed and will be effective. Fire activity is broken down and categorized as follows: structural, outside rubbish, autos, brush, other emergencies, and false alarms. Suspicious fires are also recorded by location, date, time, and type of occupancy. All these factors are considered when selecting a Red Cap target area.
- Investigative aids. Fire and arson patterns by location, type, date, and time are utilized to determine if techniques such as surveillance or informant solicitation would be potentially effective in certain areas of the community. For example, an area with a frequently transmitted false alarm box or a large number of vacant building fires might benefit from a surveillance operation during certain times of the day on specific days of the week. In an area with drug or prostitution activity and frequent arson fires, there may be a number of willing informants ready to furnish information for reward money or to stop ongoing investigations that are bad for “business.”
- Performance evaluation. The impact of the program’s presence is monitored monthly. On request, the results are released to the community and local media to foster involvement and cooperation. Progress reports are posted in the trailer as motivational stimuli and feedback for the working marshals. The fire department uses this data to determine cost effectiveness factors.
The community response to these arson deterrent methods has been overwhelmingly positive and instrumental in the program’s success. By emphasizing Red Cap’s role as part of the fire service and using police powers primarily to apprehend arsonists and false alarm offenders, it has been able to avoid the distrust often encountered by other law enforcement agencies.
Identification with the fire service and the widespread fear of fire has promoted an image different from that of police officers. This is not to imply that there have not been difficulties and setbacks. Since areas that are arson prone are usually also crime prone, Red Cap has made its share of non-fire related arrests (muggings, homicides, etc.).
The horror and destruction of fire crosses all boundaries in a community, and Red Cap’s appeal to the community-at-large has resulted in a flow of information from sources not usually cooperative in investigations. “Street information” from prostitutes, drug addicts and other questionable sources has resulted in several arrests. Neighborhood groups and organizations that have difficulty reaching community residents gain new popularity and effectiveness when they are affiliated with an active, visible program like Red Cap. These factors create an atmosphere of need and appreciation that is transmitted to the marshals in their community interactions.
Marshals’ makeup and motivation
All fire marshals were originally firefighters who rose through the ranks by competitive examinations. A fire marshal is a separate career path in the fire service which combines the forensic science of determining cause and origin of fires with the investigative skills of a police officer. Red Cap personnel is drawn from the rank of fire marshal, and is made up of 50 marshals who volunteered to work in this program. As former firefighters, the marshals understand the hazards and difficulties of fire suppression. The Red Cap program operates in New York City’s heavily populated neighborhoods. In these relatively small but usually active areas, the squads maintain constant radio contact, and the often hazardous nature of their work creates a camaraderie based on mutual dependence. Built-in motivation, pride and morale are high as in most units whose manpower pool depends on volunteers.
The marshals’ outstanding performance under less than ideal conditions is due in large part to their orientation as former firefighters. The effort and courage it takes to extinguish a tough fire cannot be easily measured. It is done out of the public view, in the darkness of smoke-filled rooms, hallways, and cellars. Those who risk life and limb fighting fires get little recognition outside their departments. However, each and every firefighter knows that the safety of the person next to him depends on his performance. Red Cap has taken these same men, given them a job where results are measurable and out in the open for all to see. Acknowledgements from the local fire units for reducing their workload and grateful community residents have made Red Cap a rewarding experience.
Conclusion
The program’s success over the past three years led to the creation of a second unit last year and the promise of more expansion in the future. Due to the heightened fire consciousness Red Cap creates in the communities, it is effective as both an anti-fire program and as an anti-arson program.
The long-term effects of Red Cap after its departure from a community is currently under study. However, the large number of fire-related arrests, educational program and increased community awareness should have positive residual effects.
The identification of fire problems in communities through statistical data and analysis has proved a valuable tool in Red Cap. Once identified, these problems can be attacked with specific fire prevention programs or through an approach like Red Cap.
The Red Cap program may not be for every community, but it should be considered as a possible solution where fire and arson are serious problems.
