Critical Incident Management and Geographically-Based Systems

In the United States there is a strong dependence on decentralized policing services, distributed by thousands of police departments. As a primary police professional development management institute in the United States, the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) identified that there existed a paucity of management development opportunities for police command staff engaged in critical incident management. This paper describes how LEMIT met this challenge and became a leading U.S. institute in this exciting field of operation. DOI: 10.4018/jagr.2010070105 70 International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, 1(3), 69-75, July-September 2010 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. riences?” Flin (2002, p. 4) argued that “the distinguishing feature of the incident command environment is that of the rapidly developing incident where information is incomplete, stress levels are high, and there is an acceptance that not making a decision is not an option.” The LEMIT solution was to design an immersive training and development environment that simulated real life command situations. The program eventually took the name of InCoSiT, an acronym for Incident Command Simulation Training Program. During its development, a number of options were considered, including the use of gaming technology, but the chosen solution was to design and build an Incident Command Suite, populate the command positions with computers, throat-mikes and telephony, and support the decision-making capability of the command team with multi-layer geographic information embedded with real data, maps, plans, diagrams, aerial photography and multimedia film clips. In the planning phase it was envisaged that the geographic data would be displayed in the suite on a digital imaging table. The decision to follow this course challenged conventional organizational and personal development approaches, and was not the cheapest option by any means, but the whole design and its subsequent construction and operationalization was to prove a winning concept that others would follow. We knew that there were calculated risks in being in the vanguard, not least of which were the chances that the hardware and software solutions would not deliver the desired outcomes, but our planning was to prove beneficial. Our solution embodied the use of considerable technical aids, but the key to the solution was the fact that these technical aids were put in place to support the program and not as an end in itself. The Command Suite was equipped with cameras and microphones to record the dynamics of the exercises. All contact between the Command Team and the ‘outside world’ was by computer link to the Control Room. All decisions and requests for deployments, resources and information requests are handled by ‘Control’ with a record of all transactions being maintained on a rolling log, timed by the second. ‘Breaking News’ stories were first used as injects to enhance the reality of the scenarios, and were filmed at a local CBS News station using real newscasters and interjected on one of twelve large plasma screens in the Command Suite at appropriate times during the scenario. Today, participants who play the role of ‘Information Officer’ are filmed real-time in our own studio, and their broadcasts are interjected on screen for the benefit of command team members. GeoGraPHiC CoNsiDeratioNs Geography is an element of every emergency situation and geographic decisions are among the very first required actions under the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. Although geographic information systems (GIS) technology may not be applicable, or available, for smaller incidents, its relevance increases as the incident expands in seriousness. Our intent, therefore, is to expose emergency managers to the technology should they be confronted with it at a large scale event or an event with a multitude of geographic variables. Among the geographic decisions that must be made, first and foremost, is the formal establishing of an Incident Command Post. The location is arbitrary, but can significantly impact the emergency response if located in harms way. Additionally, and depending on the nature of the event, other areas such as a hot zone, resource staging areas, media staging areas, triage, helicopter landing-spot, rehabilitation area, decontamination area, and reunification area may be required. The technical approach of our training incorporates real-world data and locations that reflect potential emergency situations and management technology which could be brought to bear. Primary among these technologies is the use of GIS as a tool for situational awareness, commonly referred to as a COP, or Common Operating Picture. 5 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/critical-incident-managementgeographically-based/45131?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Engineering, Natural, and Physical Science. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/?id=2