Preparedness and Complacency

[Bikewer]

The above thread about posting troops in US cities for domestic security:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130403

Causes me to make the following observation:

Post 9/11, we in the public safety sector jumped through many hoops in the nation's effort to prepare for any further such attacks.
Training, purchases of equipment, reviews of emergency plans....All the expected responses.

Within fairly short order, our department was issued "moon suits" (rather low-level biohazard suits), masks, rubber boots, gloves, duct tape (to seal up the gaps between suit and other bits...) and so forth.
We also got training in these items, and participated in a large multi-departmental exercise involving area police departments, fire departments, civilian-defense, etc.

Shortcomings were found... As had been the case in NY, command and control was problematic. Fire commanders felt they should be in charge. Police commanders likewise.
Lots of heated arguments between white-shirted guys with fancy hats....
The suits didn't work very well either. Several officers "suited up" as part of the exercise.
Though it was a cool spring day with temperatures in the 50s, one officer passed out due to the heat of the suit. Heaven forbid we are attacked in August...
Communications were dreadful (as the 9/11 investigators had found) with police and fire units unable to communicate with each other.

(Fire departments tend to use radio equipment that will work well inside of buildings, a different format than those issued to police)

I, being older, found that I needed prescription eyeglass inserts for my gas mask. These took 3 months to arrive. When they did, we found that my mask had been given to someone else during the exercise, and was now nowhere to be found.

And so on....


Fast forward to the present. After the initial flurry of training and goodie-buying, there has been little or no activity. No exercises, no upgrades of equipment. We did get "patrol rifles"; but these are more in response to "active shooter" scenarios than terrorism.
The duffel bags full of equipment have lain largely unopened since original purchase. Heaven knows what shape the stuff is in....We recently tried to issue some of the gas masks for the vice-presidential debate, only to find that the cartridges for same were missing. (the actual filter).
As I recall, almost none of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission had been implemented.
One gets the distinct impression that all of this training is much more for the benefit of the public (See, we're really doing something!) than any practical effect.

Now, in response to the attacks in Mumbai, we are seeing another spate of planning and training. Just last week, we had a very large meeting of high-end police commanders and local military types who were all staring intently at the big aerial photographs of the university. What if 20 guys with AKs showed up at high noon? It would be a mess...

I'm not one of those paranoid types that think the country should be an armed camp. The average citizen's chance of getting killed by a terrorist is somewhat on the same order of getting struck by lightning. Arguably less, as we have not had anyone killed on the Continental US at all lately

Still, it seems to me that all of this preparation is as much to put the public mind at ease rather than to provide effective deterrent/response. If history as taught us anything, it's that the terrorists will strike in circumstances that are unexpected and different, and that those of us in the "response" area will be scrambling to improvise on the spot with equipment that's barely adequate to the task.....

 

[Darth Rotor]

Still, it seems to me that all of this preparation is as much to put the public mind at ease rather than to provide effective deterrent/response. If history as taught us anything, it's that the terrorists will strike in circumstances that are unexpected and different, and that those of us in the "response" area will be scrambling to improvise on the spot with equipment that's barely adequate to the task.....

Actually keeping trained anti terror forces in a ready to deploy status is expensive. Training is perishable, and as you note, C2 not smoothe unless it is exercised frequently.

Making empty public gestures is cheap.

Guess what the suits most often do, eh?

 

[gumboot]

Actually keeping trained anti terror forces in a ready to deploy status is expensive. Training is perishable, and as you note, C2 not smoothe unless it is exercised frequently.

Making empty public gestures is cheap.

Guess what the suits most often do, eh?

I don't think they're talking about Counter-terrorism, or at least they don't appear to be. They're talking about emergency response, which could apply as much to a natural disaster as to a terrorist attack.

London's response to the July 7 bombings was exemplary, primarily because London has had to deal with a lot of terrorist attacks, and emergency services routinely conduct major exercises to prepare for such attacks.

 

[bigred]

Good post and sadly spot on - and not surprising to me. Part of it might be to put on a "display" to keep the public happy but also it's partly the nature of this country (or even people in general) to have that flurry of activity then quickly grow complacent when not much happens for awhile.

 

[Darth Rotor]

and emergency services routinely conduct major exercises to prepare for such attacks.

That isn't true everywhere, since training costs money, which was rather my point.

DR

 

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

You know, seven years ago, I said the biggest impact the terrorists could have is simply going into several busy places at once and shooting everyone in sight. No city could respond to that. Sadly, now that has happened.

 

[gumboot]

That isn't true everywhere, since training costs money, which was rather my point.

DR

True. I couldn't agree more. I was just suggesting that maintaining a dedicated CT unit in a state of readiness is more expensive than routinely ensuring your regular assets have training to respond to emergencies. It's cheaper to train all of your police in first aid than it is to maintain a SWAT unit.