Crisis Action Plan free essay sample

When it is determined that if any event should become disastrous to the citizens of and visitors to the City of Fort Worth, TX, the Chief of Police should order the Crisis Response Plan to be put into operation. The Fort Worth Police Department’s Crisis Response Plan is designed to institute policies and procedures for a reaction to any emergency or crisis. While it is understood that no plan can prepare for every unknown contingency, the Crisis Response Plan provides a framework from which to respond and overcome the crisis or emergency. Purpose The Crisis Response Plan is designed to efficiently manage the assets and resources of the Fort Worth Police Department to protect the lives and property of visitors, citizens, officers, and staff. The Crisis Response Plan concisely delineates the command structure and coordinates communication within the Department, with the Fort Worth Fire Department, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, the public via the various forms of media, and with neighboring police departments. The Crisis Response Plan includes the procedures for the rapid identification of potentially dangerous conditions and the methods for reporting and responding to these emergencies quickly calmly, and effectively. Applicability The Crisis Response Plan should effect : * All officers, Regular and Reserve, * FWPD staff, and * Civilians employed or utilized by FWPD. Policy The Crisis Response Plan cannot provide specific information and actions for every possible emergency. It should provide a framework from which all participants can be guided in their efforts. It is understood that on-the-spot decisions should be made by trained professionals, both sworn and civilian, and such decisions should be supported by the Crisis Action Management Team. Objectives The Crisis Response Plan is designed to be executed in times of emergency and crisis. It should be executed to accomplish the following priorities: * Protect the citizens of and visitors to the City of Fort Worth, TX, from harm. * Protect the property of the City of Fort Worth, both governmental and private. * Communicate effectively and truthfully to: The public, either directly or through the media, * Management of the City of Fort Worth, * Management of the County of Tarrant. The officers, supervisors, and staff of the Fort Worth Police Department, and * All members of the inter-organizational network. * Respond to activation of the Operation Partnership Emergency Network (OPEN). Assumptions Since a crisis may arise at any time, given the complexity of Fort Worth city boundaries and its large and growing population, all possible and potential crises must be considered. Each Command should create and maintain a â€Å"living† Crisis Response Plan from Crisis Response Plans submitted by their Divisions. The Crisis Response Plan for the Fort Worth Police Department should be maintained by the Chief of Staff and should be comprised of the Crisis Response Plans submitted by each Division and Command. The Fort Worth Crisis Response Plan should contain a set of operational guidelines as a foundation for addressing crises for which there has been planning and training and crises that were unforeseen. Organization The organization of the Crisis Management team is listed in Appendices A and B, and the organization chart of the Fort Worth Police Department is listed in Appendix E. It is delineated by job title in order to accommodate future changes in the chain of command. Each member should appoint a â€Å"second† to take their place in case of unavailability for whatever reason. All staff members, and their seconds, should be required to attend all Crisis Response Plan staff planning meetings. 2. Critical Organizational Functions Normal radio patrol of the city must be maintained to the extent that the crisis allows. External and internal communications, including radio, cell phone, and computer communications must be maintained at normal levels and staffing increased as necessary to handle calls from citizens. Traffic operations may be overloaded, therefore off duty radio patrol officers and reserve officers should be used to the extent necessary to meet the crisis. No consideration of overtime or budget constraints should be given during the life of the crisis. Department personnel protection is to be maintained at all times to ensure the safety and health of all officers and staff, and their family members in case of a terrorist attack. Therefore, the patrol and traffic computer terminals should have access to addresses of all officers in their district. Access should be activated by authority of the crisis management team. During a crisis, the Emergency Preparedness/Incident Command (EPIC) team should provide rest, rehabilitation, and hydration for all officers and civilians responding to and participating in the incident. This is especially needed due to the climate of our city and for the maintenance of diligence and awareness of each officer. A rested and comfortable person can better respond to meet the needs demanded by the crisis. Planning Scenarios In the event of any disaster, all members of the Crisis Management team should assemble at the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) in the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) Headquarters. They should be notified by FWPD dispatchers via land line, cell phone, and email. Any member that cannot be reached within fifteen (15) minutes should have a radio patrol unit dispatched to his home address for notification. The backup TOC should be located at the FWPD training academy. All mobile command posts should have the capability to act as a TOC if the primary and secondary TOCs become untenable. The chain of command of the FWPD should be observed in the absence of, or lack of communication with, any supervisor. The Crisis Response Plan should be tested under challenging and genuine simulated circumstances. The testing should involve all members of the inter-organizational network and an after-incident report should be made by each member. From those reports, any necessary amendment(s) to the Crisis Response Plan should be initiated. A. Natural Disasters Natural disasters such as flooding, ice, straight-line winds, and tornadoes should be handled pursuant to the Tarrant County Natural Crisis Response Plan. The duties of the Fort Worth Police Department should mainly be maintenance of public order, traffic direction, and protection of Fire Department, EMS, Emergency Management personnel, and visitors amp; citizens of the City of Fort Worth. To that end, each Deputy Chief, or his designate, should be on duty until the disaster is abated. The Chief of Police is a member of the Tarrant County and City of Fort Worth Crisis Management teams. He, or his designate, should be on duty until the disaster is abated. The Fort Worth Police Department is a support organization for all disaster responders with the main objectives of ensuring public order, optimizing traffic flow, and protection of the responder organizations. Man-made Disasters In the event of terrorist attack or an active shooter, the Fort Worth Police Department should be first responders within the city limits. Upon arrival of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) or Federal law enforcement authorities, all assets and resources of the Fort Worth Police Department should be made unequivocally available to the supervision of DPS and/or Federal law enforcement authorities. In the event of a suspected terrorist attack, the main duty of the Fort Worth Police department is to protect the visitors and citizens of the City of Fort Worth. The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team should be immediately activated and prepare to engage any identified terrorists. The investigative team for terrorism, in conjunction with the Fort Worth Fire Department (FWFD) arson and bomb squad, should be activated, briefed, and deployed to gather evidence and determine the perpetrators of the terrorist act. The SWAT team has the lead in any active shooter incident. The Deputy Chiefs, Captains, or their designates, should be on duty and actively involved with an active shooter incident. Radio patrol should be tasked with the evacuation and protection of visitors and citizens at the incident location. Radio patrol should act under the supervision of the SWAT team commander. Traffic units should secure a first perimeter, under the direction of EPIC, of three (3) square blocks and a second perimeter of six (6) square blocks within which no person should be allowed to enter or leave. The traffic division should close all entrances to the city via the main arteries including freeway off ramps. If the incident occurs in an area that includes a main artery or freeway, all traffic should be diverted to city streets and directed away from the incident. The FWPD, partnering with the FWFD, should establish at least two (2) safe and secure havens for civilian within the initial perimeter as determined by EPIC. Each haven should be protected by a minimum of six (6) FWPD officers. FWPD reserve officers may be called upon to perform this duty. All communications with the media should be handled by the spokesman for the City of Fort Worth. No statements are to be made by any member of the FWPD or the FWFD. All requests for information and comments should be directed to the spokesperson at 817-555-0001. The City of Fort Worth and the FWPD should have established, and manned, a crisis hotline which should only answer questions as to evacuation when such action is deemed necessary. The public should be advised that the city has the incident under control and direct the caller not to attempt to travel to the incident location. Fictitious Disasters The City of Fort Worth, the FWFD, and the FWPD have brainstormed a scenario in which the Dow Chemical Company, located at 3300 Bolt St. , Ft. Worth, TX, 76110, became involved in a fire. The chemical gases born in the smoke would be a severe health hazard within a five (5) square mile area, and depending upon the prevailing winds, could spread seven (miles) in any direction within three (3) hours. The FWFD should have the incident supervision authority and the FWPD should be responsible for protection of the fire fighters, traffic control, and evacuation of the populace within the immediate area (10 square blocks). A ten (10) square block initial perimeter should be established immediately, allowing no entry except for first responders. After one hour, and before the second hour, if the fire is not under control, a second perimeter should be established over a twenty (20) square block area and all civilian should be evacuated beyond the second perimeter boundary. Any further boundary should be determined by the FWFD after taking prevailing winds into consideration. The FWPD reserve component should be put on alert when the initial perimeter is established and will operate under the direction of EPIC. Immediately upon the decision to establish the second perimeter, the reserve component should be called into action. Their task should be to man and enforce the second perimeter, allowing only first responders entrance therein. They should be directly under the supervision of the patrol division supervisors assigned to the incident All communications with the media should be handled by the spokesman for the City of Fort Worth. No statements are to be made by any member of the FWPD. All requests for information and comments should be directed to the spokesperson at 817-555-0001. The City of Fort Worth should have established, and manned, a crisis hotline which should only answer questions as to evacuation when such action is deemed necessary. The public should be advised that the city has the incident under control and direct the caller not to attempt to travel to the incident location. All requests for comments should be referred to the spokesman for the City of Fort Worth. The City of Fort Worth Crisis Management team should monitor the incident, and upon making the decision to evacuate the affected neighborhood(s), notify the designated media outlets. A brief, concise warning should be given the media which should be broadcast, unedited, to the public. Should blame of any kind be leveled toward the City of Fort Worth or the FWPD, the information should be communicated to the spokesman for the City of Fort Worth and the Chief the FWPD through the chain of command. Any request for comments should be directed to the spokesman and no interviews should be given in the field or at any location, by any person, except the city’s spokesman. 1. Contingency Phases Pre-crisis Phase Officers on duty should practice the observance of possible triggers or prodromes which may indicate the beginning of a possible incident or crisis. Supervisors should be contacted immediately for confirmation and notification. Officers should continue to observe and report until supervision gives alternate direction. Training with OPEN, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Fort Worth-Tarrant Country Emergency Management, and the Fort Worth Fire Department Response Phase * Follow the Crisis Response Plan as closely as possible with the protection of lives and property governing total adherence. * Move with alacrity and purpose. * Handle each incident professionally with a sense of direction. Respond calmly in order to set an example for the citizenry. * Use good decision making skills based upon training and experience when confronted by an issue not covered in the Crisis Response Plan, keeping in mind the first objective of the response phase noted above. Recovery Phase * After-incident report by each team will be made by each Division Commander to the correspondent Deputy Chief. * Rest and rehabilitation of responders will be the responsibility of the Rehabilitation and Hydration Team of the FWPD Emergency Preparedness/Incident Command (EPIC). The Division Commanders should establish normalcy in the area(s) affected at the earliest possible moment after the order of passing crisis is given. * Restore and increase the confidence of the visitors and citizens of the City of Fort Worth by assuring them the crisis has passed and what steps they should take to resume normal activity in their area of residence or work place. The Crisis Response Plan for each level of the FWPD should be upgraded and presented to the Crisis Management Team. The Crisis Management Team should amend the Crisis Response Plan to address deficiencies and learned activities. * The Crisis Management Team should task organizational and inter-organizations re-training in the areas amended in the Crisis Response Plan. * The Crisis Management Team should begin brainstorming future crisis possibilities with the inter-organizational network with an eye toward the unthinkable. Processes and Procedures All stakeholders should plan for a worst case scenario and investigate crises experienced by other organizations outside of our immediate area of responsibility. These plans should be presented at the annual crisis management meeting for possible adoption into the current Crisis Response Plan along with the amendments necessitated by findings of the after-incident reports from inter-organizational training scenarios. Training, both departmental and inter-organizational Gaming, both departmental and inter-organizational Scenarios, both departmental and inter-organizational Communications should establish modes of communication and develop procedures and protocols with the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) in Tarrant County and designate a liaison team working in partnership with RACES.