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COMMENTARY
Patrol Alert: The Urgent Need for a New Procedure
By W. Gordon Fink
Editor's note: This article is being posted on APCO's Web site prepublication. It will appear in the May 2008 issue of Public Safety Communications.
When an armed robbery takes place in a city in which the state police patrol the local freeway system (often used as the fastest escape route to depart the area where the crime has been committed), the state police and adjacent city and county jurisdictions must be notified in a timely manner . If the vehicle is using the highway to speed away from a crime scene, a state police officer could be pursuing or in the process of stopping the subject vehicle for the traffic infraction, but the vehicle's operator may assume that the officer's action is the result of a police radio broadcast. That assumption could prompt the individual to take hostile action and, thus, place the officer at increased risk. Prompt notification of neighboring law enforcement agencies would alert the officer in pursuit of the speeding vehicle to take extra precautions.
This scenario illustrates the critical need for the law enforcement community to implement a new policy and procedure for Patrol Alerts.
The idea isn't that radical. The use of AMBER Alerts
is a success story in child abduction law enforcement cases. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 389 successful recoveries have been attributed to AMBER Alerts ( source: www.amberalert.gov/statistics.htm) . The means of conveying the alert to law enforcement authorities and the public varies, but it usually involves the use of police radio broadcasts, commercial media announcements and highway signage. One reason for the success of the Amber Alert program is its limited use. A Patrol Alert would be used far more often, making the policy and related procedure even more necessary. Violent crimes are increasing; armed robberies and car jackings (which often involve a weapon) and shootings are examples of major acts of violence that now occur daily. Communication with bordering police jurisdictions in these incidents varies widely and often does not occur due to the pressures of the local situation. There is an urgent need to adopt a new procedure for the immediate notification of law enforcement agencies that have concurrent or adjacent geographic jurisdiction .
But who should handle the notification? The dispatcher handling the incident is usually occupied with communicating additional lookout information, setting up a law enforcement perimeter, etc. In such instances, either the supervisor or another dispatcher should be designated to immediately initiate the Patrol Alert action, including critical update information. The communication means is not as important as the urgent need to communicate the critical information to other law enforcement jurisdictions in the area.
The medium for conveying the Patrol Alert should be selected on the basis of efficiency and timeliness. Some jurisdictions have a common radio frequency or talk group that can be used for the Patrol Alert. Others may use data communications (CAD-to-CAD, teletype, wireless, etc.). In some jurisdictions, the most timely means may be the use of direct or priority phone lines. While some communications centers monitor adjacent law enforcement jurisdictions, the level of dispatch activity often prohibits consistent monitoring and should not be relied on for conveying the urgent Patrol Alert information.
Patrol Alert communications must include information on the level of the importance of the communication.
The adoption of common Patrol Alert terminology should be a major part of local police dispatcher training as well as a major topic for interjurisdictional law enforcement communication supervisors meetings.
Most recent interoperability discussions involve the use of new technology; initiating a Patrol Alert involves the urgent need for a new procedure. The recommendation to adopt and implement a Patrol Alert should be made immediately--and migrated to new, interoperable communications systems as they are implemented. Road patrol officers already face risk in their traffic stops. Implementing a Patrol Alert policy and procedure in your jurisdiction is a way to reduce the risk of significant injury to officers in the field.
- W. Gordon Fink served as a senior executive in three branches of the federal government, including being the first head of Intelligence for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He received numerous federal government awards and was named Civil Servant of the Year by the State of Maryland. After retiring from government service, he became an industry executive and served as the first technical director for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. He is now an independent consultant working in the area of public safety and a 38-year member of APCO.
What's Your Opinion?
Do you agree that a formalized Patrol Alert is necessary? Who do you think should be responsible for issuing the alert? Under what circumstances would you make a Patrol Alert mandatory? Let us know via e-mail to Editor Keri Losavio at losaviok@apcointl.org. |
