Fairfax County PD/FRD Unified Hostile Event Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue & Police...

Fairfax County PD/FRD Unified Hostile Event

Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue & Police Department

Unified Hostile Incident Guidelines

Hostile Event Background

April 2010 Joint Police and Fire Department Command Staff Meeting Determined that NO written guidelines exist for

joint Police and Fire “Active Shooter” type events.

Directive from Chief Mastin and Chief Rohrer that guidelines be established for police and fire to operate on the scene of joint hostile events.


Establishment of PD/FRD Hostile Event Workgroup

The establishment of the Fairfax County PD/FRD Hostile Event Workgroup was the result of dialogue between: Major Cindy McAlister of the Criminal Justice

Academy Deputy Chief Keith Johnson of the

Training/Special Operations Division



PD/FRD Workgroup Committee Fire Department

Deputy Chief Keith Johnson – Special Operations Division Deputy Chief Michael Reilly – Training Division Battalion Chief Kenny Wolfrey – Battalion 407, B-Shift Battalion Chief David( Lee) Warner, Battalion 403, A-Shift Captain II Jerome Williams – EMS404, B-Shift

Law Enforcement Major Cindy McAlister – Criminal Justice Academy Captain Daniel Janickey - SDO Commander Captain Joe R. Hill – Criminal Justice Academy Lieutenant Mike McAlister – McLean Station Lieutenant Thomas Rogers – Reston Station



Goal of the work group is to have police & fire serve on a joint workgroup for the purpose of establishing a joint policy and future training for events of a tactical nature.

The workgroup conducted a review of past training sessions/drills and events that were conducted in Fairfax County where fire and police conducted joint tactical operations such as an active shooter event.

Examples included: Falls Church HS active shooter drill in 2010 Tyson’s Mall active shooter drill Numerous individual multi-unit station/battalion drills


Law Enforcement and Emergency Medical Services (LEEMS)

This establishment of the LEEMS workgroup is a COG initiative that's mission is “to provide a regional framework for a professional and coordinated law enforcement/fire/EMS response to a single or asymmetric event involving and active shooter(s) within the National Capital Region”.

BC Kenny Wolfrey is FXCO fire representative on this workgroup and Captain Daniel Janickey represents the police department.

This group is a parallel work group to the FXCO Hostile Event Workgroup.



The scope of the LEEMS “Model Policy for Law Enforcement and Fire/EMS Response to Law Enforcement Incident” is intended to provide a framework for joint public safety agency personnel responding to incidents that include, but are not limited to active shooter events, hostage/barricade, high-risk warrants, civil disturbances, jail/correctional facility riots.

Individual agency responses will be determined and/or governed by agency-specific policies and procedures.



Agencies with pre-existing response policies which exceed those described here should follow their procedures. However, it is requested that agencies adopt, at minimum, a framework which includes the recommended definitions and principles for law enforcement and Fire/EMS integration found in the LEEMS policy. Inclusion should be either as a standalone document or inclusion within an existing standard operating procedure or guide.


Police and Fire Unified Hostile Event Workgroup

The PD/FRD Hostile Event Workgroup concluded that training should be standardized from a joint policy/procedure or training outline.

We acknowledged that many lessons learned have been established and provided to us by our predecessors. The goal was to capture those lessons learned and incorporate these action items in the new policy.

April 6, 2011 Fairfax County PD/FRD Unified Hostile Event


The workgroup concluded that joint training would be implemented on the policy/procedure developed. FRD has OARS sessions and In-Service Officer Training while PD has In-Service Officer Training as well.

Two Videos being planned: Small scale single victim in a home, 1 shooter Large school type shooting, multiple victims



The workgroup acknowledged some immediate areas of concern include the following: Lack of Unified Command between PD and FRD. Unified command

eventually occurs on large scale incidents but this needs to take place early in the incident so initial persons in charge can communicate and coordinate ops.

Fire Departments policy for staging and waiting until the scene is “secure” and the problems that this policy creates.

Lack of coordination between PD and FRD on events requiring joint interaction. Examples include misinterpretation of definitions, lack of awareness of each others tactical operations, lack of communication at command post etc.

A common set of definitions needs to be established for these types of events. Ex. includes establishment of zones (Hot, Warm, Cold) etc.



Tactical Medic Program. Future goal of the workgroup. This should not delay the formation of a joint policy or

procedure. Currently FXCO PD Tactical Medics (Special Ops) meets

1 time per month for training and there are 4 tactical medics. They are headed up by Craig DeAtley. During any high profile/high risk event, 1 tactical medic must be onscene and included in Ops. FRD could possibly assist in the future with having tactical medics available.


Development of Unified Hostile Event Action Guide

During the development of the joint PD/FRD Action Guide, the following items were considered for inclusion in the Action Guide.

Establishment of initial command as well as an eventual Unified Command – FD, PD, FCPS and School Security – Need for the early establishment of a joint incident command post and eventual formal unified command to formulate an IAP.

Identification of logistical needs to be identified early in incident. Statement regarding the early consideration for logistical items such as command units, shelters, canteen etc.



Communications needs/policy (PD, FD and School Security) – A position statement regarding incident communications. PD will operate on the PD channel while FD on a FRD channel. A coordination channel can be established for specific functions if needed. Command Staff are encouraged to monitor PD/FRD radio channels.

Establishment of Staging Policy for PD and FD (Scene Secure) – Development of a staging policy. This could be a single staging area or multiple staging areas for apparatus (FRD & PD). The criteria for “scene secure” vs. “scene safe” need to be established.



Establishment of work zones (Hot, Warm & Cold zones) – It was identified that while some PD stations and tactical unit are using zone terminology such as Hot, Warm and Cold, this is not universal throughout the PD. It was agreed that work zones and the definition of such are needed to address PD tactical ops, EMS operations, fire suppression operations, evacuation of victims and walking wounded. These zones must identify where FRD can operate and what level of security/danger can be anticipated.



Use of Casualty Collection Point (CCP), Triage areas and Treatment areas if needed. – Identification, establishment and purpose of these work areas and in what work zones they will be established in. Also, what level of security and police assistance can be assigned/expected in each of these areas.

Evidence Collection procedures – Statement needed for the awareness of any evidence found or collected on the incident scene.



Scene security / perimeter control by PD – Statement on what can be expected by PD with regards to the establishment of perimeter control and the establishment of a check-in process. Personnel need to be aware of the requirement to adhere to the check-in process.


Action Guide An action guide has been developed and signed by the Police

and Fire Chief that defines the Fairfax County Public Safety expectations of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s (COG) Fire/EMS Response to a Law Enforcement Event policy and to assist the FRD and PD by providing a response framework for personnel to adhere to during unified responses to incidents of reported or potential violence.

Action Guide is defined as “the process of doing something in order to achieve a purpose”.


Action Guide The goal of this Action Guide is to ensure coordination

between agencies resulting in scene control, patient treatment, and evidence preservation while maintaining the safety of all emergency personnel.

These incidents differ greatly from routine events due to an increase in safety requirements and the necessity of a unified command structure for incident mitigation and coordination of resources.


Action Guide Such incidents that this action guide will be applied to

include, but are not limited to: Large scale complex events like school shootings,

workplace violence, and terrorist activities. Smaller scale less complex events like suicide attempts,

single patient shootings and stabbings, domestic violence injuries, and assaults.


Action Guide The Action Guide addresses the following Incident Flow

Procedures: Initial Response Establishment of Initial Command

Large scale complex incidents & small scale less complex incidents

Staging Procedures/Considerations Unified Command Patient Movement and Treatment Casualty Collection Point (CCP) Treatment Area Operations involving Smoke or Fire


Next Steps - Questions Present the DRAFT Action Guide to both Police and Fire and

Rescue Command staff for comments/input. Completed Gain approval of the document from FRD-Chief Mastin and

PD-Chief Rohrer. Completed Adopt/distribute the action guide among staff. Agencies can

develop more in-depth policies or procedures if they desire based upon the action guide. In-Progress

Develop training criteria and information for training on the action guide developed. In-Progress

Questions – Comments???


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