NCJ Number
180907
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 69 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 1-7
Date Published
January 2000
Length
7 pages
Annotation
A training exercise conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1997 tested the ability of jurisdictions to carry out an intergovernmental and interagency response to a terrorist incident involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Abstract
Recent legislation designated the FBI as the lead Federal agency for the crisis management of any domestic terrorism incident and assigned the Department of Defense the responsibility of providing training and equipment to civilian first responders such as police and firefighters. The legislation also delegated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency the development of a Federal response plan to deal with both crisis management and the subsequent transition to consequence management. The first test of the FBI's WMD Joint Operations Center Model was called Baseline and involved the FBI's field office in New Haven, Conn., and the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London, Conn. The model tested in the training exercise sought to integrate interagency emergency management functions; provide a command, control, communications, and intelligence architecture for all participating agencies; and coordinate all crisis resolution and subsequent consequence management operations. The training scenario focused on a credible chemical/biological threat from a domestic terrorist group and included an explosion and a derailment of railroad cars carrying hazardous material on the submarine base. The Baseline exercise revealed lessons learned as well as the remaining work to do in training and preparing for a crisis involving terrorist use of WMD. Checklist for agencies to use in selecting the site for a Joint Operations Center, photographs, and notes