NCJ Number
109171
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 55 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 18,21,24-26,28-30
Date Published
1988
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) -- an ad hoc support unit that gathers, coordinates, and disseminates all tactically significant information surrounding a major hostage event -- and explains the functions of vital personnel.
Abstract
The TOC coordinator oversees the activities of the team. The assistant TOC coordinator must be able to act in the coordinator's absence and keeps the field commander informed of matters, the intelligence/investigative officer identifies suspects and hostages and gathers all Essential Elements of Information (EEI) to support resolution of the incident. The information handler posts and manages EEI as it is received and analyzed, and the sniper control team (2 persons minimum) coordinates all sniper teams deployed around the target site. The categories of information such as suspects, hostages, weapons, etc., are displayed in the TOC and relate specifically to the SWAT mission. Interviews are conducted onsite with witnesses and released hostages to determine if they can contribute to the overall information-gathering process. An intelligence briefing for all personnel is conducted after first arriving at the scene and also when a force option plan will be implemented.