NCJ Number
176777
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1999 Pages: 20-22-24
Date Published
1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police agencies need to be prepared to deal with the threat of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, the reality of their use, and their terrifying consequences.
Abstract
The first step toward becoming ready for such a threat is recognizing the dangers and not discounting the potential. Chemical and biological weapons are attractive to fringe groups and even individuals due to their availability and ease of use, the difficulty of tracing the materials, and the widespread destruction they produce. It is difficult to determine if and when a group is going to use such a weapon. The local police agency's intelligence network is useful in assessing threats. Law enforcement must also know the procedures to control and eliminate the damage from such weapons. The FBI recently became the point organization for domestic preparedness; its program is designed to prepare the top 120 police agencies to deal with the deployment of these weapons. Training and protecting police personnel is the foremost issue for police agencies. The likelihood of an attack increases as chemical and biological weapons become easier to obtain and deploy. Sustaining the awareness and the effort is a challenge, but law enforcement can be ready to manage any situation if it has proper awareness, focus, and training. Photographs