On July 7th 2005 a series of terrorist attacks on board public transit vehicles shocked Great Britain and the world. All together around seven hundred persons were injured and, including the bombers themselves, fifty-six people died. Like 9/11 in the United States, the date is sometimes simply referred to as 7/7. The attacks started at 8:50 am when three bombs were detonated within a minute of each other on board London Underground trains. The first was Circle Line sub-surface train number 204 eastbound between Aldgate and Liverpool Street. The second went off in Circle Line sub-transit train number 216 traveling westbound towards Paddington Station. The third was detonated on the Piccadilly Line in deep-level underground train number 311, car number 166, traveling southbound from King’s Cross- Street to Pancras and Russell Square. At 9:47, almost exactly one hour later a forth bomb went off on a Dennis Trident 2 double-decker bus number 30, operated by Stagecoach London. At the time, it was in Tavistock Square traveling its route from Marble Arch to Hackney Wick. Just over ten minutes earlier, it had been in Euston bus station where people being evacuated from the early under-ground explosions were boarding busses. In addition to the injuries and deaths inflicted on some of the passengers, a number of other persons in the vicinity were also injured. The violence of the explosion made it initially difficult to determine the identity or even how many people had died. Initial reports gave “Secret Group of Al Qaeda’s Jihad in Europe” as the name of the organization claiming responsibility for the bombings .
The bombers were identified as Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain. Khan Tanweer and Hussain were all of Pakistani descent, Germaine Lindsay was from Jamaica. Two of the bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer left videotaped statements that were released to Al Jazeera after being edited, and with remarks included by Ayman al-Zawahiri. The justification given for the civilian targets was that those civilians voted for a government that oppresses citizens in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya.
The various law enforcement divisions who are responsible for terrorist attack prevention have a unique prospective on identifying when and where those attacks may occur. Since the upsurge in terrorist attacks in the past few decades, this prospective is now a field of study for law enforcement personnel. This extends from database development and analysis to how and when to conduct a selective search of an individual in the field.
In the United States The Mineta Transportation Institute, a part of the San Jose State University started publishing reports of criminal behavior on public transportation in 1997. The first of these reports covered the period from 1920 and 1997 and included information regarding criminal activities regarding public transportation systems in addition to the reported attacks. The purpose of the inclusion of the criminal activates was because these are an area studied by terrorists when they are investigating the potential locations, times and opportunities for a potential attack. It is not just law enforcement who engages in this field of study. The terrorists who plan these attacks do their study and research as well. The second report was published in 2001. These two reports were issued to inform the United States Congress, federal, state and local government agencies and the transit operators themselves.
The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) and the National Transportation Security Center (NTSC) began creating a database to include the information from the NTSC’s Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) information center based at the University of Maryland. The information collected for this database goes back to attempted train derailments in the 1920s and chronicles attacks on all public surface transportation centers worldwide, from 1970 forward. Great attention to detail is given so that the information from divergent sources is compiled in such a manner so as to facilitate easy retrieval, security and threat analysis and trend analysis. It includes all methods of attacks and serious crimes from robbery to rocket propelled grenades. The transportation targets include public roads, bridges, tunnels, trains, and busses. All together the MTI database, as of February 20, 2010 held information regarding 1,633 attacks on public surface transport. Although the public perception is that terrorist are Mid-Eastern in origin in the United States, the majority terrorist attacks (43%) came from religious “Pro-Life” groups’ attacks on women’s medical care centers. From the time the database was first briefed in July 2009, about 75 attacks a week were added. These included attacks in America India, Indonesia Colombia the Philippines, Russia Thailand and Turkey. This data helps law enforcement spot worldwide trends is the location, timing and methods of terrorist assaults.
Data collection, analysis and trend forecasting is just the first step. The information then must be transmitted to law enforcement agencies and transportation centers worldwide. From there these agencies monitor study and evaluate groups and individuals with the potential to organize terrorist assaults as well as the potential locations, and circumstances that pose the highest risk to become a target for assault.
In the immediate wake of a terrorist attack the most important concern is the survival and medical treatment of as many victims as possible, as quickly as possible. The broad areas of concern for potential response teams are planning training, exercise, equipment, research and development, information sharing and public health and medical services. .
Police preparedness training regarding terrorism includes learning about potential targets, tactics, weapons, operation characteristics, issues, trends and risk assessment. This ties into the trend analysis provided by the data analysis teams who evaluate past activities in order to determine potential new targets. Other areas of study include chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and incendiary weapons of mass destruction. .
Firefighter counter-terrorism training response includes fighting fires, medical response, hazmat and rescue. As firefighters train to be better able to respond to a potential terrorist threat, the basic skills are emphasized first, by drills and emergency medical response skills. The next step is education so that the early response teams understand the terrorist threat environment that developed since 9/11. For the city of New York, this includes the history of terrorism al Qaeda and the current threat environment. This once again ties into the basic international threat analysis data to identify potential locations and circumstances so that the teams may be prepared with the equipment, medical emergency care center and victim relief centers necessary in case of disaster. In the wake of the 7/7 bombings in London, the New York Fire Department added additional training regarding public transit vehicles to its curriculum. This training is coordinated with law enforcement efforts and resulted in foiling the attempted Times Square Bombing by Faisal Shahzad. The training system is now being expanded and incorporated into the training systems used by other American Cities. .
One great concern is not just the immediate violent destruction caused by the explosion of a device but the potential for that device to spread pathogens. Emergency response teams prepare to respond at a potential terrorist attack by controlling them and treating their victims. Some of these elements include chemical hazards, infections disease, anthrax and chemical hazards. This includes protecting the responders as well as the victims. This calls for training and strategic responses. Responders need accurate information in order to be able to determine the appropriate response in a given situation. Some agencies have developed information databases so that responders can determine the specific agent being used and the most effective way to mitigate the damages.
The danger for injuries from chemical hazards is not just from the devices but also from the environment in which they are exploded. Once again, the threat assessment data comes into play as terrorist plan to target sensitive locations, law enforcement tries to protect these location and emergency response teams prepare to assist if the terrorists prevail. Knowing what dangers may exist at a particular site allows response team the opportunity to prepare the equipment and review the drills necessary in order to mitigate the damages, protect the teams and provide the most appropriate treatment to the victims. These include field cards as well as search engines accessing databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and toxic releases. There are also medical management guides that help healthcare professional to treat individuals who have suffered from exposure to toxic elements and hazardous substances. Not all toxic substances are alike, some pose a greater threat than others do, and unfortunately, this is exactly the type of target that may most appeal to a potential terrorist. There are also particular sites where chemicals are stored which, on their own are harmless, but when combined with each other become lethal. These can be as simple and common as ammonia and bleach which, when combined become the toxic compound ammonium chlorohydrate. Emergency responders need to be aware of where these potential sites are within their communities and how to respond. To that end, toxicology interaction profiles are being developed for certain priority mixtures. These do not just evaluate the individual elements, but go further to provide data on the toxicology of the entire mixture in order to develop approaches to control the situation should they become combined.
Terrorist preparedness is a global concern the Emergency Management Office of the Government of British Columbia maintains its own web page to keep its citizens advised or the current global security environment. This page is kept continuously up to date. It also contains information as to how citizens can prepare for an emergency or terrorist attack, guidelines for how to survive an attack and how to report a potential threat.
One of the problems a democracy of free people face is how appropriate it is to conduct investigations regarding potential terrorists. In our increasing diverse societies, the tendency is to target some ethnic groups over others for investigation. When trend analysis, specific threat information or attacks on other transportation targets indicate an increased terrorist threat in a location, the option to screen public transportation passenger comes into play. In the field, it is not possible to screen each individual surface public transportation passenger. Selective searches are a viable alternative that alows a flexible response that can be tailored to a given situation. Selective searches act as deterrence. They increase the risk for terrorists to be caught and this complicates their plans as the must take additional steps to avoid the screening process. Although new technology is being developed to compliment such tried and true methods such as canine teams there is still no overall complete solution. Any screening process that selects one individual and not another comes under scrutiny in order to avoid discrimination. Having accurate information and the ability to evaluate the potential source of the threat is of great value. Once again, the ability to predict trends and examine threat potential helps law officers overcome public and personal bias when evaluating the potential risks in a situation. To this end, it is advisable that low enforcement agencies prepare in advance to have policies in place that combine unpredictability along with behavioral to allow for the maximum deterrence effect. .
The bombing in London on 7 July 2005, had immediate shock value, cost lives and created injuries. They had longtime effects as well as governments took precautionary measures to train and increase law enforcement, and emergency teams. Trend analysis, investigation and preparedness became a focus for additional development and concern. Trends are identified and investigations completed. Random searches are based upon specific danger indicator information. Medical treatment centers now consider the potential to terrorist response for their firefighters and EMTs alone with training for more conventional emergencies. Governments, business and individuals all take measures to be prepared to thwart, or recover from the next terrorist event.
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