CBRNe World looks at the European funded project GIFT, as it tries to reconcile CBRN and forensic science. CBRN but not

Transcription

1 CBRNe World looks at the European funded project GIFT, as it tries to reconcile CBRN and forensic science CBRN but not The field of CBRNE is both broad and deep, as broad and deep as any one subject can be. In-depth understanding of all the disciplines, not to mention the niches within the subdivisions of each discipline, is beyond even the best of us. Any attempt to be CBRNE omniscient at best irritates our peers (as our very own Governor Cinomis demonstrated in his last rant musings, getting hot under the tracking collar regarding the exact intracellular chemical pathway of cyanide), and at worst misinforms to the point of being dangerous. One sub-discipline of CBRN however, seems to have stumped almost all of us and is in fact rarely even considered. This is the issue of fusing conventional forensic science with a CBRN incident. It certainly seems strange that CBRN forensics is so overlooked by both the CBRN and forensics communities. After all, if you adhere to the old school doctrine of hazmat + crime = CBRN, then surely forensic investigation of a CBRN incident would be at the forefront of our minds, or at least first responders minds. Why this seemingly vital area of the CBRN response has been so neglected is difficult to say, but perhaps no budget + no idea = no plan. But what exactly is CBRN forensics, is it the analysis of traditional but contaminated forensic evidence under CBRN conditions, or is it the analysis of CBRN materials themselves? In a criminal context it is, of course, both. The successful interrogation of evidence at a crime scene contaminated with CBRN agents, or of the agents themselves back at the lab, is an absolutely vital part of any national defence capability. Processing these agents, or being able to handle traditional evidence in a hazardous environment, will be vital to the successful prosecutions and trials of the individuals that carried out the attacks. It might also provide vital information as to what agent was used and what medical treatments should be administered to the survivors. Just because evidence is contaminated or the evidence is a contaminant doesn t mean it should be avoided. At present any investigation is hampered by a lack of protocols and training in carrying out forensic analysis on CBRN contaminated materials, or under CBRN conditions. In the past forensic analysis of contaminated materials, even in high capability nations, has been largely ignored for reasons of fear and ignorance. This is not at all a criticism. With very limited procedural guidance in place for responders and forensic investigators, and very few relevant agencies willing to commit knowledge and experience to the response effort, it is not surprising there is such a capability gap. The Generic Integrated Forensic Toolbox or GIFT CBRN project, funded under the 7th framework programme (FP7), is actively looking to address the significant capability gaps inherent in this complex and largely overlooked area. The overarching aim is to provide an integrated law enforcement CBRN capability that is far in advance of even current high capability nations. GIFT CBRN is all about developing a forensic toolbox for investigating CBRN incidents, providing procedures, sampling methods and detection of CBRN agents at the crime scene, traditional forensic lab methods for contaminated evidence, and lab methods for profiling the CBRN agents released at the incident. Unlike many commission projects which were only governed by their own internal standards, GIFT will develop procedures and methods which are validated according to ISO standards such as ISO17020/25, and the system validation will be performed by final exercising with external end users. A recurring criticism of commission projects (CBRNe World August 2015) is the lack of follow up once the money has dried up, usually after three years. GIFT has directly addressed this issue by establishing an education and training curriculum related to the procedure s developed, best practices and methods, which will be available to all European national responder agencies at the end of the project. Underpinning all of the above is the development of novel methodologies to enable traditional forensic science (ie DNA, fingerprint and electronic devices) to be carried out on CBRN contaminated exhibits. The methodologies also extend to the analytical procedures to be carried out that not only provide information about the CBRN agent itself but also provide in-depth information which can give valuable forensic information. Currently the GIFT project is still in the research and data gathering phase, engaging with first responders and forensic specialists from across Europe. End user workshops have been held in Den Haag (NL), Bristol, UK, Rome, Italy and Riga, Latvia, with first responders attending from 12 member states. These responders provided invaluable feedback on their current national capability, gaps in their response procedures and the GIFT consortium s approach. Certainly these workshops demonstrated one fundamental truth about CBRN forensic science - in Europe at least - and that is that very few first responders have specialist CBRN forensic knowledge or experience. The workshops attracted attendees with specialist forensic knowledge and others with a unique CBRN background but apparently the twain never meet where front line responders are concerned. The project s research work package (WP2) is now nearing completion. As a result the outcomes of this work 46 CBRNe WORLD October

2 as we know it Gift will provide training in a variety of essential forensic skills CBRNe World October 2015 CBRNe WORLD 47

3 CBRN but not as we know it package are far more tangible, allowing the R&D to get underway and incorporation of the feedback from the research phase. In essence WP2 focussed on two main objectives supported by a number of sub tasks. The first objective was to set the incident scene by capturing a number of credible and feasible CBRN scenarios that could require forensic investigation. The second objective tried to identify current best practices in CBRN forensic science within EU member states, and future solutions for operational capabilities. Identifying the current state and future solutions for European CBRN forensics will eventually lead to a set of road maps, which can be used by both high and low capability member states to develop an adequate CBRN forensic response capability based on their available resources and threat spectrums. To meet the first objective by creating a set of CBRN scenarios that could be used by the forensic community, the GIFT consortium started collecting existing threat scenarios rather than reinventing the wheel [another recurring criticism of FP7 projects Ed.]. Luckily the partners involved in this work package have significant experience in developing these scenarios with previous FP7, FP6 and even preparatory action in security research (PASR) projects, so a large number were available. Theoretically all these scenario sets are EU property as it funded the R&D, and should be available on the EU database, but we were in fact (rather frustratingly) referred back to the organisations that originally developed them. On requesting these scenario sets from the relevant organisations, and with some pulling of teeth, they were reluctantly provided. In total 15 scenario sets were collected (which is by no means all that were developed), primarily from within the EU with some national planning scenarios included. Once gathered, these scenario sets were critiqued to assess their suitability for GIFT s purposes. Those deemed suitable for the project provided an ideal cross section of the CBRN threat PPE places a massive burden on forensics. Gift will try and lighten this with improved detection technologies CBRNe World spectrum for European member states. The scenarios quite logically tended to focus on the actual release of the CBRN material into the environment,which would then require a response to save lives and mitigate the consequences. Such incidents would certainly involve a forensic response, which was not accounted for when these scenarios were originally developed. There were other types of CBRN incidents that were missing from the scenario sets that might require forensic investigation, however, for example the discovery of an improvised chemical or biological laboratory. In order to provide an inclusive set of scenarios for the forensic community these types of incident were developed and incorporated into the scenario set. The GIFT consortium needed to ensure it had a comprehensive cross section of the threat spectrum, which covered most if not all conceivable challenges encountered during a CBRN forensic investigation, to make these scenarios useful for the future development of CBRN forensics. This involved not only filling in incomplete capability/knowledge gaps but in some cases writing entirely new scenarios to include preparation of CBRN agents and/or weapons, deployed weapons and released weapons. The end result was a dedicated and comprehensive template with a total of 20 scenarios, comprising six each of chemical, biological and radiological and two nuclear scenarios. These scenario sets were then used to reach the second main objective of this work package; namely the development of CBRN forensic roadmaps (as well as making them available to the forensic/cbrn community). To develop these roadmaps it was important to identify and understand the current gaps in capability in various nations within Europe. The GIFT consortium held a gap analysis workshop in June 2015 at the Netherlands forensic institute (NFI), utilising the developed CBRN scenario sets. A broad spectrum of organisations from all over Europe attended including the International Committee of the Red Cross; Czechoslovakia s National Institute for NBC Protection; the UK s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl); Bundeskriminalamt 48 CBRNe WORLD October

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5 CBRN but not as we know it from Germany and the Dutch Ministerie van Defensie. For obvious reasons identification of gaps is essential in developing a capability, but simply identifying the gaps doesn t necessarily lead to a set of roadmaps from the current to the desired capability levels. It was therefore important to develop a number of sub tasks to build these roadmaps. To follow a map you need a starting point. So the first issue GIFT had to address was establishing where the current capability levels of various nations across Europe were, no easy task given the disparity in wealth, economics and public services across the EU. The current state of the art for CBRN forensics was initially determined through the workshops mentioned earlier, as well as questionnaires that covered a broad range of regional differences and approaches to CBRN forensic science. This approach provided keen insight into the member states current CBRN forensic capabilities and the differently implemented operational models. The disparities in capability and operating models were eventually subdivided into three levels, namely low, average and high capability. Once the point of departure was established, GIFT needed a clear line of sight to the possible destinations for both low and high capability countries. These destinations were established by performing analyses of both the near and far future developments in forensic science and technology, and the needed/required solutions as indicated by the European end user community. The culmination of 12 months of research is the generation of four different roadmaps that describe the forensic tasks for both high and low capability nations (medium being an extrapolation of the two extremes), and the required actions that could lead to an improved CBRN forensic response capability. These roadmaps are primarily intended for the EU member states and their forensic communities, but will also serve the GIFT CBRN project by validating the technological and procedural developments over the lifespan of the project. The GIFT CBRN project is an ambitious undertaking, seeking to provide much needed guidance to an overlooked aspect of the CBRN response. The work currently done by the consortium has laid a foundation of understanding of current capabilities and requirements for a unique international community with enormous variations in knowledge and competencies. In order to provide the right response procedures to this diverse community, responsible for a myriad of activities ranging from response preparedness to prosecution in court, involvement of CBRN forensic end users is essential. The GIFT CBRN consortium, then, is asking for input from you, the reader, should you have experience in CBRN forensics. If you would like further information on the work being done by the GIFT CBRN project or have any feedback do get in contact via the GIFT website: or enquiries@ cbrneworld.com. The consortium consists of 21 parties, from nine different European member states. They are, the NFI (NL), Tyndall University (IRL), TNO (NL), RIVM (NL), M2L (UK), Falcon (UK), Fera (UK), AWE (UK), STUK (FIN), FOI (SWE), SKL (SWE), Analyzed IQ (IRL), NICC (BE), RMA (BE), Space Applications (BE), JRC-ITU (EC), CEA (FRA), Eticas (ESP), RAMEM (ESP), LQC (ESP), and NanoBiz (Tr). Funded under the seventh framework programme of the EC The original GIFT team GIFT 50 CBRNe WORLD October