One small step CBRNe World examines the fore-runner of a new species of police CBRN response vehicles THE evolution of the police response to CBRN has been rapid. From the early days of 1995, where an interim capability was set up the protozoa or single celled animals to the post-2001 organisms with form and function, there has been a tendency to remain in the medium of military knowledge. In some countries this is more pronounced than others for instance where the military has yet to evolve a CBRN capability, never mind civil forces yet there has been, over the past two years, an attempt to make the evolutionary leap, to leave the water behind. Doctrine, tactics and concepts are emerging that are evolutionarily different to the ones that they came from evolutionary leaps, rather than just iterations. Much like the first amphibians a quick saunter across the land, but always returning back to the shallows. Surrey Police, in the UK, have perhaps made a more full blooded foray onto the dry land of civil CBRN, even if it is not the next giant leap forward. Carriers and monitors Previously (non-decontamination) CBRN vehicles have largely fitted into two categories. There have been the carrier vehicles for the transport of men and materiel to the scene, and the reconnaissance and monitoring vehicles of the military. There have been some exceptions: STUK in Finland have a radiation monitoring van and Swedish Disaster Management Agency also have a survey vehicle, but these often focus on the collection of detector information and the movement of the data to tactical HQs. The new Support Vehicle that Surrey Police have devised and procured is a multi-role vehicle which provides elements of traditional vehicles but also new ones. Ostensibly, the vehicle has four roles. The first is to transport men and materiel to the scene; the second is to provide the airbeam structures for any doffing of clothing; the third is detection and prediction of downwind hazard analysis for the protection of police undergoing the undress procedures; and the fourth is actually to act as tactical CBRN HQ and analyse information and pass it up to Silver commanders. PC Martyn Bowie, of Surrey Police, explained further. It was identified as a solution to the undressing procedure tent, he said. What we were concerned about was the point where our officers are at their most vulnerable: when they are going through their undressing procedures. So the support vehicle has two functions: the first is to bring out replacement equipment in the first hour, while the national system is kicking into place, which is why we have a full PSUs (Public Support Unit) worth of equipment on the vehicle. That will keep us going until the mutual aid agreements with our neighbours and the Pods from the Police CBRN Centre in Winterbourne Gunner replenish us. The second is to give chemical data and to check information with the met mast, as it give us an early indication if a decon area is coming under threat from a wind change. It is difficult for a Commander in a CBRN incident to base their decisions on slow-time information; they need instant 64 CBRNe WORLD Summer 2007 www.cbrneworld.com
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information, not eventually from the Met Office. That also gives an audit trail based on live-time information, so when the incident goes into the consequence management phase we can far more readily access information to see what the thought process is should there be mass casualty event, as there is always an investigation afterwards. There is also the duty we have to play to the officers; we have a far greater proportion of female officers now, and for them to undress down to underwear with other people is not appropriate, so there is that element as well as keeping them out of the weather. We had a near operation recently where, had we not had the vehicle, we wouldn t have been able to work alongside our fire service colleagues at a white powder incident which is another advantage: being able to expedite the ability of getting rid of the hoax element, so it cuts down on the volume of resources, the cordon, etc. Another thing we haven t had before is self-sufficiency. The power for the devices is carried as a generator inside the vehicle, as opposed to having to rely on other forms of electricity. It has a command element, it has the shelters, it has its own lights they can light a very large area and are the same lights that are used by our roads policing unit on the motorway, for example. Surrey Police are using Bruhn Newtech s CBRN Response It is the multi-role aspect of the vehicle which adds to its uniqueness. Current iterations of this style of vehicle and the UK is going through a larger Scene Assessment Vehicle project for the Police have not had such a multi-functional element. This is very much a user-designed and userdriven vehicle, as Sergeant Sproston explained. A lot of it is down to Martin s expertise in the field, he said. There were capability gaps identified, and if we spent a lot more money we could have an even better capability than we did. Our force is quite forward-thinking and we have been fortunate to have been able to redirect some finances to put this capability in place. We have put in a proportionate response to a likely threat. PC Bowie agreed. I had the luxury to sit around and think from a couple of angles, and spoke to the officers on the ground and asked them In a CBRN event, what would you expect a vehicle to do for you? Their concern was the equipment; This is contaminated and I need clean equipment; I want to know I have something there to do that. The Bronze Commanders reply was A command system where I can report back to the theatre command element precise information, such as wind direction and speed. The Silver Commanders wanted the wide picture: What have I got in the downwind hazard prediction; do I need to evacuate this hospital, school, shopping centre? We presented this to The CBRN Team and that is where the vehicle came from; a bit of this, a bit of that, and then we went to Bruhn Newtech and got the necessary software [CBRNE Response], we got the lighting and the met mast and they put it all together. Hybrid support The Support Vehicle does tick a lot of the hybrid boxes; not only is it a hybrid between a carrier and a reece vehicle, but it is also a hybrid between what the UK police had in the past vans with handheld The support vehicle package includes vehicle, inflatable dressing areas, C2 and PSU kits www.cbrneworld.com Summer 2007 CBRNe WORLD 67
detectors in and the future the anticipated Scene Assessment Vehicle. It is not fair to call it a prototype, as prototypes are not usually operational assets and often not ruggedised the Support Vehicle will be, and has been, in constant use, but it is the shape of things to come. Perhaps not the exact shape; the sauropods bore very little resemblance to the first amphibians to make their way out of the water, but elements of the skeleton will be found in later antecedents. PC Bowie suggested that this was very much the plan. We have to look at the bigger picture; in CBRN in the future we will see forces work together nationally rather than having to find their own systems and vehicles, he said. Ryton will come up with the tactics and doctrine that people will be able to follow. I m not saying this is the best vehicle in the world; we would like to see other forces use it as a template, rather than copying it, and adapting it for their environment. This is like the Version One, and I d like to see Version s Two and upwards as people look at it and go, That s good, but I would have done this. We decided that this was the solution to our problem in the short term. It would not take a particularly inspired guess to come to the conclusion that the Police CBRN Centre in Ryton would rather Surrey had waited for a national solution that go their own way and have to be slotted in after; but this is not a new phenomenon as Major Serge Ferooz points out elsewhere in this edition (see page 24). Necessity is always the mother of invention, and there may have been fish that urged the first amphibians to wait until they were all ready, but what Surrey have done is come up with a vehicle that meets a number of their needs unique needs that would not have been met by a traditional solution. It is likely that, whatever the final UK solution is, the Support Vehicle will find a place in it; nothing has been done that is radically different. The detectors are the same as you would find in numerous forces throughout the country (and the world), the software is versatile enough to be linked to whatever system that the UK decides on (this being rather a hobby horse of mine); it is just the way it has been packaged up to deal with the different roles. Surrey Police welcome any interest in the vehicle and are happy to show the capability to any interested parties. Those interested should contact PC Martyn Bowie on Bowie1@surrey.pnn. police.uk The support vehicle will give Surrey Police confidence in siting their assets. 68 CBRNe WORLD SUMMER 2007 www.cbrneworld.com