Criminal justice paper

Ian Moffat February 22, 2010 Introduction There are three different incidents that have occurred within eleven years of each other that has affected the world in major ways.

Those incidents include the London Bombings that occurred in 2005, the Oklahoma City bombings that occurred in 1995, and the Olympics bombings that occurred in 1996. London Bombings On July 5, 2005 the London Underground rail systems was hit with the unthinkable. According to Australian Federal Police ??? The London terrorist bombings were the first example of ??? home grown??™ suicide bombers in the UK. Fifty-six people were killed, including one Australian, and over 700 people were injured. There were three bomb explosions on the London Underground rail system and one on a London commuter bus. The Underground rail attacks coincided with the morning peak passenger flow in the rush hour.

The bombs on the trains were on the major lines leading in each direction from Kings Cross, except for the northern line. This caused the maximum disruption to the rail system. The simultaneous incidents at multiple sites severely tested the response and critical incident management capabilities of the law enforcement and emergency services in London. In spite of these challenges, these services were able to respond quickly to rescue survivors and minimize the disruption to the city. On 21 July 2005 there were four attempted bombings. No one was injured. These additional four bombings very much mirrored the attacks on 7 July, as they were on public transport systems, were coordinated, were on rail lines going in different directions, and were designed to inflict mass casualties.

??? (Australian Federal Police, 2006) The AFP was on hand to help the United Kingdom with investigating what happened on July 7, 2005. They named this investigation the Operation Kinship. According to the Australian Federal Police ??? The Australian Federal Police (AFP) led a team to help the United Kingdom with the investigation into the London terrorist bombings of 7 July 2005. The AFPs involvement was known as Operation Kinship. The team comprised of: AFP investigation/management AFP disaster victim identification experts AFP bomb data experts NSW Police Victoria Police, and Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) transport security experts. The team was supported by the AFP London and The Hague Liaison Offices, and the Australian High Commission in London.

Operational response In response to the bombings, the AFP Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (TCCC) established an investigation, Operation Kinship, to coordinate AFP activities, both in Australia and London. These activities included the coordination of local enquiries in support of the UK investigation, including witness interviews and other general enquiries. National Counter Terrorism Committee briefings An Australian Observer Team, comprising officers from the AFP, State Police and the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services was deployed to London to provide any assistance that may be requested, and observe the response by UK Police and Emergency Services. The team provided updates and briefings to the Australian Government and presented a summary of key findings of their observations to the National Counter Terrorism Committee (NCTC) for consideration.

Legislative and policy change The key findings presented to the NCTC provided discussion on the UK investigation in terms of the emergency response, law enforcement investigation, intelligence, forensics and policy and planning. These findings provided the NCTC with valuable insight and issues for consideration in the ongoing planning and preparation for any potentially similar terrorist attack in Australia. Bomb data The Observer Team included an officer from the Australian Bomb Data Centre (ABDC). The representative was able to gain valuable information concerning the bomb making and substances used. This knowledge contributed to the ABDCs understanding of these bombings and in the development of preventative strategies for Australia.

Forensic response Oklahoma City Bombing There were many people that responded to this deadly incident. According to the United States Department of Justice ??? Within minutes of the blast, a massive search-and-rescue effort commenced that included fire, emergency, medical, and law enforcement personnel, as well as a large number of citizens. Citizens and emergency personnel joined together and entered the bombed structure, forming human chains to locate and remove trapped survivors and victims??™. In fact, throughout this rescue effort, the large outpouring of citizens and agency volunteers astonished veteran rescue workers. The strong State and Federal Government presence in Oklahoma City helped the response-and-rescue effort. For example, immediately following the explosion, the Oklahoma City Fire Department set up an Incident Command System (ICS) to manage the intensive search-and-rescue mission and massive influx of federal, state, local, and voluntary agency resources (Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management, 1996). Also, working together, the local police department, the county sheriff, and state and federal agencies handled traffic and security. By 9: 25 a.

m., 23 minutes after the blast, the State Emergency Operations Center was operational and included representatives from the state departments of public safety, human services, military, health, and education. Soon joining these agencies were the National Weather Service, the Civil Air Patrol, and the American Red Cross (ARC). Within an hour and a half of the bombing, President Clinton announced the signing of Emergency Declaration FEMA-3113-EM-OK under title V provisions of the Robert T.

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act [PL 93-288]. This signing and declaration of emergency gave the Federal Government primary responsibility to respond to the disaster and authorized full reimbursement for all eligible response missions performed by state and local government. President Clintons declaration that Oklahoma City was a federal disaster area automatically triggered ARC to act as the lead agency in providing food, shelter, first aid, relief supplies, and welfare information.

Approximately 665 rescue team members were sent immediately by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Oklahoma City. The swift response in Oklahoma City of public and private agencies at all levels of government demonstrated how critical it is for those agencies to work collaboratively in responding to the crisis created by a mass-casualty incident. This type of planning and coordination is just as critical to identifying and meeting the needs of victims. The needs of victims and family members immediately following the bombing were acute and urgent. Some of the support services that were mobilized to assist victims came in the form of the Compassion Center (later becoming Project Heartland), the Resource Coordination Committee (Unmet Needs Committee), and crisis intervention. (United States Department of Justice, 2000). 1996 Olympic Bombing The 1996 Olympic bombing occurred in Atlanta Georgia at the Summer Olympics. According to BBC News ??? A bomb has exploded at a crowded concert in Atlanta, Georgia, the city hosting this years Olympic Games.

Two people are reported to have been killed and firefighting officials say as many as 200 people may have been injured. The explosion happened at 0125 local time during a rock concert in the Centennial Olympic Park. Three months ago, the Atlanta Olympic Committee transformed the 21-acre site from an unused area of slums and old warehouses into a popular entertainment venue. It has attracted an estimated 100, 000 people day and night who gather to hear music, watch concerts and contests on giant screens or buy souvenirs. A band called Jack Mack and the Heart Attack had just finished playing a song when the bomb went off near a sound tower. After the blast, the area was immediately surrounded by police and cordoned off. The nearby press centre was closed because guards feared another explosion.

Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos and carnage. People lay on the ground with head and other injuries as police tried to clear the area. The police say they received a phone call warning of the bomb and describing its location but it was too late to evacuate the park. They did, however, manage to clear the immediate vicinity. It is reported the callers voice had the characteristics of a white American male. Security at the Games – already billed by the authorities as the largest peacetime security operation for a public event in American history – has been stepped up with extra bag searches and regular sweeps for explosives.

Conclusion I think that under the terms of all the incidents, Things were handled the best that they could be. All three of these incidents were considered to be a tragedy. I think that when things like this happen everyone has to pull together to make sure that the best care is giving to everyone involved. All the right agencies where involved and they did the best that they could to make sure that everything was taking care of.

With this said I don??™t think that I would have done anything different. References “ Responding to Terrorism Victims: Oklahoma City and Beyond: Chapter II: The Immediate Crisis Response”. _U.

S Department of Justice_ October 2000. http://www. ojp. usdoj. gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.

html. Retrieved February 22 2010.