Filling the gap between NIMS/ICS and the law enforcement initial response in the age of the urban jihad

Abstract

The National Incident Management (NIMS) and Incident Command Systems (ICS) are important tools that can be adapted to establish command and control in coordinating some aspects of the response and recovery phases of many major incidents, including some types of terrorist attacks. These command and control paradigms, however, are heavily reliant on communications technology and other social and organizational preconditions, and may fail to adequately support the initial law enforcement response to some types of incidents, such as the attacks that occurred in Mumbai, India and Lahore, Pakistan. This thesis will suggest that recent developments in tactics employed by terrorists in India, Pakistan and elsewhere demand an urgent re-examination of the urban policing model currently employed in the United States. The American urban policing model is well suited for response to ordinary domestic criminal activity and, through the use of command and control tools such as NIMS, works adequately for many unusual occurrences. The NIMS-based model alone, however, including the current National Response Scenarios, seems ill suited for response to acts of paramilitary terrorism. American law enforcement may require a supplemental response paradigm that envisions an effective initial response when faced with degraded communications capabilities and uncertain command and control structures.