14 POLICE DECEMBER 2012

In-progress calls evolve within a framework of controlled chaos. Though this framework includes many variables, I

can identify the three most common that detract from our efforts: officers wanting to talk on the radio at the same time, officers focusing on catching the bad guy as individuals in-stead of members of a team, and officers and supervisors alike ignoring basic response fundamentals. You can help improve your management of the situ-ation by remembering the ABCs of in-progress calls: Assess the situation, Ba-sics rule the day, and Contain it or lose it.

ASSESS THE SITUATIONWhatever the call, assessing the situ-ation will let you determine what resources you need and what tactics you will employ. Far too often officers go half-cocked into a situation and waste valuable time and resources that they may need later on. All it takes is for a supervisor to ask a few questions and filter the answers in order to make the best decisions possible. Once a supervi-sor starts making decisions, it’s hard to change paths, so the choices need to be good early on.

The problem with not having infor-mation is it creates a void. It is human nature to fill in this void with either in-formation based on past experience or with imagination. Either way, chances are that if you’re missing information you will make poor decisions up front, which will cost you later on as the call progresses.

You should always be prepared to get a basic response rolling. Once that’s done, the next focus should be on get-ting a unit to the scene as soon as possible to get up-to-date information. Remember, dispatch only gives you the infor-mation they receive. They are a conduit for raw information that has yet to be confirmed.

Any experienced officer knows that the information you initially receive is not always correct. It’s not the dispatch-ers’ fault, as they are just repeating the answers they get to their questions. But that first officer on the scene needs to

size up the situation, confirm or deny any information, and relay back to the supervisor an update as to status and legiti-macy of the call.

There was a time when agencies would just roll anything they felt they needed as a matter of routine. However, in

these times of lean budgets and dimin-ishing resources, you need to be mind-ful of using your assets carefully. What you expend now may not be available later. My experience has taught me that if the supervisor starts an initial re-sponse and gives it a few extra minutes, he or she will get the information need-ed to formulate an informed response.

Obviously, if left with no other choice, you plan for the worst and adjust later. But that’s not the same thing as just arbitrarily throwing resources at a problem you have yet to clearly identify because you didn’t take the time to do so.

BASICS RULE THE DAYThe basics will always get you through any situation. It’s the foundation we have all used to build our careers on. The

problem these days is that people accept mediocrity and hope things will some-how work out, and administrators have cut too much training—even the basics. We are starting to fail at the very tasks we want accomplished because we no longer train for them.

For example, when was the last time your agency trained with your K-9 Unit on perimeters, did any training at roll call, or gave the Incident Command Sys-tem anything but lip service? We have a

great deal of post-9/11 gear, but how helpful is it if no one knows how to perform the simplest tasks effectively? It’s nice if you look cool in your MultiCam uniforms and have AR-15s that look like they came from Star Wars, but they won’t help you set up a perimeter.

It’s never too late to start focusing on the basics again. In-corporate them into your next standardized response. For example, say a call for a burglary in progress goes out. The

Keep an evolving call under control by assessing, relying on basics, and containing the area.

ABCS OF IN-PROGRESS CALLS

Best PracticesAMAURY MURGADO

For more Best Practices go towww.PoliceMag.com/bestpractices

CP, scribe, and perimeter are part of the ABCs.

Don't squander valuble resources.

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16 POLICE DECEMBER 2012

two closest responding units should already know their specific assignments.

The first unit hustles to the scene and confirms that there was, in fact, a crime and checks for prosecution. The unit then confirms or updates any information for re-broadcast to every-one else responding. This helps prevent driving past the suspect because of receiving the wrong description. Simultaneously, the same unit starts con-trolling the crime scene with an emphasis on securing the last known point the suspect en-tered and or existed. This is a must if you plan to use K-9s for es-tablishing a track later.

With that accom-plished, the second unit is free to estab-lish a command post and start setting up a perimeter. They have also volunteered by default to be the incident scribes. They direct responding units where to deploy and document it until the supervisor gets on scene and takes over full command. Afterwards, they continue documenting positions, decisions, and instructions to avoid any duplication of effort. Obviously, this frees up the supervisor to accomplish other necessary command-level tasks.

Another basic element to a structured response is incorporat-ing a simple numbering system to identify the sides of a build-ing for responding units. Whatever you deem to be the front of the building, label it as side one. Going in a counterclockwise direction, give the remaining three sides numbers two through four. Calling out, “I have side three,” gives an exact picture for everyone to see and makes it easier for a supervisor to track unit locations.

With this system you can also easily call out a specific corner because it is just a matter of combining two sides. The phrase, “I have corner three-four,” immediately lets everyone know that of-ficer is in the back right-hand corner of the building.

If you have an area with many buildings, just identify the building with a number and break it down the same way. You coul call out your location as, “I have side one, building one.” In a larger perimeter you can still identify your location by calling out the street, nearest intersection, or landmark. If you have an inner and outer perimeter, you can use a combination of both.

CONTAIN IT OR LOSE ITYour job is always about con-

trol. Often, this involves not letting the situation get out of hand. One of the best tools for keeping an in-progress

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Best Practices

A command post can be as simple as the back of your patrol car.

1. In-progress calls work within a framework of controlled chaos.

2. You have to incorporate the basics if you are going to be successful.

3. Use the ABCs of in-progress calls as your guide.

4. A little structure goes a long way.

5. Being a good cop involves all parts of the job, not just the ones you prefer doing.

TIPS FOR IN-PROGRESS CALLS

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PoliceMag.com 17

call in check is setting up a good perimeter at the outset. This line is meant to keep the suspects in and those not involved out. Wisdom dictates that when making a perimeter during an in-progress call, you make the perimeter larger rather than smaller. This maximizes your chances of keeping the suspect within your containment area. If you make this area too small, your suspect may already be outside your perimeter or, worse, the person could easily slip out.

While on perimeter, all officers need to have their emergency lights on and pay attention to their surroundings. The desired outcome is that every time any suspects try to flee the area, they will see a marked unit. This keeps them pinned down so that K-9s and or aviation units can find them. This is not the time for offi-cers to be talking on the phone, working on their in-car comput-ers, or goofing off listening to a football game on the FM radio. Also, if K-9s are tracking you need to shut off your car so the car-bon monoxide from the exhaust doesn’t kill the scent trail.

No matter what your duties are, and no matter how simple or basic they seem, they all must be performed at your best ef-fort. No one individual catches anyone; it’s always the result of a team effort.

LEARNING YOUR ABCSIf you ignore these ABCs during an in-progress, you’ll end up with a haphazard mess that turns possible success into definite failure. Without the ABC structure, responding officers just flood

the area and tie up radio traffic with conjecture.

In a structured re-sponse that uses the ABCs, sending an officer to the scene immediately to se-cure the scene and update information is critical. Set-ting up a command post and perimeter are equally

as critical. Having a scribe taking notes is a God send on a com-plicated call.

I once had a sergeant tell me he didn’t like my structured ap-proach because he was a real cop and worked using his intuition instead. The problem was, his intuition often sucked and he failed more times than he succeeded. You could always tell when his squad was working because there was a flurry of activity on the radio that never went anywhere. If they did find the suspect it was despite their efforts and not because of it.

We all want to catch the bad guy, but if the response is just a race to see who gets the pretty ribbon, then nothing will ever get done. It takes more than the desire to catch the bad guy to be a good cop; it takes a commitment to get the job done, no matter the tasks required to do so. One sure recipe for success on a call is embracing the basics and not turning your back on them.

Amaury Murgado is a special operations lieutenant with the Osceo-la County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office. He is a retired master sergeant from the Army Reserve, has more than 25 years of law enforcement experi-ence, and has been a lifelong student of martial arts.

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A building numbering system can save time and effort.

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