As law enforcement officers, we have been receiving Incident Command System (ICS) training since the wake of 9/11. Do you feel your officers understand the concepts behind ICS and can implement it effectively on street level calls like a barricaded subject, an area search for a violent fugitive/suspect at large or an endangered missing person? Do you or your officers cringe when the topic of ICS training comes up? Most cops do and the reason for the resistance is typically a lack of knowledge on how to apply ICS to a rapidly evolving situation.

Much of the confusion stems from the basic training under the FEMA ICS model, which is a 50,000-foot view of a doomsday event with a full activation of their agency's EOC. The average cop can't make sense of how that model of Finance, Logistics, Operations, and Planning (F.L.O.P.) applies to the general criminal event. Law enforcement in general has not been very proactive in their approach to understanding and applying ICS in critical incidents that take place every day at the patrol level. ICS therefore becomes an afterthought and pushed to the curb while we stumble through the incident without clearly defined mission objectives, declared incident priorities and strategies, a known chain of command with span of control for personnel accountability, and effective communication. Every department or supervisor may have their own way of handling a command post but, until now, there hasn't been a standard law enforcement operational approach or application of ICS at the patrol or first responder level. A down and dirty Street Level ICS training package has been created that will leave you and your department with a new standard operating procedure, and full understanding of the theories and methodology behind ICS and NIMS.

Breaking down the barriers that prevent organizations from using ICS is imperative today. We can no longer sit back and say "it's not going to happen here," "ICS takes too long to set up," or "ICS is a micro-management tool," when nationwide law enforcement response to violent critical and mass casualty incidents is becoming all too common. Our nation's police officers are problem solvers and understand the need for efficiency and good decision making in chaotic situations. By implementing this Street Level ICS, we can ensure these incidents will be resolved with greater efficiency through strong leadership, accountability and communication.