Police officers are faced with many challenges when responding to an emergency situation. It may be a 25 car pile up, an active shooter, or a terrorist attack. If we add darkness, smoke, or inclement weather conditions to these scenes, then we are facing a critical situation.
We can't stop these things from happening, but we can ensure that the situation is controlled and aid is given to those in need. With any kind of serious or mass incident, it is critical to set-up a command and control nucleus to assist personnel in responding to the situation quickly and effectively. Command and control centers may be different in each agency or jurisdiction, but the missions are alike.
To monitor an incident, track manpower at the scene, and control the assets coming in and out, the use of thermal imagery is a huge advantage. Thermal imagers (TI) can detect extremely small differences in temperature, which allows officers to easily distinguish people from their immediate surroundings. TIs provide officers with another set of eyes to help bring the incident under control. TIs have become accepted and well respected tools for law enforcement in recent years.
On its own, the TI is a powerful tool for locating victims, uncovering evidence or identifying threats. Now combine the TI with the added bonus of having an imager that can transmit to a monitor or receiver, and we have a force multiplier. This gives commanders and team leaders the opportunity to observe team movements and threat assessment by providing scene over-watch.
Whether the observation post is covert or overt, a TI can be used. Applications include scene containment, search and rescue, Hazmat response, vehicle accidents, SWAT Ops, riots, officer rescue, homeland security, and maritime operations. Let’s look at an example of a large incident response.
The incident may be at night on a poorly lit street with many emergency vehicles at the scene with their warning lights flashing. A scene like this makes it extremely difficult to monitor personnel or equipment. With the use of a TI, we can effectively control and monitor the scene with the ability to look beyond the blinding walls of light, darkness or fog and smoke. The infrared energy of a TI is not affected by these things, making it effective for command posts as a visual force multiplier.
Many manufacturers offer a TI receiver, which gives commanders and team leaders the mobility to view an incident from a command station by receiving video transmitted from a TI. By combining a TI with a receiver in a remote location, we can monitor the scene from a distance and not be limited by poor lighting or night vision. Allowing the command center personnel to view the incident from a remote site provides increased safety at the scene.
We can also use our remote receiver to switch channels from one imager to another to further evaluate the incident. The use of a large screen receiver is also helpful because it allows viewing by a team of officers, which is critical when making lifesaving decisions. Using a TI and a mobile receiver can help you keep your personnel safe and save innocent lives.
Stay Safe!
