Investigations

Of course, once the incident has been dealt with, the authorities still need to pursue with the utmost rigour the investigation of the incident, the group involved and their support network. This is essential in order to bring the criminals involved to justice and also to interdict other groups from carrying our similar
atrocities.

Emotional Issues

Responders, victims and the public at large are always deeply affected by such events and the need for emotional support should be a critical
element in the recovery process to ensure that everyone can start to move forward. This may require the assistance of Medical Health Practitioners to provide necessary counselling and support to all those affected.

Business Continuity

Both the public and private sector will also need to put in place necessary business continuity measures in order to get everything back to normal as soon as possible. Following the Brussels attacks, for example, the primary airport was out of action for a number of months. Fortunately, the authorities had necessary contingency measures in place and were able to use an alternative airport.
However, business losses can often be significant and it may be necessary for financial injections to help support those affected by the incident and to help bring about an earlier return to normalcy.

Peter R. Morgan is the Director of Crisis Avert Ltd and spent over 33 years in law enforcement. He was closely involved in CT-response as Commander of the Police Crisis Negotiation Unit for 12 years, responsible for counter-terrorist incidents, public order negotiations, serious criminal and domestic crisis incidents as well as suicide intervention and barricaded situations. He is also the author of “Critical Issues in Crisis Negotiations”, available on Amazon. This article is adapted from a presentation given at the Asia Emergency Management Conference in May 2016. For more information, please contact Peter at prmorgan@crisisavert.com or visit www.CrisisAvert.com.