September 11, 2001 brought a new awareness to the American people. As such, they turned to America’s Public Safety Sector to ensure their safety and security as they continue to go about their day-to-day business and recreational activities. The hijacking and subsequent crashing of four commercial airliners brought international terrorism and its potential to occur again to the forefront of our thoughts and innermost fears.
 |
|
Communications Coordinator Dave Waddell assists deputy in donning an WMD
protection ensemble. |
C = Chemical
 |
The term
Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) takes
on a very broad range of potential threat scenarios.
To help explain the term
WMD, an
acronym is frequently used throughout the public safety community,
that being
CBRNE. |
B = Biological
R = Radiological
N = Nuclear
E = Explosive
This new era of unique threats brought with it new terms and response necessities. The new operational functions were undertaken by the Bomb Squad, one of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office support functions. This additional responsibility was not a surprise, as the Bomb Squad equipment and mitigation recommendations to handle WMD incidents were in place as early as 1985. Additional training and equipment also became available, post 9/11 through the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. Deputies from all divisions of the Sheriff’s Office were trained in a variety of specialized area’s, to include radiological and nerve agent responses. Special equipment was purchased by the county EMA and distributed to law enforcement agency’s who sought the additional training. The Sheriff’s Office was the first to voluntarily pursue the additional training for officers and one of the first to receive response kits from EMA. The kits included respirators, chemical suits, gloves, and boots.
