police responses to large crime scenes

I'm assuming this is in America? Which state and which time period?

To get you started, take a look at Incident Command Systemin Wikipedia. It will give you the background you need to start understanding how this works.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...tCjYRwW30yXDgdTTlXFEA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ

Multiple jurisdictions often result in some degree of chaos and conflict. But it's a hard question to answer without more specifics.

caw

In our local police force if the officer is the first on scene, one of the people he has to notify is his patrol supervisor (that’s generally a sergeant in our PD, but the title can vary from agency to agency). The patrol supervisor supervises the uniformed police response and works with other responding police units, like Homicide, depending on what they need.
Depending on the scenario, a lieutenant or a captain could also be called in to take over. Until the supervising officer arrives, the first responding officer has command of the scene. If the officer arrives at the scene later, he should find the supervising officer who’ll tell him what to do.

If it’s a multi-agency response scenario we model our command structure after FEMA’s Incident Management System that jclarkdawe has already linked to.

melindamusil said:

So sorry, guys - this is really getting in my head! :-/
Yes, this is in America. Current era. Specific location, it's not set in stone so I could change it, but right now I'm thinking the Boston area.
Thanks,
Melinda

Click to expand...

That's ok. It just helps to know where it is. I'm in England so me telling you how it works here is a waste of your time.

In the US, the agency that first receives the complaint and/or is the first responder has de facto command of the scene/incident. The command may ratchet up the ranks within that department depending on the arrival of more senior (in rank) personnel, and applicable departmental policy.

Overlapping and/or concurrent jurisdictions (municipal, county, state, federal) are common, so mutually beneficial cooperative support actions (think ad hoc task force comprised of responding units) are generally the rule. At some point it may be pragmatic for the agency with appropriate jurisdiction and the most available resources to assume command at the request of the the original agency - there's a protocol that is observed, usually found or drafted in a memorandum of understanding in regard to critical incidents.

There are such contingency plans in place, but a public forum is not the place to ferret out details that may be considered confidential/classified.

If you locate the event in a particular state, I'd recommend making inquiries with the agencies you would potentially involve. The respective Public Information Officer (PIO) would see that you are afforded all the pertinent information you're allowed.

jclarkdawe said:

To get you started, take a look at Incident Command Systemin Wikipedia.

Click to expand...

Yep. Now being mandated by FEMA for all jurisdictions. Boston has used the system for a decade or more.

Jeff

If you're doing the Boston Police, here's some information on their Incident Command vehicle from the company they bought it from: boston police department mobile command vehicle

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe