CHICAGO PREPARES FOR TERRORIST ATTACK

From; ENN DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Monday, June 16, 1997 Vol. 3 - 167

CHICAGO PREPARES FOR TERRORIST ATTACK
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst

Public safety officials in the city of Chicago have a table-top war game that they play with deadly seriousness. The object of the exercise is to find and disarm a terrorist bomb that is hidden in Chicago's famous "Loop" within 12 minutes.

According to the exercise scenario, an unknown caller to Chicago's 911 Emergency Communications Center says that a bomb is hidden at an elevated train station. However, the device at the train station -- which is really a subway station at that point -- is really only a diversion. It is a trick that is calculated to herd evacuated people not away from the danger, but right into the face of it.

As the Chicago Police Department arrives on the scene, they direct the evacuated citizens into a nearby underground pedway for safety. The crowd heads toward the Daley Center -- which is exactly what the terrorist wants. Moments later, according to the exercise, a second bomb explodes that government building and knocks out an electrical-generating station.

There are many casualties. Hundreds of others are trapped in powerless elevators. What do emergency managers do to mitigate the situation?

If such an incident were to occur, one of the first officials on the scene would probably be Frank Moriarty, a veteran Chicago firefighter and said to be quite an outspoken one. He is the deputy coordinator of Chicago's emergency preparedness and disaster services. Moriarty has long called for anti-terrorism assistance from the federal government. He has long advocated, as has the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute (ERRI), for the necessary training and equipment to deal not only with conventional bombings, but with chemical and biological terrorist attacks.

Just in the past few months, the U.S. government has responded by putting together an urban aid package for Chicago and 25 other U.S. cities that is worth $51.7 million. However, it is not totally clear how much money and equipment Chicago will receive from the aid package.

Moriarty said, "The government must be serious about giving cities the proper training and equipment. The first responders to a potential disaster are local guys -- police officers, firefighters, paramedics -- and they are very vulnerable."

The domestic terrorism-preparedness training program was created by legislation that was sponsored by Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

Senator Lugar, who is an expert in national security issues, said, "Our goal is to allow the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to transfer their knowledge of chemical, biological and nuclear warfare to civilian forces. Although most people view the prospect of a nuclear, biological or chemical event within U.S. borders as unthinkable, emergency managers must prepare for the unthinkable."

Lugar added that the program grew out of concern over the amount of weapons-grade material that might become available to terrorists after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The senator said, "There were over 30,000 Soviet tactical nuclear weapons that might be less than safeguarded and might be very available. Nunn and I visited Russia and met with security officials there who said there have been several hundred attempts detected by the Russians of persons trying to obtain these materials of mass destruction -- nuclear, biological and chemical. In all these cases, the Russians said the attempts were unsuccessful. Which leads to the question, 'How many were successful that the Russians don't know about?'"

Because the United States is the world's only remaining military super- power, many see that terrorism is the only means available of which a potential enemy might attack. The U.S. government, of course, has the military and intelligence agencies to guard against international terrorism, but local authorities and agencies have little to no experience and little resources for dealing with terrorism, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It was because such little information was available on this subject, ERRI was created in 1990 to help disseminate information of this type to the emergency response community.

Moriarty says that Chicago may be better able to respond to an act of terrorism than many other big cities because of the number and experience of its public safety personnel, including 85 fully equipped technicians. However, Chicago has only one hazardous materials unit and one bomb squad, which some ask: "Is that enough equipment?"

"Terrorists can pick the time and place," Moriarty said. "We may have a window of opportunity of no more than 12 minutes to get there and apply countermeasures."

Clark Staten, Executive Director of ERRI, says that Chicago and other large cities do have greater amounts of hazardous materials equipment and a larger number of personnel trained to manage incidents involving conventional hazardous materials, but warns that current educational/equipment levels in many cities may be generally insufficient to prepare police officers, firefighters, and paramedics to respond to an incident involving biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. He cautioned that additional specialized training, equipment, and management skills are necessary to effectively neutralize these kinds of extremely toxic agents, and to medically care for those that have been exposed to them.

Click here to see a ERRI report of a fictionalized conventional terrorist attack on Chicago.

The ENN DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Security/Terrorism/Intelligence/Military and National Security issues.

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