In his handbook for police officers entitled Preventing Terrorist Suicide Attacks, Michael Aman offers the following advice to law enforcement officers when approaching a suspected attacker:- Form two engagement teams with two officers in each
- Attempt to corner the suicide bomber
- Do not be concerned with property damage, except flying glass
- Continuously shout verbal commands at the suicide bomber
- Do not make eye contact with the suicide bomber
- Remain behind cover when available and always maintain a distance of at least 15m
- Attempt to reinforce the suicide bomber’s hesitation by pointing out that his leaders will survive and escape, whereas he will die
- Order the suicide bomber to remove any clothing that might conceal an explosive device
- Order the suicide bomber to lie face down with his arms away from his body and hands palms up; wait for a bomb squad to disarm the bomber
- Never attempt to tackle a suicide bomber who is still armed with his explosive device
Of course, all this presumes that you have a weapon with which to "convey" your authority. Nevertheless, there are some potentially interesting points for security guards here, but a parallel concern for security guards should also be on immediately attempting to disperse the target, usually an assembly of people.
If you are a hotel security manager, in charge of security for restaurants, night clubs, sporting events, conferences, rock concerts etc, you should be discussing immediate response options and expectations with your security officers. By the time the attacker has joined the queue to go through security it will be too late!
Preventing Suicide Attacks is one of the subjects addressed in the Protection against Explosive Devices session on Security Management Stage 1 (19 – 30 November 2007). The session, which takes place on Monday 26th November, is also available as a one-day workshop. Contact Janet for details.
