OPERATION BRIDGE - Cumbria Constabulary

GPMS RESTRICTED
8.185 I formed the opinion that the FIM had continued to maintain the
firearms commander role throughout the incident.
8.186 During the professional discussions with the FIM and the Tactical
Firearms Commander, it was apparent that command had not been
exchanged at 11:25 hrs.
8.187 The Tactical Firearms Commander had understood that he had
command at that time, but in the absence of any appropriate working
environment, he had to operate from the corner of the call centre. He
understood that the FIM was maintaining the communication with
patrols due to the absence of a radio for his use.
8.188 The FIM had not understood that command had been exchanged and
believed that he was in command until the point which occurred later
when Derrick BIRD’S vehicle was abandoned.
8.189 The FIM saw that the incident was a fast moving spontaneous
incident where command could not effectively be handed over to the
Tactical Firearms Commander.
8.190 The Tactical Firearms Commander was unaware that the FIM had
maintained command and had continued to direct armed officers.
8.191 Due to the fact that Derrick BIRD was not located during this period of
ambiguity, the failure to have a single tactical commander had not
become a critical issue.
8.192 This would not have been the case if he had been located and the
officers required specific command advice.
8.193 The review team has also conducted a professional discussion with
the Strategic Firearms Commander (SFC), who was in overall
command of the incident. The Strategic Firearms Commander has
responsibility for setting the overall strategy to resolve the incident
and to ensure that sufficient resources are deployed. The review
team has examined the Strategic Firearms Commander’s strategy
and found it to be appropriate and clear. It is apparent that the
Strategic Firearms Commander liaised with neighbouring forces in
order to arrange mutual aid. The review team found that the Tactical
Firearms Commander and FIM were never fully aware of the totality
of resources they had available to them and this appears to have
been a breakdown in communication.
OBSERVATION 7:
That Cumbria Constabulary reinforce the importance of command
protocols to both the Tactical Firearms Commander and the FIM and to
ensure that a Commander is clearly defined at all times during a
THIS REPORT IS EMBARGOED
UNTIL 4PM MONDAY 28 TH MARCH 2011
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