Risk management principles and practices

Criminal Justice - Risk Management

RISK Management in CRIMINAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS

The Importance of Risk Management Planning:

One of the casualties of September 11, 2001 was Rick Rescorla, Security Chief at the investment firm Morgan Stanley, headquartered at the World Trade Center. Shortly after his initial hiring, Rescorla suggested that all 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees working between floors 44 and 74 of the South Tower be reassigned and the firm relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River. According to Rescorla, the WTC was too vulnerable to a crude terrorist attack such as a bomb detonated from within a vehicle in the basement garage. Morgan Stanley management was appreciative of the advice, but responded that the prestige and profile of the WTC towers were too much to give up but that they would accept just about any security suggestions other than relocating the firm (Larsen, 2007).

Instead, Rescorla thereafter set about creating detailed evacuation plans for the entire firm that included brightly colored markings throughout the stairwells, as well as repeated drills in which employees (reluctantly) practiced evacuating the structure in several different scenarios, including power failures and smoke-filled stairwells. Those plans were instrumental in a successful evacuation of all 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees in 1993 after the first terrorist attack on the WTC (Larsen, 2007).

Eight years later, it Rescorla who instructed Morgan Stanley employees to disregard the official announcement over the building intercom to remain at their desks after the first plane crashed into the South Tower. Rescorla's detailed scenario planning conducted over the previous decade disclosed that immediate evacuation of the tower following a terrorist attack on the North Tower (and vice-versa) would be much safer than following the instructions to the contrary on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Unfortunately, Rescorla perished that day because he returned to make sure all of his coworkers had evacuated, but his risk management planning saved thousands of lives and provide a model of efficiency in the field of corporate risk management. (Larsen, 2007).

Specific Risk Management in Criminal Justice Facilities:

Policing is a dangerous profession that entails constant exposure to safety threats of different origin. While eliminating those threats is impossible by virtue of the nature of the profession, risk management principles allow law enforcement managers to mitigate those risks substantially. The institution of two-man patrol units is one specific response to the many identified risks facing patrol officers, particularly in jurisdictions where immediate backup is not always available to officers on patrol. The presence of two officers in every patrol unit substantially reduces many of the potential threats to officer safety, especially those associated with late night traffic stops of vehicles occupied by multiple subjects (Sweeney, 2005).

Other specific risks to patrol officers, including those operating in pairs, include standard procedures suggested by past studies of the circumstances in which attacks on officers have occurred. For example, interviews with prisoners who assaulted officers during their arrests disclosed that many such attacks were initiated by the subject upon realization that their arrest was imminent. In many cases, it was the radio transmission alerting the officers of the subject's wanted status that was overheard by the subject.

Effective risk management in this regard led to the use of police codes, both for the officer to alert dispatch that the subject was in hearing range, and also for police dispatchers to advise officers as to the subject's status without alerting the offender simultaneously (Sweeney, 2005).

Likewise, other specific risks associated with the policing and correctional environment are effectively reduced by the application of risk management principles, including the prohibition of firearms within the section of police facilities where officers and prisoners are within close physical proximity. The specific comparative risks associated with the inability of an individual officer to defend himself against an unexpected attack by prisoners is much better managed by alternative means (such as the through the use of video surveillance throughout the facility) than through reliance of firearms. Whereas officers are exposed to greater risks without access to their sidearms, the comparatively much greater risks are those associated with a violator's successfully disarming an officer. For this specific reason, effective risk management within police stations and correctional facilities generally require that officers secure their sidearms in lockers located outside of the prisoner intake and holding areas (Buerger & Levin, 2005).