Search Facility and Vehicle Course Outline

Search Course - Facility and Vehicle (1-day)
Facility Search (half- day)

Classroom instruction:

  • Introduction: general practices for police and fire departments; terminology; reasons for prior planning; threat levels; steps in threat response; types of threats; alternatives (search, evacuate, ignore); aggressor tactics.
  • Telephone threat procedures: why threats are made; questioning the caller; importance of writing down exactly what was said; use of checklists.
  • Bombs who/why/statistics: general bomber profile; reasons for bombing; statistics in Canada.
  • Recognition of explosives and bomb components: effects of an explosion; improvised explosives; commercial explosives; types of bombs.
  • Search: overt vs covert search; occupant search; trained search teams; two-person search technique; search equipment; interior and exterior search. The Level 1 (visual from outside) vehicle search technique will be used (the afternoon session covers Level 2 vehicle searches).
Search Practical:
  • The participants will reinforce the techniques learned in class by actually conducting searches. Suitable inside and outside areas will be used.
Vehicle Search (half-day):
  • The course is based on the Vehicle Inspection Checklist (VIC) program developed by the US Technical Support Working Group. The purpose of the course is to provide guidelines to the personnel of facility entry teams assigned the responsibility of assessing and inspecting incoming traffic for the presence of explosive threats. The information should be used in conjunction with previous training, experience, and facility procedures and policies. Students are taught to be aware that each situation presents its own unique circumstances. In all cases personnel involved in a vehicle search are to use common sense. Operations that would place personnel, equipment or the facility at unnecessary risk are to be avoided.

    The objectives of the course are to help search personnel:
     
    • Understand the important components of the program
    • Understand the usefulness of ‘Prior Knowledge’
    • Understand and use interviewing techniques
    • Be able to identify suspicious activity by the driver or passengers of a vehicle
    • Be able to identify suspicious indicators during a vehicle search
Course Outline:
  • Introduction
    • Safety and security during search
    • Dos and Don’ts during search
  • Unit 1 Suspicious Indicators
    • Why terrorists use vehicle-borne devices
    • Why ‘Prior Knowledge’ is important
    • Visual indicators of approaching vehicles
    • Documentation check
  • Unit 2 The Interview Process
    • Purpose of interview
    • Types of questions to ask
    • Driver/occupant responses and reactions
  • Unit 3 Vehicle Inspection
    • External search
    • Internal search
    • Different vehicle types
  • Practical exercise