WA Police Force’s Emergency Operations Unit recently hosted a visit from volunteers attached to the DFES SWORD Communications Support Unit.
The visit included a tour of the Canine and Mounted Section where demonstrations of those capabilities, including public order, drug detection and general canine deployment were conducted. Those attending also explored the Emergency Operations Unit offices along with the Incident Control Vehicle and Forward Command Vehicles.
David Murphy, from DFES SWORD said the members of the Communications Support Unit greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet with the officers from the Emergency Operations Unit that they work with so frequently, in an environment that allowed for collaboration and enthusiastic discussion of potential ideas to improve interagency processes that are not usually possible during the time pressures of an active incident.
“Stories of the hospitality shown by WAPol and the demonstrations by the mounted section showing their range of capability from crowd control and riots through to land search, and by canine showing how the handlers work with their dog for both drug detection and general policing duties, quickly spread through SWORD, and other units that had not been able to come were disappointed when they learnt what they’d missed.
“Another hit with the team was the tour of the EOU offices giving us a peak behind the curtain of how an incident develops from a missing person to a land search, followed by some show and tell with the police FCV and ICV and the CSU truck and support vehicle. CSU on behalf of SWORD welcomes further collaboration between SWORD and WAPol and specifically EOU to ensure we are able to continue to deliver the high level of service to the West Australian community in their times of need.”
Senior Sergeant Steve Scott, OIC of the Emergency Operations Unit, said it was a pleasure to host the visit.
“When managing land search operations or other incidents involving DFES it is not normally possible to speak to all the volunteers present, beyond the normal briefings and debriefings that occur. A visit such as this allows us in a small way to directly express our gratitude and provide an informal setting in which we can discuss each other’s operations and our interoperability – conversations that are hard to have at the scene of an incident.
“Over the years WA Police Force has made a concerted effort to recognise the involvement of all emergency service responders, career and volunteer, when issuing media releases on operations, highlighting the professional and dedicated emergency response that is provided across the state.
“Local police often get the chance to speak with their local emergency services, however for the Emergency Operations Unit there is no ‘local unit’ – so we look forward to hosting similar such visits in the future.”
Some pictures taken during the visit
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