A-L-E-RT-S: Salute for civilians.

Perhaps the best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by having thousands of citizens wield their cell phones as information-age weapons and report suspicious activity to the proper authorities. Equally critical are brave citizens who can clearly report the details of the situation and help authorities send the right emergency response teams to the right locations. However, who do you call, and how do you report?

In an infantry unit, soldiers learn to call for indirect fire (mortar) support using a specific format that efficiently provides the right information to the mortar platoon's fire direction center. However, when I was serving as a mortar platoon leader, one of our evaluated platoon tasks was to talk an untrained observer through a call for fire. We led him to give the correct location and composition of the enemy, and then talked him through adjusting the rounds onto the target. As you might expect, getting steel on target took much longer using this method than it did with a trained observer. Yet this is today's modus operandi for every police department dispatcher: leading the untrained observer to report the correct information during a crisis situation. Training and experience have made dispatchers very good at this, often they do it dozens of times each day. However, in a major crisis they will receive hundreds of calls and can quickly become overwhelmed if they have to talk each of these untrained obse rvers through the reporting process. Imagine how much more efficient they would be if citizens had training to call in emergency information the way the Army trains soldiers to call for fire support.

Long ago, the U.S. Army developed a special mnemonic reporting format for combat information: SALUTE, meaning size, activity, location, unit, time, and equipment. SALUTE provided the front-line soldier an easily remembered format for reporting critical information about the enemy he was facing.

The combat information contained within the SALUTE report is similar to the type of information required by a police dispatcher in an emergency. Working with Ms. Molly Schmidt, Senior Dispatcher of the Sierra Vista Police Department, I modified and "civilianized" the U.S. Army's SALUTE format into an easily remembered format covering the most important elements of information (see Figure 1). We designated the end product "A-L-E-RT-S."

This format is easy to remember, and flexible enough to cover a wide variety of emergency situations. See Figure 2 for examples of A-L-E-RT-S in cases of crime, suspicious activity, and fire.

See the "Report It" website at www.Huachuca.Org, which features the details of the A-L-E-RT-S reporting format and numerous examples; instructions for describing people, vehicles, and weapons; and information on how to handle suspicious mail. Also available for download is a Microsoft(r) Word(r) file with business-card-size A-L-E-RT-S cards (see Figure 3), and a free Palm OS(r) tool with both the A-L-E-RT-S format and an emergency phone number database. The Sierra Vista Police Department endorses this effort, and they have provided invaluable assistance in creating the A-L-E-RT-S format, suggesting examples, and reviewing the website for content and accuracy.

The next step is to ensure that the general public knows about and regularly uses A-L-E-RT-S, particularly in reporting suspicious activity. We are currently developing lesson plans so that schools and private organizations can not only train their members but also offer training opportunities for others as a community service. Organizations that have disaster-related missions, such as Neighborhood Watch, the Amateur Radio Relay League, civil defense, Scouting, and the Civil Air Patrol could use this as a community service vehicle. We are also looking for corporate sponsors to produce the cards in quantity for citywide distribution, and also to assist with general community awareness advertising.

The end result of this initiative is to turn Sierra Vista and vicinity into an 80,000-citizen scout platoon, armed with cell phones and trained and willing to render effective spot reports. Over time, most of these spot reports will likely be "Suspicious Activity" related to petty crimes. We cannot, however, take this for granted as Cochise County is a major infiltration route for drugs and illegal immigrants, one of whom may have something more sinister on his mind.

Figure 1

Explanation of the Elements in A-L-E-RT-S.

Element   Explanation

Activity  What is the crime or what did you see?
          Suspicious activity, fire, assault,
          burglary, robbery, stolen vehicle, theft?

Location  Where is it? An address is best, but
          describe the location in your own words
          if you do not know the address.

EMS       Injuries that require immediate response
          by Emergence Medical Services.

Response  When did this occur? Is it in progress?
Time      A few minutes ago? Hours ago? This
          determines the urgency of getting police
          or medical services to the scene. In a
          real crisis, they may have to decide
          where to go first...this will help them
          make an informed decision and save lives.

Suspect   Was it caused by a crime? Did you see
          suspicious activity? If so, describe the
          people, vehicles, weapons, and where they
          are, or the direction in which they went.
Figure 2

Examples of A-L-E-RT-S Use.

Element           Crime             Suspicious Activity

Activity  "Shooting...           "Someone was looking into
                                 windows of parked cars...


Location  ...at 504 1st Ave...   ...at 504 1st Ave...

EMS       ...one person          ...no injuries...
          wounded in the arm...
Response  ...3 minutes ago...    ...last night at
Time                             8 p.m. ...

Suspect   ...suspect is 5'10"    ...suspect is 5'4" female
          male with brown        about 23 and 130 pounds
          hair and yellow shirt  with long, braided brown
          armed with a revolver  hair yellow shirt and
          now running north on   blue jeans walking south,
          Fry Boulevard!"        unarmed."

Element           Fire

Activity  "House has smoke
          pouring out the attic
          vent...

Location  ...at 504 1st Ave...

EMS       ...no injuries...

Response  ...it is happening
Time      right now...

Suspect   ...no suspects."

Neil Garra (Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired) is the "owner" of The S2 Company. While in the Army he served with the 1st, 2d, and 5th Infantry Divisions, and in several positions at Fort Huachuca in the Intelligence Center, the Battle Command Battle Lab, and in the Distance Learning Office. He is a graduate of the Sierra Vista, Arizona, Citizens Police Academy, and is a member of the Sierra Vista Information Technology Task Force. Readers may contact Mr. Garra via E-mail at [e-mail].