5.4 Member Duress Alarms and Violent Situations

VERSION 1.0 – DECEMBER 2023

Purpose: To provide guidance to operators on how to effectively respond to member radio duress activations at the communication centre.

Scope: This procedure applies to all operators at the State Operations Communications Centre (SurfCom).

Procedure:

1. Receiving Radio Duress Activations
   1.1 Operators receiving radio duress activations must promptly inform the OCS or Senior Operator.
   1.2 Requests for urgent assistance may be initiated by a member radio duress alarm when confronted with situations where life or serious injury is threatened or in circumstances where a situation poses an immediate threat requiring their protection or the protection of others in the community.
   1.3 Methods utilised by members to contact or alert SurfCom that urgent assistance is required may differ depending on the severity of the situation, the physical location of the member and the technology available. Contact methods include:
   a) Radio networks; via a verbal transmission of ‘Signal One’.
   b) Telephone; via the Triple Zero (000) network or 13SURF.
   c) Radio Duress button activations;

Caution must be exercised when replying to members regarding any urgent requests for police assistance. In some situations, officer safety may be compromised or further endangered if offenders are alerted to the fact that police are being contacted. Care must be taken to ensure the appropriate wording and phrasing is chosen when transmitting over the radio networks or in phone conversations.

2. Acknowledge Requests
   2.1 Requests are immediately acknowledged in an appropriate manner, through the relevant technologies.
   2.2 The exact location and details regarding the event/s that caused the request, are recorded in the incident assigned to the members requesting assistance.
   2.3 If the members requesting the police assistance are not assigned to an active incident, create a new incident.
   2.4 Ensure back up resources are advised to approach with caution or not to approach (depending on the situation) until police have the incident under control.

3. Notifying Emergency Services
   3.1 If a member radio duress activation requires immediate medical, fire, or police assistance, operators must promptly contact the appropriate emergency services.
   3.2 Operators must provide all necessary information to the emergency services, including the member’s location and a brief description of the emergency.
   3.3 If there is a possibility that the member is in the water, SurfCom must initiate an immediate response by multiple units to the location of the alarm.

4. Contacting the Member
   4.1 If the member’s location is known, operators must promptly attempt to contact the member to verify the nature of the emergency and provide appropriate instructions.
   4.2 Operators must attempt to contact the terminal device that triggered the duress.
   4.3 Be cautious of other terminal devices calling all clear, operators must utilise GPS data to confirm the callers terminal is in the same place as the duress terminal.

5. Documenting Radio Duress Activations
   5.1 If a duress alarm does not trigger an incident to be created automatically, members must promptly generate an incident in the dispatch system.
   5.2 All member radio duress activations must be accurately documented, including the member’s name, location, and a brief description of the emergency.

6. Accidental Radio Duress Alarm
   6.1 If the member indicates that the duress activation was accidental, operators must promptly deactivate any ongoing alarm and adjust the incident type in the dispatch system to reflect an accident activation.

7. Responsibilities
   7.1 All operators have a responsibility to ensure the well-being and safety of operational personnel, specifically in situations where a request for urgent police assistance is received.
   7.2 All operators are responsible for following the procedures outlined in this procedure.
   7.3 The OCS is responsible for ensuring that their operators are aware of and following the procedures outlined in this procedure.
   7.4 The OCS is responsible for providing the necessary resources and equipment to effectively handle member radio duress activations.