Isotopes of Concern — An Insider’s View of a Unique Evolution of Policing
Much of what seems to dominate today’s media about the police concerns sensational events surrounding controversial arrests and uses of force. Certainly, if these stories didn’t resonate with consumers of mass media, they wouldn’t continue to run. American law enforcement has some work to do.
However, there is an interesting story concerning the evolution of policing that is not well known. Post 9/11, police departments became concerned with the potential for domestic attacks by weapons of mass destruction. CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) topics naturally followed in the wake of the 2001 anthrax attacks, and fears resonated that terror organizations may attempt to build or smuggle a nuclear weapon into the United States to be detonated. Whether this concern represented a true threat is a matter that is often debated. But looking back with 9/11 fresh in our minds, Osama Bin Laden menacing the world via the airwaves, and the Iraqi insurgency looking tough to beat, domestic law enforcement began to delve deeper into areas of “preventive” security. This is the realm of PRND programs or preventive radiation-nuclear detection.
Cesium-137, Cobalt-60, Technicium-99, Americium-241 and other radiological isotopes were not featured during my basic police training in 1994. Nor were classes offered in radiological spectroscopy or techniques to detect and interdict potential smugglers of radioactive materials. These were the burdens of the Department of Energy, State Radiation Protection Officials, specialized hazmat teams from the Fire Services, or elite federal police agencies. For me, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Neutron radiation were vague memories from mandatory high school and college classes from the late 1980s and early 1990s and were eagerly left behind, concluding then that there would never again be a need to remember this information. Life has a funny way of exposing our miscalculations. I became a police officer shortly after college and can say, 20+ years later, policing has changed. As a state police officer, I have since attended training in all of the areas noted above, but only since 2008; not when I became involved with law enforcement during the mid-1990s.
Today, police departments are beginning to add radiation detection to their daily patrol responsibilities. They use small devices called personal radiation detectors (PRDs) or the slang, “rad pagers”. Rad for radiation and pager for… well… the old devices that people used in the 1990s to stay connected which preceded cell phones and smart phones. Small, boxy devices with a gloomy LCD display, personal radiation detectors appear much as the old-school pagers did. While seemingly clunky, the devices can alert a cop that something near to him or her is emanating radiation and to what strength and type. This gives the police a discreet opportunity to detect radioactive sources that may be out of place and harmful. Depending on the circumstances, something may or may not be done as follow-up to these alarms. Possession of radiation is not necessarily illegal. Radiological isotopes have many useful purposes and only under certain circumstances do they warrant extra attention by the police. Consider that a friend or relative may have recently undergone a stress test. In all likelihood, a police officer’s personal radiation detector will receive a strong alarm from such a person should the two encounter one another. This is a function of the isotope at hand. Medical isotopes are strong and highly active, but they have very short half-lives, allowing the radioactive elements to be gone from the body within a short amount of time. Police detection equipment can alert an officer to the presence of radiation but this reading must be clarified to ensure that needless detentions of law-abiding people do not occur. Additional isotope identification equipment (which the police also have), coupled with traditional interviews, can lead the way to making effective judgments concerning how to handle the initial alerts received. In other words, we can quickly determine whether or not one has received a medical isotope versus some other source lacking explanation. No one wants CNN to show a looping video of a police officer tackling a geriatric cancer patient based upon a radiation alarm that was shown to identify a legitimate and harmless radiation source (medical treatment). Then again, a single cop may have an opportunity to stop a catastrophic event of radiological terrorism. This new area of policing requires more of an officer; to include intense education, training, and practice. This is an area that the American public should be pleased to see. Radiation scares people and domestic law enforcement is largely tackling this concern head-on.
Again, consider that the police are doing this work at all. International and domestic terrorism has permeated all facets of our lives and our police services are evolving in areas that aren’t always noticed. Hopefully, the capability to detect and identify radiation will be a capability that is never needed. Yet, it is good to know that American law enforcement is participating in preventive efforts to counter the persistent threat of a sensational terror attack within the United States.
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