Radiological/nuclear law enforcement and public health investigation handbook

Current information indicates that, regardless of location, American assets and citizens will continue to be targets of terrorist activities. Terrorists have demonstrated their willingness to employ nontraditional weapons to achieve their ends. One such class of nontraditional weapons is radiological/nuclear (RN) devices. RN devices pose new challenges to both law enforcement (LE) and public health (PH) officials in their efforts to minimize the effects of a RN attack, prevent or stop additional attacks, attribute the attack to the perpetrators, and apprehend those responsible for it.In the past, it was not uncommon for LE and PH officials to conduct separate and independent investigations. However, a RN attack requiresa high level of cooperation between these two disciplines to achieve their respective objectives of minimizing public panic and radiation exposure, preventing the spread of radioactive contamination, identifying the per- petrators, and apprehending/prosecuting those responsible for the attack. The lack of mutual awareness and understanding, as well as the absence of established communication procedures, could hinder the effectiveness of separate, but often overlapping, LE and PH investigations. The effective use of all resources will be critical to an efficient and appropriate response to any terrorist RN attack.This handbook serves several purposes: Provide an introduction to RN LE and PH investigations so personnel have a better understanding of each other\ue2\u20ac\u2122s information requirements and investigative procedures; Identify potential barriers LE and PH personnel will encounter during their respective RN incident investigations and provide potential solutions that can be adapted to meet the needs of the various jurisdictions and agencies throughout the United States (US); Enhance the appreciation and understanding by all parties of each discipline\ue2\u20ac\u2122s expertise.Introduction -- National policy -- Public health -- Law enforcement -- Joint operations -- Summary -- Appendix A. Applicable federal WMD statutes -- Appendix B. Understanding radiation and its health effects -- Appendix C. Effects of a nuclear detonation -- Appendix D. Transportation of radiological/nuclear materials -- Appendix E. Indicators of radiological incidents -- Appendix F. Radiological/nuclear forensics and attribution -- Appendix G. Acronyms -- Appendix H. Glossary -- Appendix I. References