On January 31, 2000 at 4:26 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, many things changed for me personally and professionally.  Nearing the end of the workday, I was hit with the realization that our police department was being thrown into the toughest major incident we had ever faced. 

Alaska Air Flight 261 tragically lost control and entered the Pacific Ocean just 8 1/2 miles off our beach at Port Hueneme, California.  Eighty-eight persons lost their lives, and many more family members, friends and co-workers were affected. What will end up being a many months-long incident had just begun and, everyone in my Department has been affected as well.  Aircraft debris, personal effects, and human remains have become a part of our lives.  Memorials on our beach have become a means of expressing love for loved ones lost in the tragedy, as well as a means for community members to express their caring and compassion. 

The city of Port Hueneme is small (23,000), and our police department has 22 sworn officers and seven support personnel.  As chief, I knew all of us were in store for many hours of work, and would be seeing things we may not have seen before.  How do we prepare for what is upon us?  How does this relate to the property and evidence function

All of us braced for the residual effect of the disaster in terms of what we would see on our beach, possibly in our neighborhoods.  What we didn't anticipate at first was how we would start to interact with the families of those lost on Alaska 261.  Property officers are right in the midst of this in many ways. 

Dealing with pieces of the aircraft, personal property from the passengers and crew, and human remains became a reality.  How we handle our position professionally in the Property Room is something all of us at IAPE speak about in every class.  This doesn't change when we encounter an air disaster.  What does change, however, is the amount of evidence we begin to take in, and more importantly, what type of evidence we see. 

Nothing is more precious than human life, and when we meet with those who have just lost a member(s) of their family, this comes home to us very quickly.  Coping with human remains requires sensitivity and the utmost professional handling.  Especially when the remains you are entrusted with may be the only link to identifying a loved one, there is no margin for error.  Proper handling, working with other agencies in harmony, and site 
containment are absolute demands.

Leaders of law enforcement agencies need to consider the needs of the responders who pick up the aftermath of such a disaster.  This includes the Property Administrator, Property Supervisor, and the Property Officer.  What they have to personally handle may take a toll on them psychologically.  When we debrief, are they included?  Do we offer them psychological counseling as soon as possible after the incident?  I certainly hope we do.  They deserve our attention just like officers in the field.

From this incident I realized that items which we take for granted as evidence in homicide cases, suicide cases, and other tragedies involving loss of life wind up in our property rooms for our property room professionals to see on a regular basis.  Police leaders, take a minute and think about those cases that you worked on where a life or lives were lost.  Would you want to see that evidence every day in your office, sometimes for years?  I don't think so.  Don't subject your property officers to the same. Move the items to an area where they don't have to rethink the case every time they are handling other cases.  You can still maintain evidence professionally without subjecting your personnel to its viewing on a regular basis. 

As I write this, I'm interrupted by my wife Vicki to tell me that a Southwest Airlines aircraft just ran off the runway at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.  Was Burbank ready for the aftermath of their incident?  Knowing the Burbank Police Department like I do, I'm sure they were, at least for most of it. 

There is so much more to tell you about the incident.  Since I'm still involved in so many aspects of the incident and there is never enough time to handle all of the inquiries and personal meetings with families of the victims, I will need to ask your understanding in getting more of the specifics to you in the next issue of The Evidence Log.  Until then, ask the leaders of your agency what plans they have in place to handle a similar incident.  But perhaps most important, ask yourself what have you done to prepare, and how you can strengthen your plan by preparing now.  It'll help your agency, and even more importantly, it will help those families that may look to the evidence you are handling as their only link to positive identification of their lost loved one.