A security analyst who has worked in counter-terrorism with the British Army and Scotland Yard, Charles Shoebridge, says the officers involved in Manila’s bus siege showed great courage – but they were not properly trained or equipped for the task.
Here are 10 areas where, in his view, they could have done better.
1. Determination
Philippine police end Manila bus hijack
The first officers who tried to storm the bus were driven out by gunshots from the hostage taker, former policeman Rolando Mendoza. “They showed great courage to go on board. It’s very crowded, just one aisle down the middle of the bus. But once you get on board it’s not unexpected you are going to be fired at. Squads like this have to be made up of very special people, specially trained and selected for their characteristics of courage, determination and aggression. In this case they acted as 99% of the population would have, which was to turn round and get out. They didn’t seem to have the necessary determination and aggression to follow the attack through.”
2. Lack of equipment
The police spent a long time smashing the windows of the bus, whereas explosive charges (known as frame charges) would have knocked in windows and doors instantly. “They had no ladders to get through the windows. They smashed the windows but didn’t know what to do next,” Mr Shoebridge says. “They almost looked like a group of vandals.” Their firearms were also inappropriate – some had pistols, some had assault rifles. Ideally they would have carried a short submachine gun, suitable for use in confined spaces.
3. Lost opportunity to disarm the gunman
Negotiators Mendoza’s gun was not always raised
There were numerous opportunities to restrain the gunman, Mr Shoebridge believes. “The negotiators were so close to him, and he had his weapon hanging down by his side. He could have been disabled without having to kill him.”
4. Lost opportunity to shoot the gunman
The video of the drama also shows there were occasions when the gunman was standing alone, during the course of the day, and could have been shot by a sharpshooter. “You are dealing with an unpredictable and irrational individual. The rule should be that if in the course of negotiations an opportunity arises to end the situation decisively, it should be taken,” Mr Shoebridge says. Either this possibility did not occur to the officers in charge, he adds, or they considered it and decided to carry on talking.
5. Satisfying the gunman’s demands
“I wondered why the authorities just didn’t give in to all of his demands,” says Charles Shoebridge. “A promise extracted under force is not a promise that you are required to honour. Nobody wants to give in to the demands of terrorists, but in a situation like this, which did not involve a terrorist group, or release of prisoners, they could have just accepted his demands. He could be reinstated in the police – and then be immediately put in prison for life for hostage taking.” The Philippines authorities did in fact give in to the gunman’s demands, but too little, too late. One message promised to review his case, while he wanted it formally dismissed. A second message reinstating him as a police offer only arrived after the shooting had started.
6. Televised proceedings
The gunman was able to follow events on television, revealing to him everything that was going on around him. This was a “crucial defect in the police handling”, Mr Shoebridge says. He adds that police should always consider putting a barrier or screen around the area, to shield the scene from the cameras and keep the hostage taker in the dark.
7. No element of surprise
It was clear to the gunman what the police were doing at all times, not only because the whole incident was televised, but also because they moved “laboriously slowly”, Mr Shoebridge says. The police did not distract him, so were unable to exploit the “crucial element of surprise”.
8. Safeguarding the public
Injured bystander This boy, a bystander, was hit by a stray bullet
At least one bystander was shot, possibly because the public was allowed too close. The bullet from an M16 rifle, as carried by the gunman, can travel for about a mile, so preventing any risk of injury would have been difficult, Mr Shoebridge says, but a lot more could have been done. “When you saw the camera view from above, it was clear there was little command and control of the public on the ground,” he says.
9. Using the gunman’s brother to negotiate
Relatives and close friends can be a double-edged sword, Mr Shoebridge says. While they may have leverage over the hostage taker, what they are saying cannot be easily controlled. In this case, the gunman’s brother was included in the negotiations – however, at a certain stage he became agitated and police started to remove him from the scene. The gunman saw this on television, and became agitated himself. According to one report he fired a warning shot.
10. Insufficient training
In some parts of the Philippines, such as Mindanao, hostage taking is not an uncommon occurrence, so the country has some forces that are well trained in the necessary tactics. The detachment involved in Monday’s incident clearly was not, says Mr Shoebridge. After smashing the windows, one of the officers eventually put some CS gas inside, though “to what effect was not clear” he says. A unit involved in this work, needs to be “trained again and again, repeatedly practicing precisely this kind of scenario,” he says.
Article re-post from BBC.
I think #10 is the main reason the other 9 mistakes happened. When a force is not practicing enough, there will always be lots of mistakes made.
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i wonder where all the funds / budget for these training went? imagine, 200 SWAT vs 1.
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It’s really sad to see these scenarios play out. It’s especially heart wrenching for family members of the people on the bus. It really bothers me that when these things are going on the crowd gets close and act like they can’t be hurt. Whenever I’m on the street and see a confusion form I head the opposite way immediately. My friend’s aunt died form a stray bullet so I know it happens.
All the best,
Eren
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Well, we always have 20/20 hindsight, don’t we? And we got well-directed movies as our standard for these type of crisis. Because of what we see in the movies, we find these poor police personnel so pathetic. But I sure hope though that these 10 points be given serious consideration by our law enforcement agencies so they could do better in any future conflicts of this kind.
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@James, you hit right on the nail, so many times we see TV Shows and movies how it’s all perfectly played out but often times in real life it’s not like that at all. It’s sad that we have to even face or talk about events in these in 2010!
Till then,
Jean
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Very disappointing and sad because some got die during the hostage taking and because of the the insufficient training of the policemen..
I have watched this live on TFC and at first I thought it would go well because the hostage taker was releasing some hostages before.. I agree that the 10 things you mentioned play a part why the hostage-taking situation failed. I do think that the hostage taker’s brother was the one who really made the situation worse. The reporters said that when the hostage taker saw his brother on TV being subdued by the police, he went amok and fired shots inside the bus (I do think he really shot some of the hostages there). It’s a very sad ending, indeed..but I do not think that all Filipinos must suffer for this one man’s mistake. After all, hostage-taking situations happen all over the world.
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Re-living the trauma while narrating such horrendous incidents is almost unbearable, and I know that from a couple of close friends who were held hostage in a hijacked train a year ago.
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The police involved in the assault were clearly not trained in the necessary tactics to solve a hostage-taking.
You’re right ZXT, the officers has great courage but they don’t have enough training in handling those kind of situation. It’s was really an unfortunate for the victims, seeing the news, I can say that there is a huge possibility that there will be no life to end up soon as long as the officers have the right training in handling those kind of situations. And also one of the reasons of their fault is the televised proceeding while the siege is on going, it greatly affect the gunman’s mind and decision of killing those victims. It is really sad for those who lost their lives and also to families who lost a member but in the end there were many lessons learned.
The lack of good and sufficient training seemed to be quite apparent. I felt it was handled quite badly and hope the response to a situation like this in the future would be more thought out and better executed. Hostage injuries or casualties have been prevented in more difficult situations in the past such so there’s no excuse for it.
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they should under go more trainings and self awareness. Sad to say some soul got away.
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Whenever I’m on the street and see a confusion form I head the opposite way immediately. My friend’s aunt died form a stray bullet so I know it happens.
Unfortunately, these tips were too late to consider. Things happened already, and number of people’s life was lost. If we are aware of these guidelines, hopefully the next time we will encounter an incident like this, police officer has the right knowledge how to face this crucial stage. Of course, I’m not wishing it will happen again.
Today with cameras everywhere it is hard to control what is shown on television. But, this was still a horrible thing.
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Operations like these are not much different from operations in the hospital.. in that you have to exercise utmost care and precision when human lives are at stake. To come in unprepared is just asking for trouble and I hope they learn something from this.
Yes have heard of this. But are they really to blame? Are the Philippine forces not well trained? I cannot tell really but they should all learn from their mistakes and perform better if the same situation occurs again.